Asylum by Boat: Origins of Australia's refugee policy

In the late 1970s, 2000 Vietnamese arrived in Australia by boat, fleeing persecution. Their arrival presented a challenge to politicians, but the way the Fraser government handled it, and the resettlement of tens of thousands more Indochinese refugees, marked a turning point in Australia's immigration history. Turn-backs and detention were proposed, and rejected. Claire Higgins' important book recounts these extraordinary events. It is driven by the question of how we moved from a humanitarian approach to policies of mandatory detention - including on remote islands - and boat turn-backs. Like now, the politicians of the time wanted to control entry. Unlike now, they also wanted to respect Australia's obligations under international law. It's about how governments and policy-makers have dealt with the confluence of issues emerging from the end of the 'White Australia' policy, a recognition of international responsibilities, and shifting public opinion. Strikingly, it also shows the extent to which the attitudes and statements of politicians and policymakers can shape the mood of the country, for better and worse.

Author: Claire Higgins
Publisher: UNSW Press
Published: 09/01/2017
Pages: 256
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.71lbs
Size: 8.25h x 5.50w x 0.58d
ISBN13: 9781742235677
ISBN10: 1742235670
BISAC Categories:
- History | Australia & New Zealand | General
- Political Science | Civics & Citizenship
- Social Science | Emigration & Immigration

About the Author
Dr Claire Higgins is an historian and a senior research associate at the Andrew and Renata Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law at UNSW. Claire is a Fulbright Postdoctoral Scholar, and previously completed doctoral study in History as a Clarendon Scholar at Merton College, the University of Oxford, writing on the development of Australian refugee policy.

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