We have an opportunity to hit refresh on refugee policy

It’s Refugee Week; Australia’s peak annual activity to raise awareness of the issues affecting refugees and to celebrate positive contributions made by refugees to Australian society, coinciding with World Refugee Day on June 20.

Jane McAdam, Scientia Professor of Law and Director of UNSW’s Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law, reflects on the opportunity before the new federal government to reset Australia’s refugee policies. This opinion piece was originally published in The Age.

This time, fear didn’t work. When mass text messages on election day warned voters of an “illegal boat trying to reach Australia”, these were called out as a cynical, desperate act. And the election results suggest they didn’t turn the intended political trick. Australians voted for better, fairer.

A successful refugee policy not only manages national borders: it also protects people who need safety. Our recent welcoming of Ukrainian refugees – eligible for immediate protection for three years, without even needing to apply for a special visa – stands in stark contrast to the deterrence, deflection and delaying tactics that have been the hallmark of Australia’s approach over the past two decades.

Last week, I had the privilege of appearing on a panel with Abbas Nazari, who was seven years old when he and his family, fleeing the Taliban, were rescued by the MV Tampa. This moment was to become the “genesis of a new generation of hardline border policies”, including laws permitting authorities to shoot at refugee boats, turn them away at sea, and incarcerate people indefinitely in Nauru and Papua New Guinea.

Denied protection by Australia, New Zealand willingly resettled Abbas and his family. A highly articulate, intelligent person, Abbas went on to win scholarships to the University of Canterbury and a Fulbright scholarship to Georgetown University in Washington DC. His moving book, After the Tampa, provides a rare insight into the human side of the Tampa story – what it means to be uprooted, to flee, to seek safety, and finally, to be given an opportunity for a new life.

Listening to Abbas, I felt optimism, but also a sense of deep loss. Australia lost a generation of refugees like Abbas. We also lost our good international reputation, our humanity and our hope.

It’s time for a reset of Australia’s refugee policies. With a new federal government and a crossbench largely committed to a more humane and decent Australia, will we dare tackle this? Will those who have fought this issue as a culture war consider durable solutions? It need not be a partisan issue, and long was not.

Over the past 80 years, Australia has given almost a million refugees the chance of a new life, fresh opportunities and renewed hope. At the end of World War II, Prime Minister Chifley welcomed 170,000 displaced people from the camps of Europe – without convening a single focus group, as Thomas Keneally wryly observed. When Prime Minister Fraser was confronted by boats of Vietnamese asylum seekers to Australia’s north, he insisted that they be treated humanely, processed fairly, and given protection.

Hieu van Le, the former Governor of South Australia who arrived by boat in 1977 seeking asylum, described being greeted in Darwin Harbour by “two blokes with shorts and singlet”, who “waved to us and steered their boat very close … and one of them raised his stubby as if proposing a toast. ‘G’day mate,’ he shouted, ‘welcome to Australia’.”

In return, refugees like van Le have given back to Australia in spades, making significant and transformative contributions – economically, culturally and socially. The present parliament welcomes two such MPs from refugee backgrounds – Dai Le, who fled the Vietnam War as a young child, and Sally Sitou, whose parents fled Laos during the same conflict and found sanctuary in Australia.

During COVID-19 lockdowns, many Australians struggled with restrictions on our liberty, confinement, separation from family and friends, and extreme uncertainty. While these measures were temporary for us, they are what many refugees experience all the time.

The Kaldor Centre Principles for Australian Refugee Policy provide a principled, pragmatic and evidence-based foundation for this refreshed approach.

Drawing on concrete examples from overseas and from Australia’s own history, the Principles show how, and why, we can create a manageable system that simultaneously benefits refugees, people seeking asylum, and the Australian community. They are not controversial but are based on common sense and basic human decency.

In a nutshell, Australia should:

(1) comply with our international legal commitments and ensure that people are not sent back to a real risk of persecution or other serious harm;

(2) provide humane, fair reception conditions;

(3) give people a fair hearing;

(4) keep families together and safeguard the best interests of children;

(5) create additional safe, lawful pathways to protection;

(6) become a global and regional leader on protection once again; and

(7) invest in refugees for long-term success.

Now, more than ever, it is important to shape a long-term vision for Australian refugee policy – one that, in the words of the new prime minister, promotes “unity and optimism, not fear and division”. With global displacement at a record high, fuelled by conflict, disasters, persecution and human rights violations, with people in our community held back by enduring, unnecessary uncertainty, we have a moral and a legal obligation to do our bit.

With our borders are open again, we have a perfect opportunity to simultaneously help people in need, boost Australia’s economic and cultural life, reunite families, and be a good international citizen. It’s a win on all fronts.

Moderator: @carissajedwab