Australia and the 1951 Refugee Convention

Argues that the implementation of the 1951 Refugee Convention is failing the interests of both states and refugees. Summary Australia’s signature on 22 January 1954 brought into force the 1951 UN Convention relating to the Status of Refugees. It is now time for Australia again to take the lead, by pressing for a review of the 1951 Convention and the international protection system of which it is a cornerstone. While the Convention itself has, by and large, stood the test of time, its implementation is failing: failing Australian national interests; the interests of the wider international community; and the interests of refugees themselves. Indeed, one of the primary beneficiaries of these failures is people smugglers. Australia has already demonstrated its impatience with the status quo and its appetite for a new paradigm. Offshore processing as currently enacted by the Australian Government may have served its national interests better than the current international protection system; but is still in violation of the Convention to which Australia is a signatory. The Migration and Maritime Powers Legislation Amendment Bill 2014 deliberately removes most references to the 1951 Convention from the Migration Act 1958. And yet, in other ways, Australia continues to adhere to the Convention, directly through its refugee resettlement program, and indirectly through its ongoing support for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The Australian Government’s current approach may be working in the short term, but it is unlikely to diminish Australia’s asylum crisis in the long term, and it is damaging Australia’s international reputation. The Government needs to look beyond its current policies and lead an international debate on reforming the protection system. This Analysis lays out the case for reform: why it is preferable and more effective than the current Australian approach; how Australia is uniquely placed to lead an international debate on reform; and what the focus of that debate should be. First, it clarifies that what is required is not a revision of the 1951 Convention itself, but an overhaul of the way it is implemented through the international protection system

Environmental change and migration: implications for Australia

This paper argues that Australia needs a national policy framework on environmental migration, as climate change and natural disasters could displace potentially  thousands of people in coming years. In the Pacific Islands region, climate change and natural disasters could displace potentially  thousands of people in coming years.  A significant number of these people could end up as environmental migrants to Australia.  This paper argues that Australia needs a national policy framework on environmental migration to manage the new flow of migrants in ways that maximise the benefits, but also minimise the costs to the country, including any increase in irregular migration. Key points: It is likely that an increased number of migrants will arrive in Australia during the next decade as a result of the effects of environmental change in Pacific Island countries. Even if the scale of any environmental migration to Australia can be reduced by supporting adaptation to environmental change in the affected countries, some migration to Australia from the Pacific Island is still likely to occur. Australia needs a national policy framework on environmental migration that includes continuing support for multilateral initiatives on environmental migration, capacity-building in origin and transit countries, and national legislation that leverages existing labour migration programs and targets a limited number of countries

No ciudadanos atrapados en situaciones de conflicto, violencia y desastres

Cuando los no ciudadanos quedan atrapados en crisis humanitarias, pueden ser tan vulnerables a los desplazamientos y sufrir sus consecuencias tan agudamente como los ciudadanos. Sin embargo, faltan marcos y capacidades para su asistencia y protección

Transición y desplazamiento

Afganistán experimentará en 2014 una combinación de “transiciones” políticas, económicas y de seguridad, cuyas respuestas serán fundamentales en la determinación de la magnitud de posteriores desplazamientos de afganos en los próximos años

Asylum Migration and Implications for Countries of Origin

forced migration, remittances, post-conflict reconstruction, development

Las crisis sanitarias y la migración

Las respuestas individuales y colectivas a las crisis sanitarias se suman a una respuesta de la sanidad pública ordenada, que la mayoría de las veces se opone a la necesidad de desplazamientos a gran escala. Restringir los movimientos de población es un modo muy ineficaz de detener la propagación de una enfermedad y sin embargo los Gobiernos suelen recurrir a ello en los lugares donde se origina una crisis sanitaria

Information and repatriation: The case of Mozambican refugees in Malawi

Repatriation is the end of the refugee cycle. In the context of a growing global refugee crisis, it is often the most favourable durable solution. However, the concept of repatriation is not properly understood. Although there are an increasing number of empirical studies on repatriation, there is a dearth of theoretical reflection. The overall aim of this thesis is to design a model to explain when the refugee cycle comes to an end for different refugees, and thereby to provide a device through which similarities between repatriation movements in a global context can be critically examined. The intellectual thrust of the thesis is that potential repatriates arrive at a decision whether to repatriate or not by comparing conditions in exile with conditions at home. It follows that the receipt and evaluation of information about conditions at home is central to the decision-making process. A refugee cycle is conceived, in which the country of origin and the country of exile are linked by flows of information. Characteristics of these flows of information are articulated in a 'model of a repatriation information system', which was tested amongst Mozambican refugees in Malawi. In this system, information is conveyed between a transmitter in the country of origin and the refugee in exile by an agent. The flows of information have quantitative and qualitative characteristics, and are subjectively evaluated by the individual in arriving at an assessment of conditions at home. This thesis contributes towards the body of literature concerning African refugees generally and more specifically concerning Mozambican refugees, as well as contributing to the incorporation of refugee studies in the discipline of geography. It also has applications beyond these by providing a more generally applicable model of repatriation. The nature of certain findings also pitch the thesis into key debates in the evolving global migration system, including the extent to which there is a distinction between refugees and other sorts of migrants

Suplir el vacío de financiación para la protección de la comunidad

Una iniciativa para ayudar a las comunidades locales a aumentar su nivel de resiliencia contra los extremismos violentos podría aportar útiles enseñanzas sobre cómo ayudar a las comunidades locales a acceder a fondos con los que financiar sus intentos de protegerse

Reframing labour market mobility in global finance: Chinese elites in London’s financial district

In this paper, I use the case of elite Chinese financial mobility to London’s financial district to argue that comparatively neglected forms of elite financial migration from beyond the Global North provide important insights into the changing geographical form, and labour market practices within, leading international financial centres. By reporting on original empirical research, two main findings emerge. First, Chinese financial mobility to London has a distinctive geographical footprint in terms of both financial services activity and residential choices. Second, the rationale behind elite Chinese financial mobility to London cannot be fully explained by existing work on highly skilled migration and expatriation that emphasises the economic imperatives driving mobility. In response, I argue that work on elite mobility requires a fuller engagement with wider debates in economic geography that examine the interdependencies and inter-relationships between states and markets. These findings raise important questions surrounding the durability of Chinese finance in London, its relationship to global finance in London more generally, and wider understandings of elite financial labour markets