Seeking Asylum: Overview : SBS Insight

Overview

What's behind the recent increase in asylum seekers?

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More people are arriving in Australia by boat seeking asylum.

19 boats carrying asylum seekers have arrived in Australia since the Rudd Government abolished the previous government’s Temporary Protection Visas and Pacific Solution scheme.

What’s behind the recent increase?

Web extra: Two asylum seekers share their stories.

The Opposition says the Government’s gone soft.

But the Government says its policies are firm and international conflicts are to blame.

How do we strike a balance between humanitarian responsibility and border protection?

Some of our guests will be available for you to talk to after the show on our Live Chat.

You can also follow Insight on Twitter.

Further Reading and Resources:

Asylum Levels and Trends in Industrialised Countries 2008
International Organization for Migration
Department for Immigration and Citizenship
Asylum Seeker Resource Centre
The Refugee Council of Australia

Meet the Guests

Chris Evans

Senator Chris Evans has been Minister for Immigration and Citizenship in the Rudd Government since December 2007. He has overseen changes to Australia's immigration policy since Labor came into power, including changes to the Howard government's Pacific Solution and the permanent settlement of thousands of asylum seekers on temporary protection visas.

Dr Sharman Stone

Dr Sharman Stone is Shadow Minister for Immigration and Citizenship. Dr Stone says the recent increase in arrivals of unauthorised vessels carrying asylum seekers is a result of the changes made by the Rudd Government to Immigration policies.

Sarah Hanson-Young

Senator Sarah Hanson-Young has been the Australian Greens’ spokesperson for Immigration and Human Rights since entering the Senate to represent South Australia in July 2008. She previously worked as a Campaign Manager for Amnesty International, following years of community activism supporting the rights of asylum seekers and refugees.

Kevin Andrews

Kevin Andrews was the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship in 2007 under the Howard Government. He is now an opposition MP and chairman of the Coalition Policy Review. As Immigration Minister, Mr Andrews was embroiled in the investigation of Mohamed Haneef, canceling the work visa of the Gold Coast doctor. He is also critical of the Rudd Government's current immigration policies, saying people smugglers are following Australian politics and are exploiting changes to border protection laws.

Richard Towle

Richard Towle took up the post as UNHCR Regional Representative for Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and the South Pacific in 2007. The New Zealander joined UNHCR in Hong Kong in the early 1990s when he worked in a variety of capacities with the Vietnamese boat people.

Doha Fahmey

Doha Fahmey is well settled in Australia after arriving on a crowded boat aged 21 in 2000. The Iraqi asylum seeker had to be pushed onto the boat in Indonesia by her aunt after protesting at the conditions. When the 150 asylum seekers arrived on Christmas Island the AFP appointed Doha translator, a position she retained through their week-long ordeal in a stadium camp and then ten months in Curtin Detention Centre in WA. Doha, her aunt and brothers and sisters were released on temporary protection visas, and in 2006 she gained permanent protection. She’s now studying law at Macquarie.