At the start of this week The Australian published an opinion piece by former Immigration Minister Phillip Ruddock reflecting on the boat wreck that occurred just off the coast of Christmas Island on December 15, 2010. These essence of his argument was that a more humane refugee policy would be one that deterred people from
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Last week a rickety wooden boat carrying somewhere in the vicinity of 100 asylum seekers crashed onto the cliffs off Christmas Island resulting in anywhere up to 50 deaths. Many of these bodies will never be recovered. Forty-two people were pulled from the ocean mere metres off Christmas Island and are now in detention mourning
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It was reported in last week’s online edition of The Australian newspaper that Australia and Afghanistan have finalised an agreement for the return of failed Afghan asylum-seekers. The article goes on to cite a source familiar with the negotiations who states that a memorandum of understanding outlining the deportation process could be signed as early
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In the aftermath of Wednesday’s disaster there is much to mourn. At least 30 men, women and children died in the rough waters surrounding Christmas Island. As yet, the authorities have not yet been able to ascertain the exact number of people on the boat. Survivors have given estimates of 70-100 on board. With only
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Last week, the ASRC revealed the inaccuracies in Morrison’s announcement of a radical shift in the Coalition’s refugee policy (see Part I). His major new proposal was to refuse Afghan asylum seekers who arrive “illegally” in Australia and subsequently exchange them for refugees in camps bordering Afghanistan. In last week’s blog, we debunked two of
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