Creating criminals : Australia’s response to asylum seekers and refugees

Linda Briskman, Lucy Fiske

Research output: Chapter in Book / Conference PaperChapter

Abstract

Australia’s criminalization of asylum seeking has almost closed the door for desperate people in search of safe haven. This means that asylum seekers and refugees have had to find their own solutions rather than waiting for the slow heaving of multi-country bureaucracies. For asylum seekers in detention centres, political agency is apparent in the few means available to protest their plight, which compounds the criminalization discourse of border invasion through punishment for ‘bad’ behaviour within detention. Those who experience criminalization at the deterrence stage must live hand to mouth, try to keep control of their bad memories, swallow their pride and accept a period of dependency on friends and families in parts of the world where earning a living is extremely difficult. Parallel narratives of those on the receiving end of the politics of punishment and deterrence illustrate how criminalization of irregular migration creates suffering. The stories from inside detention illustrate the methods used for punishment purposes. Those from people waiting in limbo reveal the ‘successful’ impact of punishment of one group to deter others and the half lives that result from this. Governments privilege national security and crime discourses in formulating responses, focusing on boats and borders. Voices of asylum seekers and refugees are discredited and the human costs of ‘crimmigration’ are hidden from view. Those asylum seekers and refugees who have spoken out do so in the hope that they will be heard and received with compassion. We share their aspirations.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationThe Immigrant Other: Lived Experiences in a Transnational World
EditorsRich Furman, Greg Lamphear, Douglas Epps
Place of PublicationU.S.
PublisherColumbia University Press
Pages225-239
Number of pages15
ISBN (Electronic)9780231541138
ISBN (Print)9780231171809
Publication statusPublished - 2016

Keywords

  • refugees
  • Australia
  • government policy
  • asylum, right of

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