Inside Story | 27 June 2013

No country is an island… 
Australia could help improve safety, shelter and healthcare through developing regional arrangements

According to CPD Fellow Arja Keski-Nummi, Australia is hardly doing its part when it comes to refugees, with several million in the Asia-Pacific region at the end of 2012, we only host around 30,000 plus around 20,000 with asylum claims. When countries such as Malaysia and Thailand are hosting hundreds of thousands why do our politicians fight to ‘stop the boats’ as if we are in some kind of desperate trouble?

Arja, a former senior immigration official and a co-author of CPD’s Refugee Facts online resource, argues that Australia should lead the way in developing a regional system providing protection and safety, so that a dangerous boat trip no longer seems like the only option.

“We have the chance to develop sensible and realistic policies and should embrace it. If done well, Australia would be assisting in the development of a new and enduring protection framework in the region – sharing the weight and supporting states to build practical and responsive systems to support displaced people in the region.”

Read the article at Inside Story

Access the Refugee Facts website

Help us fill public debates about refugees and asylum seekers with good ideas; not more fear and misinformation –  Become an Ideas Sustainer.