TA B LE O F C O N TENTS

SEA CHANGE:
AUSTRALIA'S NEW APPROACH TO ASYLUM SEEKERS
I. INTRODUCTION
In August and September 2001, the international
community witnessed a dramatic example of
Australia’s efforts to prevent unauthorized boat arrivals
to its shores. The Australian government refused
to allow the entry of more than 400 persons—mostly
believed to be from Afghanistan—aboard a Norwegian
freighter, the Tampa, that had rescued them at sea
and attempted to bring them to Australia’s Christmas
Island. Eventually, Australia struck a deal with
Nauru—one of the world’s smallest republics—to
house the asylum seekers while their claims were
processed, in exchange for U.S. $10 million in aid.
The Tampa incident commanded headlines and
ushered in a significantly new approach to Australia’s
treatment of unauthorized arrivals. Australia’s previous
policy had been to transport people arriving without
documentation to mainland detention facilities
and allow them to apply for asylum.
Despite the publicity this group received, it was
hardly the first to arrive by boat at Australian territory.
During Australia’s fiscal year 1999-2000 (which ended
June 30, 2000), 4,175 unauthorized migrants arrived
on the nation’s shores by boat—an increase of 354
percent over the previous year. 1 In fiscal year 2000-
2001, the number decreased only slightly, to 4,141. 2
While the first few months of fiscal year 2001-2002
showed continued steady arrivals, the pace of arrivals
increased dramatically in August.
The majority of recent arrivals have been from
Afghanistan and Iraq, with smaller numbers from
Iran, Pakistan, and elsewhere. Most have travelled
through the aid of organized smugglers. As the
number of such arrivals has increased, Australia has
embarked on a multi-pronged approach to discourage
and prevent such migration, either at its source, en
route, or upon arrival. Australia initiated most components
of this approach months or years before the
Tampa’s much-publicized saga.
One controversial component of the government’s
plan is an “overseas information campaign.” Along
with posters and other materials, the campaign has
included video spots showing the shark-infested seas
around Australia, the crocodiles closer to shore, and the
snakes further inland—where, as it happens, some of
the detention centers housing unauthorized migrants
are located. The title, and the message, of the campaign:
“Pay a people smuggler and you’ll pay the
price.”
Another component involves cooperation with
other countries, including the “source countries” of
asylum seekers (such as China); countries of “first
asylum,” which asylum seekers enter when fleeing
their homelands and where they sometimes reside for
months or years (such as Pakistan and Iran); and the
transit countries (such as Indonesia) through which
asylum seekers pass on their way to Australia. The
Australian government believes that its negotiations
with the Chinese government are responsible at least in
part for virtually stopping the arrival of Sino-Vietnamese
“boat people” in Australia. Australia seeks similar
results with respect to Afghans, Iraqis, and others from
the Middle East/South Asia region, who now form the
bulk of the new arrivals.
Other components of Australia’s effort to deter
unauthorized migration include: the mandatory detention
of all unauthorized arrivals, including asylum
seekers (a policy that began in response to Cambodian
and Vietnamese boat arrivals in the mid-1990s, but
which has been maintained by successive governments
in response to increasing numbers of unauthorized
arrivals); the location of some detention facilities in
remote, desert areas (where the government has said
Australia's New Approach to Asylum Seekers ◆ 3