Borders, Exception and Sovereignty: Australia’s Migration Policies as Instruments of Suspension of (Human) Rights and (International) Obligations
Borders, Exception and Sovereignty: Australia’s Migration Policies as Instruments of Suspension of (Human) Rights and (International) Obligations

Author(s): Ana Carolina Macedo Abreu
Subject(s): Politics, Geography, Regional studies, International Law, Recent History (1900 till today), Security and defense, Policy, planning, forecast and speculation, Migration Studies, Penal Policy
Published by: Transnational Press London
Keywords: Australia; migration policy; human rights; international law; border control; policies; detention practices;
Summary/Abstract: Hostility towards migrants of non-European origin is a recurring subject in contemporary political space, especially among Western/developed states. In fact, the move towards stricter migration and border control in relation to some forms of migration has led authors to characterize such phenomena as a war on migration (Hyndman and Mountz, 2007) or a new ubiquity of borders (Balibar 2002). The crusade against irregular migration has particularly affected prospective asylum seekers who, fleeing from conflict and persecution in their countries of origin, attempt to reach safety and protection through unauthorized border crossings. The Australian border regime presents a paradigmatic case in this context of increasing hostility and control, having been described as “the most original yet retrograde means of repelling and excluding asylum seekers from its shores” (Hyndman and Mountz 2007, 83) and “the most fully developed policy regime that is oriented around control” (Johnson 2014, 67). This chapter focuses on the policies and practices of border/migration control that were/are employed in the context of the Pacific Solution (2001-2007) and Operation Sovereign Borders (OSB) (2013-present). The practices of control implemented during this period include interception and turnback of boats outside of territorial waters, forced return, detention and exclusion of parts of Australian territory from the migration zone (excision).

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