Migration

Instead of grasping the opportunity presented by anti-migrant sentiment across the developed world, the Turnbull Government yesterday decided to join the party. And while the talking points and headlines will likely be greeted with satisfaction in some pivotal marginal seats, the rhetoric and policy

Prime Minister Turnbull yesterday carefully signalled a potential India-Australia Free Trade Agreement is not a priority for his government. This comes after the Abbott Government set a very public benchmark for concluding an India-Australia FTA by the end of 2015, an overly optimistic commitment

By Rachael Buckland, an intern with the Lowy Institute's Migration and Border Policy project. Listen to Oxford University’s Forced Migration Review podcasts on refugee resettlement practices around the world. Writing for The Guardian, Helen Roxburgh examines urban migrant experiences in

Forcibly returning unwanted migrants is not only intuitively unpleasant, it is also one of the most difficult areas in the immigration policies of liberal states. Unwanted migrants (or unlawful non-citizens) include those who overstay or misuse their visas, and, most sensitively, what

Last week, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled that EU member states are not obliged to issue humanitarian visas to asylum seekers at their overseas missions. A humanitarian visa would enable a third-country national at risk of torture of inhumane treatment to apply in situ for entry

By Rachael Buckland, an intern with the Lowy Institute's Migration and Border Policy program. Murdoch University's Mary Anne Kenny explains who is considered a 'genuine refugee' under Australian law.Australia's Department of Immigration and Border Protection announced a cut in the length of time

By Rachael Buckland, an intern with the Lowy Institute's Migration and Border Policy project. US Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly released two memos detailing the departmental implementation of Trump’s executive orders on border security and immigration enforcement. The NYT Editorial Board

After three decades in the immigration business, I thought I understood how it worked, but now I am convinced I have lost the plot. In the past, governments that were concerned about security threats from individuals of particular nationalities might have quietly intensified scrutiny of visa

By Daniel Thambar, an intern with the Lowy Institute's Migration and Border Policy Project. US President Donald Trump signed an executive order which imposes a 90-day visa ban on citizens from seven Muslim-majority nations, suspends all refugee admissions for 120 days and indefinitely bans all

By Daniel Thambar, an intern with the Lowy Institute’s Migration and Border Policy Project. US President Donald Trump is expected to sign executive orders to restrict immigration from several Middle Eastern and African countries.The battle for western Mosul is expected to start in the coming

By Rachael Buckland, an intern with the Lowy Institute's Migration and Border Policy Project. The NSW Government has announced job assistance training for refugees arriving to the state from Syria and Iraq. Writing for the Daily Telegraph, Miranda Devine questioned the criticism directed

By Rachael Buckland, an intern with the Migration and Border Policy Project. Earlier today the Committee for Economic Development of Australia (CEDA) released a report examining the economic impacts of migration in Australia. Like the Productivity Commission Report No.77 released earlier this

On 19 September, a UN high-level meeting to address large movements of refugees and migrants is expected to endorse an outcome document that commits states to negotiating a 'Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework' and separately a 'Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration', for

By the Lowy Institute's G20 Fellow Tristram Sainsbury and Research Associate Casper Wuite. Chatham House's Paola Subacchi recently asked why the G20 has not addressed the Syrian refugee crisis. She acknowledges that refugee issues have not historically been within the G20's bailiwick. However, she

As I wrote the other week, the Arab world, and the Gulf States in particular, have been happy to bat away any criticism of their complete refusal to resettle any refugees from Syria while leaving the West to deal with the tide of human misery. Protests have been held in Europe debating the pros

Following a community outcry over the plight of asylum seekers in Europe, the Australian Government has announced that it will resettle 12,000 Syrian and Iraqi refugees. This will be in addition to the annual refugee and humanitarian intake of 13,750. Prime Minister Tony Abbott has described the

In an attempt to better manage the migration wave to, and through, borderless Europe, the EU Commission is proposing policies on three fronts. The negotiations in the EU Council will not be easy: they involve some very reluctant governments, especially those from Eastern Europe. The first and

The humanitarian tragedy unfolding daily in Europe has forced the West to again try and redefine its obligations to those who have been made vulnerable as a result of conflict in the Middle East, particularly the Syrian civil war. But it may also have stirred a desire to question why the burden

It remains too early to predict the collapse of the Assad regime, or the way in which it might end, although the possibility of 'catastrophic success' on the part of the jihadist opposition is weighing on minds in Washington.  What is clear, however, are grounds for serious concern about the

Fear of ISIS, faltering economies and resentment over rising immigration from war-torn Iraq and Syria has resulted in a surge in right-wing populism in Europe and the UK.  Here in the UK, following the departure of three sisters with their nine children to join ISIS, and the emergence of the first

At a time when international cooperation on refugees is most sorely needed, countries are instead resorting to increasing unilateralism. Australia is at the forefront. Retreating inwards by trying to seal off borders to people in search of protection is both unrealistic and unsustainable. The

Chunyun, the annual spring festival holiday in China, is often described as the world's largest human migration. Over one billion trips are made in a 10-day period. The family reunion over the lunar new year is the local equivalent of Christmas and Thanksgiving combined, and for the many families