Asylum Seekers and Australia’s ‘stop the boats’ policy

Despite the number of boat arrivals, having considerably diminished, Australia continues to face difficulty in the refugee process and has been criticized heavily.

Over the last two decades, Australia's humanitarian intake has remained relatively steady with around 12,000 to 13,000 people typically accepted every year. Australia accepted 13,750 people through its humanitarian programme and committed to a one-time acceptance of an additional 12,000 refugees fleeing Syria and Iraq, in 2015-16. However, 18,000 illegal sea arrivals have triggered the Government to introduce tough new policies to control the 'boaties'.

The true story is, while the real refugees are unable to move out of their lands, the people who could afford to have attempted to reach Australia on boats from Indonesia or Malaysia by paying huge sums of money to people smugglers. The travel itself is very unsafe and many have died making the dangerous journey. The Australian Government says its refugee policies are designed to restore the security of its borders, and to prevent deaths at sea.

Following the tightened policies, Australia introduced a new mechanism, 'the offshore processing'. Currently, Australia has one such centre on the Pacific island nation of Nauru and another on Manus Island, in Papua New Guinea. In addition to 'offshore' resettlement, in 2016, about 6,567 people, who were recognised as refugees, arrived in Australia seeking asylum. Australia's level of refugee recognition is relatively small compared to other wealthy nations (and also many poorer countries). In 2016, about 443,210 were recognised as refugees in Germany and 532,735 in Uganda. Sweden and Norway comparatively have smaller populations than Australia, recognised 68,090 and 12,147 refugees respectively in 2016.

Offshore process
The offshore process takes a long time and once finalized, the accepted applicants are recognised as refugees and sent to settle down only outside Australia, in countries like Nauru or Papua New Guinea, and Cambodia. Despite this attempt the increased cost of more than fifty million Australian dollars, the Australian Government implemented the offshore settlement. The offshore settlement was criticized and questioned for its poor hygiene, overcrowded accommodation, unrelenting heat and inadequate facilities. In addition, undecided applicants were under indefinite detention has caused impact on their psychological wellbeing. There was criticism that the applicants have been exposed to harm including physical and sexual assaults.

Sri Lankan refugees
Sri Lankans continue to come to Australia even nine years after the war ended. Approximately, 250,000 Tamil people fled during the final stages of the conflict in 2009. After the end of the long lasting separatist war in 2009 the refugee inflow from Sri Lanka was diminishing in numbers due the strict refugee policy of Australia. However, in 2012, more than 6,500 Sri Lankan people arrived in Australia by boat — an increase of thirty times over previous years.

The Immigration authority's figures show that as of January 2017, there were 86 Sri Lankan adult men in detention facilities. In community detention, there are 24 adult men, 19 women, 28 boys and 15 girls from Sri Lanka. Australian authorities have returned 29 Sri Lankan asylum seekers by air after their unseaworthy boat was detected off the West Australian coast in December 2017.

Security clearance
However, in the process of refugee determination, security clearance plays a pivotal role. One cannot get refugee recognition until the security clearance is received. Very recently, there was an outbreak over the adverse security assessments against Tamils. Between January 2010 and November 2011, the Australian Security and Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) issued adverse security assessments to over 50 refugees, the majority of them Tamils. That is Australian law demands that a person first be assessed by ASIO not to pose a risk to national security. Classification of 'Risk' varies from domestic or international espionage, sabotage, politically-motivated violence, promotion of communal violence, attacks on defence systems, foreign interference, or a serious threat to Australia's territorial and border integrity. In making its assessments, ASIO is not bound by conventional standards of proof; it depends on insufficient reasons given, without considering any other factors for not giving sufficient reasons, to issue security clearance. This has resulted in the refugees being denied protection visas and subjected to prolonged (nearly five years) and indefinite detention in closed immigration detention centres in Australia.

Scott Morrison's
interference
Meanwhile, former Immigration Minister Scott Morrison's interference with ASIO's refugee assessments has been brought to the limelight. Refugee Advice and Casework Service (RACS), a refugee legal advocacy services blamed the former Immigration Minister Scott Morrison for directing the ASIO in 2013, to delay the security clearances of refugees entitled to permanent protection, which affected vulnerable refugees immensely, and has meant some families will never be able to live together. Morrison's argument was "It was my policy and practice to put Australia's national security interests first." Amnesty International, Australia's refugee coordinator, Graham Thom, has criticized it saying that the revelations were another example of Australia's cruel and punitive approach to people arriving by boat seeking protection. One should not forget that the ASIO is a statutory body not subject to ministerial direction.

Following this, the Attorney General's Department's independent reviewer was appointed. On examination, the ASIO's finding in one Sri Lankan asylum seeker's case, the agency amended its assessment from adverse to "qualified", meaning it was no longer a barrier to grant protection for him. However, there are still 57 applicants waitlisted and still to be released, with no criminal offence recorded.

Return of the refugee
With these developments, Shantaruban, a refugee from 'Sri Lanka was handcuffed and forcibly removed from Australia recently. After spending five years claiming for refugee status, he was rejected by the Australian Government. Shantaruban's case drew particular attention of the United Nations. In October 2017, the UN Committee Against Torture issued an interim measure request to Australia, asking it to "refrain from returning Shantaruban to... Sri Lanka while his complaint is under consideration". It later withdrew its request after submissions from the Australian Government.

With this kind of attitude, the Department of Australian Border Security, which is now renamed as Home Affairs, with no compassion for refugees, makes the humanitarian agencies raise the following questions:

The Australian Government has not been able to demonstrate well to respond to these questions.
The courts have started rejecting the applications received from the asylum seekers. Temporary protection visas are issued with the view of buying time to reject, depending on the country situation. Many applicants are frustrated as they are unable to bring their families due to new citizenship requirement for sponsoring families for family reunion. On account of this complicated situation which has created mental, health and psycho trauma due to loneliness, lack of financial support and homesick, many Sri Lankan refugees are now making decisions to return home.