The Policies of the Labor Government - Research Paper Example

This has been the practice with the successive administrations. The policies of the Labor Government, concerning the boat people emerged in an era, wherein there were very few boat arrivals. In the words of Gillard, these policies were developed by Labor, as they had to extinguish the deep divisions that had emerged on the progressive side of politics. From the perspective of the broader public, Labor was constrained to preserve the sanctity of the immigration mechanism. Since the Tampa incident of 2001, the number of boat arrivals in Australia has been negligible.

The Howard administration had promised to continue stringent border protection initiatives. These were to include patrolling the seas, exclusion of territory from the migration zone, and the processing of migrants in third countries. In addition, the Howard administration reiterated its commitment to detain unauthorised arrivals without any exceptions. None of the major political parties in Australia has challenged these draconian policies. All the same, the immoral and inhuman treatment accorded to the boat people by Australia has been condemned by some of its citizens.

It has emerged as a major symbolic issue in the cultural or identity wars. The Australians have demonstrated that the incursion of asylum seekers can be prevented to a significant extent, without violating international treaty obligations. In addition, it has been shown that the community will support the intake of refugees if such persons are part of managed immigration that is viewed as being beneficial to the nation. The predicament of unauthorised boat arrivals beset Australia, in earnest, during the latter half of 1989.

This was on account of the arrival of a ship laden with refugees from Cambodia, China, and Vietnam. Thereafter, there was an increase in the number of vessels carrying refugees to Australia. In the year 2000, 4,175 refugees were dumped upon Australian shores, by 75 ships. Definition of Asylum SeekerAn asylum seeker, as defined by the United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees is an individual who claims to be a refugee. In addition, the status of the claimant should be such that it had not been determined by the national refugee determination system.

To process asylum claims, every country adopts an explicit refugee determination system. Some of the regional organisations, specifically the European Union, have been engaged in creating a uniform refugee determination system. An illegally migrating refugee is in general detained. Thereafter, that refugee has to prove that he belongs to one of the recognised categories of refugees described in the 1951 Convention. On establishing compliance with the refugee determination system, the asylum seeker is granted asylum and the status of a refugee.

Domestic law determines the rights that are provided to the refugee. The states are provided with discretion to determine refugee status by the 1951 Convention. All the same, the refugee determination system of a nation has to comply with the principles of the effectiveness of obligations. These obligations are determined by the international norm of efficient implementation and reasonable efficiency (Raveendran, 2012, p. 1285).