Annotated Bibliography Paper on obligatory detention of asylum seekers

This essay will focus on how obligatory detention of asylum seekers depends on biological positivism to criminalize a vulnerable group of individuals irrespective of conditions they are facing, and disregards the UN Convention, which indicates that seeking asylum is not an illegal act. It will equally analyze the classical criminological view that the government policies take in handling individuals seeking refugee status in Australia.

Amnesty International. This Is Breaking People: Human Rights Violations at Australia’s Asylum Seeker Processing Centre on Manus Island, Papua New Guinea. 1st ed. 2013. Web. 20 Aug. 2016.

This report outlines the decisions of 2012/13 made by Australian government to commence off-shore processing of asylum seekers on Manus Island, Papua New Guinea. It focuses on some of the violations that took place during the process, for example, lack of lawful representation, and procedural protections that detained get according to the international law. This report calls for various actions, for example, instant review of the procedures used to determine the status of asylum and for the government of Australia to cooperate with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in handling issues taking place during the detention of people seeking asylum on Manus Island.

Amnesty international, Australia: This is still breaking people: Update on human rights violations at Australia’s asylum seeker processing center on Manus Island, Papua New Guinea. Amnesty.org. N.P., 2014. Web. 20 Aug. 2016.

The article is an addition to the 2013 Amnesty International report. The publication was a response to the increased violent occurrences at the detention facilities on Manus Island. This included the unfortunate demise of a 23-year-old Iranian man named Reza Berati. He was apparently killed by guards inside the facility. The publication was also a response to the announcement that the National Court of Papua New Guinea was going to commence an investigation into the human rights abuse happening at the detention center. The article by Amnesty International (2014) also provides a brief synopsis of several operational issues raised by the government of Australia attempting to operate in a foreign land.

Creek, Tristan G. “Starving for Freedom: An Exploration of Australian Government Policies, Human Rights Obligations and Righting the Wrong for Those Seeking Asylum”. The International Journal of Human Rights 18.4-5 (2014): 479-507. Web.

Creek (495) explains the responsibilities that the Australian government has to individuals seeking asylum under international law, and ignoring those responsibilities. Creek (502) also talked about criminalization of non-criminal behaviors, particularly vulnerable individuals. He further indicated that the mandatory immigration detention for individuals who arrive by boat has unreasonably resulted in devastating mental health impacts. He further indicated that the violations of human rights in Australia have received bi-partisan support from politics. It is such reactions that have made some asylum-seekers to take part in hunger strike demonstrations.

Pickering, S. “Common Sense and Original Deviancy: News Discourses and Asylum Seekers in Australia”. Journal of Refugee Studies 14.2 (2001): 169-186. Web.

Pickering (175) utilized a deviancy-oriented framework to evaluate the media discourse around individuals seeking asylum in Australia, particularly at the Brisbane Courier Mail and the Sydney Morning Herald. She stated that whatever misses in media representation about people seeking asylum is the voice of those individuals themselves. She also analyzes media stereotypes of individuals seeking asylum as ‘racialised deviant’ and ‘diseased deviant’. They are both considered ways of othering these individuals and outlawing their existence. Pickering (172) further examined the role that the media plays in the moral panic surrounding individuals seeking asylum.

Pickering, Sharon. Refugees and State Crime. Sydney: Federation Press, 2005. Print.

Pickering states that the major objective of modern criminology is to explain why crime exists. She further indicated that bothering of individuals seeking asylum and labeling them criminals can lead to greater repercussions.  She further looks at historical changes that have taken place in response to people seeking asylum, ever-changing from supporting of a humanitarian crisis to being one of law enforcement and crime control. She examines the responsibilities of politics, media, and justice system in reframing the debate of those seeking asylum. . The government of Australia is implementing policies of deterrence which depend in the belief that the ‘deviant’ who are people seeking asylum are free to make rational or logical decisions to not travel to Australia for seeking asylum, a belief that is founded on classical criminological theory.

Welch, M. “The Sonics of Crimmigration in Australia: Wall of Noise and Quiet Manoeuvring”. British Journal of Criminology 52.2 (2011): 324-344. Web.

Welch (342) explores the moral panic that surrounds individuals seeking asylum, and particularly focused at the differences between quiet and loud panics. He takes into consideration the historical perception of viewing non-Australians as untrustworthy. Welch uses the term “crimmigration to refer to the criminalization of asylum seekers. He focuses on privatized detention, off-shore detention, and stonewalling tactics used by the government and their effects on the discussion surrounding individuals seeking asylum, and eventually their deliberate use by the government of Australia to criminalize individuals seeking asylum.

 

Works Cited

Amnesty International. This Is Breaking People: Human Rights Violations at Australia’s Asylum Seeker Processing Centre on Manus Island, Papua New Guinea. 1st ed. 2013. Web. 20 Aug. 2016.

Amnesty international. Australia: This is still breaking people: Update on human rights violations at Australia’s asylum seeker processing Centre on Manus Island, Papua New Guinea. Amnesty.org. N.P., 2014. Web. 20 Aug. 2016.

Creek, Tristan G. “Starving for Freedom: An Exploration of Australian Government Policies, Human Rights Obligations and Righting the Wrong for Those Seeking Asylum”. The International Journal of Human Rights 18.4-5 (2014): 479-507. Web.

Pickering, S. “Common Sense and Original Deviancy: News Discourses and Asylum Seekers in Australia”. Journal of Refugee Studies 14.2 (2001): 169-186. Web.

Pickering, S., & Lambert, C. (2002). Deterrence: Australia’s refugee policy. Current Issues in Criminal Justice, 14(1), 65–86.

Welch, M. “The Sonics of Crimmigration in Australia*: Wall of Noise and Quiet Manoeuvring”. British Journal of Criminology 52.2 (2011): 324-344. Web.