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The guardianship of unaccompanied asylum-seeker children is a contentious aspect of Australian asylum-seeker law and policy. The current legislative framework for guardianship is curtailed by migration legislation and policy and is ineffective for realizing the rights of these children under international law. This paper contributes to existing scholarship on guardianship by critically examining political discourse on child asylum seekers. It combines the discourse-historical approach with doctrinal analysis to uncover the historical and political context and outcomes of the legislation. Critical discourse analysis examines statements made by politicians from both major Australian political parties and the parliamentary report rejecting the most recent attempt at reform. This paper reveals that, to reject reform and justify maintaining the status quo, the government has rationalized the detention of child asylum-seekers as essential to the success of deterrence measures, and moralized these measures by framing them as necessary to protect the lives of those attempting to reach Australia by boat. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines how the 'ideal' refugee is conceptualized in discussions about Australia's humanitarian policies. Critical Discourse Analysis of semi-structured interviews with 24 Western Australians revealed strong themes of assimilation alongside the neoliberal concept of 'market citizenship', where the 'ideal' refugee is positioned as achieving economic success through contributions to Australia's labour market. These discourses served competing ends—they were voiced both in support of, and opposition to, Australia's acceptance of refugees. I argue that by constructing refugees' deservingness of protection along market citizenship lines, their belonging becomes contingent upon their adherence to a narrowly defined ideal. Consequently, refugees who do not fit within this ideal face continued exclusion, with their 'human capital' prioritized over their safety and human rights. This article calls for a reconsideration of arguments that focus on refugees' capacity to 'fit in' and 'give back' as these narratives may exacerbate their experiences of exclusion and stigmatization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyses recent media discourses surrounding asylum seekers and refugees in the Australian Press. Two ‘quality’ broadsheets are investigated over a three year period—the Brisbane Courier Mail and the Sydney Morning Herald. The paper argues that refugees and asylum seekers have been routinely constructed not only as a ‘problem’ population but as a ‘deviant’ population in relation to the integrity of the nation state, race and disease. In problematizing this construction the social functions of representations of deviance are considered in relation to the construction of the ‘normality’ of prevailing social orders and the reproduction of hegemony. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Using narrative methodology this paper analyses the life stories of 25 former refugees from two African countries, resettled in Australia. Study findings demonstrated a salient divergence between the stories of the two communities; within which there were also individual differences in structure and content of participants' narratives. Five narrative types were identified along a continuum from detailed disclosure to near-complete silence about traumatic events and experiences. They were: (1) avoiding narratives; (2) struggling narratives; (3) prompted narratives; (4) narratives exceeding demarcated boundaries of disclosure; and (5) returning narratives. We discuss these differences in narrative structure, narrated experience, identity reconstruction, and meaning-making within the context of the personal, interpersonal, sociocultural and historical influences that have shaped the lives of participants. Findings were supported by interviews with 25 resettlement agency staff. Broader implications of the study's findings for therapists and researchers working with refugees are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Christmas Island is the site where Australia’s mandatory immigration detention policies are implemented. Protests by Christmas Islanders against the Australian government’s treatment of asylum seekers have surfaced since boatpeople began arriving in 1992 and reached a pinnacle during the Tampa affair. Based on interviews conducted in 2009 with island residents and archival material, the paper explores Christmas Islanders’ responses before and during the Tampa affair through the notion of hospitality that was disrupted when a state of emergency removed control of both ethical responsibility and island sovereignty. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The vast majority of refugees arriving in Australia are between the ages of 16 and 35 years, and some refugee youth are embarking on university education. While there has been research conducted on refugee youth experiences at secondary school there is little research about their experiences in university education. Most refugee youth have experienced a range of traumatic experiences that compound the difficulties in adjusting to a new country. Many of these youth have experienced disrupted schooling in the past and have to take on household duties that make secondary education difficult in their resettled countries. Currently, it is unknown to what extent these challenges are also experienced by refugee tertiary students and if there are other challenges that are unique to the university environment. This paper reports on the findings of a study undertaken with students from refugee backgrounds studying at university in Victoria and Western Australia, Australia. Focus groups and in-depth interviews were used in the study to capture the voices and perceptions of refugee students. The results reveal that refugee students experience a variety of difficulties and barriers to success that are often not recognized by universities. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper argues that the complexity of recent debates about ‘illegal’ refugee arrivals in Australia, held since the prominent MV Tampa incident of August 2001, might be better understood by placing them in a comparative historical context. Towards this end, an investigation of previous debates on the subject of Jewish refugees in Australia prior to the Second World War is suggested. Such an exploration reveals a seemingly idiosyncratic ‘Australian’ slant towards refugees that demonstrates a subtle process of marginalization and exclusion based on notions of ‘good’ and ‘bad’ refugees. Such an approach further demonstrates the contradictory attitudes of immigrant societies towards refugees notwithstanding the cultural pluralism supposedly inherent in their outlooks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on qualitative research with refugees from Vietnam who have subsequently lived in Australia for fifteen to twenty years, this paper explores factors that influence resettled refugees' level of attachment to their original homeland and the country in which they resettle. Drawing from recent developments in citizenship theory, variations in attachment that emerge in the research data are analysed in terms of the refugees' experiences of social inclusion and social exclusion in each of the two countries. Implications for decisions about continued residence and resettled refugees' investment in social participation are discussed. Dangers of failing to promote substantial citizenship for resettled refugees are identified. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

For several years, Australia has been regarded by some politicians and observers in Europe as a model for hard-line policies towards refugees. At the same time, Australia's implementation of refugee externalization measures has been subject to considerable scholarly attention and critique. Although the Australian approach has featured prominently in political debates in several European states, this article analyses the implications of a possible adoption of the Australian offshore detention approach for refugee policy-making in the UK, and the consequences this will have for the integrity of the international refugee protection regime. The article considers how states might influence each other's policies—both directly and indirectly—by focusing on a case study of offshore detention and processing with regard to Australia's influence on—and similarity to—the UK, to the extent that we observe policy parallels, as the article brings to light substantial policy convergence of detrimental practice of these two countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Much research has focused on the damaging impact of Australian asylum seeker policies, and numerous studies have analysed the hostile discourses that have accompanied them. However, there has been very limited research that has offered a comprehensive analysis of the impact of these asylum seeker discourses upon individual refugees and asylum seekers. This article draws on the narrative analysis of in-depth interviews with Cambodian and Hazara refugees to explore how these discourses influence their storytelling about the refugee experience. The concept of the 'good refugee' emerged as a prominent theme. The participants mostly tell stories that comply with this concept to overcome their demonization in asylum seeker discourses and to find acceptance and belonging in Australia. The concept of the 'good refugee' is evident in the participants' self-representation, their reluctance to use their political voice, and in the gaps and silences in their stories. Continued efforts are needed to challenge the concept of the 'good refugee' as it silences refugees and asylum seekers and undermines belonging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The education of students from refugee and asylum seeker backgrounds is an international concern. It calls for inspired teachers, sensitive interventions, and informed leadership. This writing discusses the views of students, teachers, general staff, parents, and the principal of a primary school in regional New South Wales, Australia regarding the sense of belonging that is so critical to the very diverse school culture. It is intended to inform and challenge others engaged in school leadership to reflect on their strategies and policies for welcoming students with refugee and asylum seeker status into their communities. It details the strategies and perspectives planned by one principal and his staff to provide an authentically inclusive environment for refugee and asylum seeker students in an already fractured community. Working with the principles of the components of the SCARF model, status, certainty, acceptance, relatedness, and fairness, originally designed as a collaborative workplace model, the principal adopted this model to guide the creation of unique, social justice-focussed school ethos and culture in a dominantly white education system and local culture. The data from the participants is recorded in their own words and includes comments from refugee parents and their children. This study provides evidence of the need for strategic planning for inclusion and the importance of perspectives, which acknowledge the vulnerabilities and difficulties of these communities whilst also interacting and developing relationships of human dignity and respect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyses policy documents and data from interviews with employment and settlement service providers, employers, and government officials to explore the increasing shift of Australian refugee settlement policies towards neoliberal imperatives of productivity and self-sufficiency. The responses of service providers shed light on prevalent constructions of refugee subjecthood and related expectations of humanitarian entrants as potential labour market participants. Our analysis highlights the policy rationales that underpin the contemporary design and delivery of refugee settlement support, and draws attention to variations in service providers' adoption of these rationales. We argue that, while the realignment of refugee settlement support in Australia towards 'workfare' is consistent with emergent global narratives of 'enhancing refugee self-reliance', the significance of this shift lies in the ideologically driven erosion of the primary protective purpose of Australia's long-standing humanitarian migration programme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the interdisciplinary scholarship regarding immigration detention, the social, political and psychological costs of confinement are well documented. In recent years, however, scholars have also drawn attention to coerced forms of movement in some detention systems. Drawing on thirty in-depth, semi-structured interviews with volunteer visitors to Australia's immigration-detention facilities, this article makes two main contributions to this scholarship. First, it presents empirical evidence regarding the use of forced mobility in Australia's detention system. Dialoguing with work from other countries, it shows how these practices impact detainees and their supporters in the Australian context. Second, it builds upon and extends existing theoretical insights regarding the purposes of such mobility. While previous studies have concluded that relocations serve to isolate, punish and disorient prisoners, this article takes this argument a step further, positing that coerced mobility is also employed to encourage so-called 'voluntary' repatriations, thus serving overarching political objectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our article illuminates a particular way to think about the relational nature of public accountability and how that might guide further study of liberal democracies' treatment of asylum seekers and refugees. Public accountability is in trouble in liberal democracies, conceptually and practically. Scholars in the field identify a lack of clarity surrounding the 'ever-expanding' idea of accountability—its meaning and want of deep conceptual roots; the separation of theorizing from lived practice. At the same time, we see in liberal democracies, particularly in cases regarding the treatment of non-citizens, disturbing attacks on traditional mechanisms of accountability. We focus on the crisis of public accountability manifest in Australia's treatment of asylum seekers in offshore detention. We suggest that the lack of clarity around the concept of public accountability—and the lack of an ethical understanding of the public's critical role in demanding it—informs what is occurring in countries like Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Positive interaction with neighbours can significantly influence new immigrants’ perception of being welcomed in the host society. This article analyses interview narratives of 47 former refugees from Ethiopia, Burma and Congo about their neighbourhood experiences in diverse and relatively disadvantaged localities within Greater Brisbane, Australia. While most interviewees had positive interactions with their neighbours, a significant minority reported either problematic or no interaction. Most respondents reflected on being restricted by the language barrier and different cultural expectations about neighbourly relations. Having come from places where neighbours may have been the first point of social contact and support and where they often overlap with extended family, our respondents found Australian suburbs to be at odds with such a concept of close neighbourliness. We argue that barriers to positive neighbourly interactions hamper the acquisition of bridging social capital in disadvantaged, ethnically diverse residential locations and, by extension, potentially slow down the English-language learning, acculturation and employment success. Implications for policy are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the assessment of Indochinese refugees through Australia's first formal refugee status determination procedure between 1978 and 1983. Drawing from a unique set of UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) records, this is the first study to detail how the newly established Determination of Refugee Status (DORS) Committee's decision-making on Indochinese boat arrivals evolved over time. The Committee provided a basis on which the then Fraser government could process the Indochinese who sailed directly to Australia, while attempting to reassure the Australian public that it remained in control of their arrival. Through revealing new details of DORS' deliberations, this article provides an insight into interdepartmental debates about the Indochinese boat arrivals, and provides historical context for the Fraser government's public insistence on accepting only 'genuine' refugees. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increased demand for refugee admissions and services in developed countries like Australia makes it important for host countries to understand the refugee resettlement and integration process. Yet, the literature on pathways and processes facilitating and driving integration is under-theorized (Black 2001) and poorly understood (Spencer 2006; Ager and Strang 2008; Phillimore and Goodson 2008; Strang and Ager 2010). This article aims to explore the structures and pathways facilitating the integration of resettled refugees. Using data collected from recently settled South Sudanese refugees and Merton's typology of modes of adaptation as a theoretical framework, the article demonstrates that Australian Government institutions failed to provide accessible pathways and support to Sudanese refugees to navigate institutional means for achieving economic and social inclusion. At a broader level, the article argues that current Australian resettlement policies are dominated by an emphasis on refugees' adopting their new country's cultural goals without ensuring that there are effective processes and facilitators to achieve these goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This qualitative study investigated the refugee journey of 17 males who arrived in Australia as unaccompanied asylum-seeking minors between 2009 and 2013, and were granted protection visas. The article focuses on the four conceptual challenges of refugee journeys, as identified recently by BenEzer and Zetter: temporal characteristics; drivers and destinations; the process/content of the journey; and the characteristics of the wayfarers. The findings indicate that their mental journey has not yet ended and transcends the physical departure- arrival voyage. Although the primary drivers for the refugee journey were protection reasons, their desire to find a 'better life' free from violence and exclusion also played an important role. The irregular character of the journey made it highly unpredictable, exposed these minors to extreme levels of vulnerability and the need to remain invisible, prompted short-lived friendships with other asylum seekers, and created a pervasive feeling of mistrust towards smugglers and other people they met along the way. The study has highlighted the need for interventions to protect unaccompanied minors during their refugee journey. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Refugee settlement is generally conceptualized as a process of adjustment to life in a new country. In Australia, a suite of government-funded services works to support this process. This article extends the field by analysing refugee settlement as a concept constructed in particular socio-political contexts. It draws upon in-depth interviews with 23 informants from settlement services, peak bodies, government and international bodies to identify competing conceptualizations of refugee settlement, and to assess their salience and function in a context of insecurity and fragmentation. Three dominant narratives present settlement as caring for needy refugees, contributing to the productivity of future citizens and building the capacity of refugee settlers. In contrast, two alternative narratives present settlement as a long-term and unruly process that can result in poor outcomes. I argue participants draw from these competing narratives to ultimately construct an account of settlement that validates and protects specialist settlement services in the face of economic and political insecurity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Refugees are known to use narrative and draw on their memories of a homeland when displaced or in exile, in order to re-affirm their identities, and build a life in the new country. Nevertheless, little is known about how Somali refugees distinctively construct narratives in a new land as a means of coping in the present. In analysing narratives of Somali refugees who attended educational events in Melbourne, Australia, we examined stories and memories as they relate to adapting to the new country. Drawing on a qualitative, mainly in-depth interview-based study with Somali parents and key informants, we argue that a collective re-imagining of Somali society is key to the way people go about coping and managing current change. Despite experiencing the intense social disruption of civil war, idyllic stories of past family and community life are told, providing both a contrast to disconnection, individualism and risk in Australia, as well as a thread back to a mythical Somalia. We argue that the particular narrative constructions put forward by participants are an important form of agency, counterbalancing narratives of oppressed refugees in a new country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is relatively little research into the housing experience of refugee immigrants to Australia as a category or into variations in their housing careers according to cultural backgrounds. To address this issue, data from the 1999/2000 Longitudinal Survey of Immigrants to Australia, the most recent available survey to include refugee immigrants, are used to examine the housing and related circumstances of the nine largest groups of refugees during their first 18 months of resettlement. Most resettled into the private rental market and were satisfied with their housing situation. Statistical analysis suggests that differences in individual characteristics rather than cultural backgrounds are for most groups the major cause of variations in housing experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reports on a mixed-methods study of social exclusion experiences among 233 resettled refugees living in urban and regional Queensland, Australia. The findings reported here are drawn from the SettleMEN project, a longitudinal investigation of health and settlement experiences among recently arrived adult men from refugee backgrounds conducted between 2008 and 2010. Using questionnaire surveys and semi-structured interviews, we examine four key dimensions of social exclusion: production, consumption, social relations, and services. We show that, overall, participants experienced high levels of social exclusion across all four dimensions. Participants living in regional areas were significantly more likely to be excluded from production, social relations, and services. We argue that there is a pressing need to tackle barriers to economic participation and discrimination in order to promote the social inclusion of men from refugee backgrounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 2000, Australia has provided significant levels of funding and resources to encourage Indonesia to use immigration detention to deter asylum seekers from making the onward journey to Australia. In this way Australia has effectively extended its domestic policy of immigration detention beyond its own national borders. The provision of Australian funding for detention in Indonesia has resulted in an increased propensity of Indonesian officials to detain. This article examines the outcomes and implications of this transfer of immigration detention policy for asylum seekers and refugees in Indonesia. It draws on interviews conducted with individuals who have spent time in Indonesia’s immigration detention centres, and Indonesian immigration officials, to assess the conditions of the detention centres. The particular arrangement between Australia and Indonesia, however, fails adequately to protect the human rights of immigration detainees. Ultimately, the detention of asylum seekers in Indonesia serves as one more barrier to finding effective protection in the Asia-Pacific region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Australia's humanitarian programme contributes to UNHCR's global resettlement programme and enhances Australia's international humanitarian reputation. However, as the recent tragedy on Christmas Island has shown, the arrival of asylum seekers by boat continues to stimulate debate, discussion and reaction from the Australian public and the Australian media. In this study, we used a mixed methods community survey to understand community perceptions and attitudes relating to asylum seekers. We found that while personal contact with asylum seekers was important when forming opinions about this group of immigrants, for the majority of respondents, attitudes and opinions towards asylum seekers were more influenced by the interplay between traditional Australian values and norms, the way that these norms appeared to be threatened by asylum seekers, and the way that these threats were reinforced both in media and political rhetoric. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article provides an overview of the role faith-based organizations (FBOs) play in the politics of asylum in Australia. I suggest that an ethics of hospitality provides a useful way for theorizing the activities of Australian FBOs and their relationship with the Australian government. FBOs have used concepts and practices consistent with faith-based hospitality to challenge public discourses, provide services to asylum seekers that ameliorate the harsh effects of government immigration policies and eventually contribute to changes in those policies. Further, the faith-based hospitality that underpins the work of FBOs in the asylum sector has played a significant role in the substantial shifts in Australian government asylum policy in recent times, in particular the decision to expand the government's community detention programme. These changes provide unique opportunities for FBOs, yet come with significant risks and challenges regarding their ongoing engagement in asylum politics and the small but significant progress that has been made towards a more humane and compassionate asylum policy in Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Women’s experiences of violence often remain invisible or discounted in asylum law and practice. Gender is absent as an overt ground for protection under the Refugee Convention and readings of the Convention have commonly excluded it. Although Australia’s Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) has acknowledged women’s special protection needs with instruments such as the Guidelines on Gender Issues for Decision Makers (DIAC 1996, 2010), the article investigates whether these are translating into practice. It examines ways in which women’s claims for asylum because of gender-based persecution (GBP) may be impeded in Australia. Drawing on feedback from major stakeholder groups, including asylum advocates, asylum seeking women, and DIAC, we suggest that at the time of our fieldwork (2005/2006) appropriate consideration of claims of GBP was generally still not evident within DIAC. We identify barriers to both the emergence and consideration of claims and suggest ways DIAC might improve gender sensitivity in the processing of asylum claims. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The discourse of integration has been ascendant in migration policy internationally, particularly after western concerns linking terrorism with cultural separatism. Retreats from multiculturalism signal a view that conformance by outsiders with a normative, universal, and static national citizen subject will facilitate social cohesion. The discourse of integrationism, perpetuated through the practice of UnSpeak (Poole 2006), represents resettled refugees as innately problematic against dominant, normative values (Marston 2004). I explore these representations in Australian settlement education policy and suggest an appeal to marginal voices (Foucault 1980; Spivak 1988) as a means for contesting them. Rejecting an engagement driven by policy categories (Bakewell 2008), I interview nine, long settled Melbourne refugee women about education’s purposes. I make sense of the women’s feedback through Foucault’s (1990) Care of the Self, which provides an account of agency in the subject. The interviewees emphasize education’s role in facilitating self actualization, informed by a ‘knowledge of the self’. In contrast to their dominant representation as the problematic subjects of a policy encouraging conformity, refugees should be regarded as agents with potential. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The refugee label acknowledges the plight of people marginalized, oppressed and pushed to the periphery of society. While having this status affords a number of rights from countries signatory to the 1951 UN convention, the concept of ‘refugeehood’ within resettlement contexts can become a master status that defines a person above and beyond any other form of identity. Drawing upon political theories of recognition, this dilemma is addressed by examining the powerful current Western discourses on trauma where refugees are often situated. It is then contextualized, using the example of Sudanese men resettled in Australia to differentiate ordinary and extra-ordinary stories of lived experience. This distinction provides a helpful framework for developing more sophisticated understandings of how people have responded to trauma beyond the ‘event-worthy’ underpinnings of forced migration. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The authors respond to the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) of Australia's comment on their critique of its processing of women eligible to claim asylum on grounds of gender-based persecution (GBP). They highlight discussions on refugee studies about the merits of various research methods, including the role played by different forms of qualitative research. Some issues that DIAC have not addressed in its procedures are cited, including separate interview of women applicants from their spouse.