Human Rights of Refugees: Australian Government’s Policies Over Refugees

Abstract

Global displacement levels are at a record-high level and Australia is under international pressure to accept refugees, but its strong ethnocentric nationalism resists immigration and multiculturalism. Despite claims of humanitarianism, Australian policies such as offshore processing and detention methods frequently violate human rights. The government degrades refugees and silences their voices to defend its actions and avoid accountability for international Human rights violations. The aim of this research is to investigates the policies and procedures implemented by various Australian governments, tracing their history and impact on refugees. Through a critical lens, it explores the specific human rights difficulties that refugees experience in Australia, assessing instances of violations caused by government actions. The evaluation of Australia’s obedience to international human rights norms, as well as its adherence or divergence from the universality and equality principles that underpin international frameworks, are key to the research. I find that Australia’s response to refugees can be more accurately explained using the concept of the International human rights framework and the concept of Universality. This research uses qualitative methods analyzing legislative documents, government papers, scholarly articles, and international human rights treaties to analyze Australia’s refugee policies. A comparative Analysis is used to examine how these policies align with international human rights obligations. This research reveals human rights breaches caused by Australia’s mandatory detention, boat turnback, and offshore processing practices and it illustrates cases of emotional and physical harm suffered by refugees in detention camps, raising questions about Australia’s adherence to international conventions. While Australia’s measures are justified by national security and border protection, they frequently cover up systematic human rights violations. Despite being a signatory to many key human rights treaties, Australia’s internal policies differ from the equality and universality principles that form the foundation of international human rights laws.