Operation Sovereign Borders Research Articles

Refoulement and refugees

Refoulement, a French word meaning to reject; or backwash, is a topic of hot debate in the current Australian political arena. However, the context of the word as it is in this article is unknown to most of the public world - government operations to deter asylum seekers titled 'pushing back the boats', 'Operation Sovereign Borders', among others are questionably pushing the limits as to what's refoulement and what is not - but the worded meaning under the law (1951 United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees) is the process by which a refugee is forcibly removed back to a place where they are re-exposed to the same danger from which they are trying to escape. From a legal perspective, the term is found in the 33rd article of piece of international law - drafted in response to the holocaust and other atrocities which occurred in Europe during World War II - known as the 1951 United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees. The following is a discussion of some of the issues surrounding refugees, especially from the Australian perspective.

A grievable life? The criminalisation and securing of asylum seeker bodies in the ‘violent frames’ of Australia’s Operation Sovereign Borders

The life of those seeking asylum from persecution and other human rights abuses has become interminably precarious. As minority world governments deploy various apparatuses of security to govern the circulation of ‘unruly’ populations, the world’s most vulnerable people have been reconstituted as security threats. In this paper I trace this ‘transfer of illegitimacy’ and criminalisation of asylum seeker bodies in the context of the Australian government’s newly deployed Operation Sovereign Borders. Drawing on Foucault’s governmentality as a domain of security and Butler’s articulation of recognition, precariousness and grievability, I explore both the subjectivities formed as a function and technique of securing Australia’s borders and the way this framing produces a certain governed reality that ‘acts upon the senses’ to delimit public discourse. I argue that the range of discursive and non-discursive practises that make up Operation Sovereign Borders has dire implications for those seeking asylum in Australia. Not only do these practises constitute a social crafting where conditions for a flourishing life are diminished, but this crafting of precarity is carried out in the name of securing citizens lives. The life of the asylum seekers is a life unrecognised in the violent frames of Operation Sovereign Borders.

A CASE FOR HARMONIZING LAWS ON MARITIME INTERCEPTIONS OF IRREGULAR MIGRANTS

AbstractMaritime interceptions continue as a fundamental dimension to external border controls against irregular migration, as seen most recently in Australia's institution of Operation Sovereign Borders in late 2013. The practice of developed States has highlighted the varied application and interpretation of four bodies of international law: the law of the sea, search and rescue obligations, refugee obligations and international human rights law. This article assesses this practice and the use of laws, highlighting the fragmentation of international law that has resulted. A proposal is presented to harmonize these laws and reconcile the divergent policy perspectives of different stakeholders.

‘To Watch, to Never Look Away’

In June, the Australian government celebrated six months without a boat reaching Australian shores from South East Asia. Consequently, demand for people smuggling has decreased, and there has been no loss of life of asylum seekers at sea. According to their stated aims of 'stopping the boats', and disrupting the people smuggling business model, 'Operation Sovereign Borders' and Australia's policy of processing asylum seekers offshore have been a success. It is not difficult to disrupt this narrative of success by pointing to the breaches of human rights associated with pushing boats away from the border, or to the intolerable conditions in offshore detention centres leading to widespread mental illness, riots and death, or to inadequate fasttrack processing which leads to people being forcibly returned to countries where they face the real prospect of political persecution and death. In this article we disrupt the narrative of success in a different way. We argue that the concealment of the measures required to achieve this policy outcome damages our democratic institutions, and thereby diminishes the Australian polity. In Roy's terms, 'Operation Sovereign Borders' has simplified what is complex, and taken from the Australian people the opportunity 'to try and understand' and 'to never look away'.

Operation Sovereign Borders

In the lead-up to the 2013 federal election, both Labor and the Coalition were keen to be seen to be tackling the 'refugee crisis' with drastic measures to stop the boats carrying asylum seekers from reaching Australian shores. On 30 July, the Labor government published full-page newspaper advertisements across the nation warning that people who come to Australia by boat will not have their protection claims assessed in Australia. To ensure high impact, a photo of a crowded boat carrying asylum seekers, and a deterrent message translated into several languages, were also disseminated in a number of target countries in the region. The (then) opposition, in turn, announced its 'Operation Sovereign Borders' policy ('OSB') to 'establish a military-led response to combat people smuggling'. Among its arsenal of weapons were legally questionable measures such as 'rigorous' offshore processing and 'turning back the boats' to deny the people smugglers 'a product to sell'.

Asylum in Australia: 'Operation Sovereign Borders' and International Law

Asylum in Australia: 'Operation Sovereign Borders' and International Law

Asylum in Australia: ‘Operation Sovereign Borders’ and International Law

Asylum in Australia: ‘Operation Sovereign Borders’ and International Law

Australia’s Continued Struggle with Asylum Seekers Who Arrive by Boat–How Consistent is the Current Policy Approach with Australia’s International Human Rights and Humanitarian Obligations?

Australia’s Continued Struggle with Asylum Seekers Who Arrive by Boat–How Consistent is the Current Policy Approach with Australia’s International Human Rights and Humanitarian Obligations? Sally Watson Abstract Australia’s latest policy approach to asylum seekers who arrive by boat, Operation Sovereign Borders, shifts the human rights focusfrom Australia’s own asylum seeker assessment and resettlement processes towards the human rights safeguards Australia has put in place under its offshore regime. An examination of these safeguards suggests a deterioration in Australia’s commitment to meet its human rights obligations to this group of people. Full Text: PDF DOI: 10.15640/jswhr.v2n2a2