Asylum seekers and the law

Further to these implications, through accession to The Convention on the Status of Refugees, Australia is bound to uphold the underlying intentions of the treaty. I refer particularly to the final Act, Item D, “International co-operation in the field of asylum and resettlement”, in this part of the Convention, it is recommended that governments:

… continue to receive refugees in their territories and that they act in concert in a true spirit of international cooperation in order that these refugees may find asylum and the possibility of resettlement.

The Refugee convention encourages signators to work in concert with each other and in the international community to absolve the refugee and asylum seeker issues. Negotiation with countries for interception of asylum seekers and processing in offshore detention centres who are not signatories to the international convention and protocol for refugees, can hardly guarantee that the Convention obligations are met, this is a major question in regards to negotiations with Indonesia to establish detention centres for Australia. This raises the question as to whether Australia has presented a willing effort to adhere to such ideologies as embodied in the Convention; which are important issues to be taken into consideration.

Given existing evidence that Australia has been operating largely in contravention of international laws in regards to asylum seekers, I am convinced that the current structures need to be changed rather than seeking alternative solutions with our neighbours.

Australia should take responsibility for these people as it has signed the international convention and is a participating member of the international community. It is embarrassing that Australia uses its neighbours who are not signators to the Convention in order to circumvent asylum seekers reaching its shores.

It is important to remember that there is no such thing as an illegal asylum seeker. The right to seek asylum is enshrined in the bases of international law in the declaration of human rights. As a member of the UN, Australia must do what it can to ensure that it does not deny anyone this essential human right.

Furthermore, principles of non-refoulment have been long enshrined in international laws and Australia is obliged to comply with these laws be they a signator to the convention or not.

There is sufficient evidence in international law that these policies are unacceptable and are not adequate long-term solutions to the problem of Australia’s unauthorised arrivals, not just in terms of deterring people-trafficking, but also in terms of participating at a global level to maintain the absorption of refugees worldwide and making a concerted effort accept responsibility for these people.

Australia needs to change its approach to asylum seekers. Due to the geographical location of Australia, it can be expected that people seeking asylum via boat will continue. Rather than taking bilateral measures with neighbours to send away asylum seekers, Australia can demonstrate a more humanitarian approach by more willingly taking responsibility for these people as it has agreed to through the international conventions.