ABSTRACT
Chapter 2 focuses on the Liberal-National Coalition government’s reaction to the political and humanitarian crises that unfolded in 2015. The Andaman Sea crisis, which left boatloads of Rohingya stranded at sea, tested conflicting commitments to asylum and to borders in the Asia-Pacific. The migration crisis in the European Union later that year challenged the integrity of the EU community and affirmed for the Australian government its hardline approach to boat arrivals. In the tiny Pacific Island nation of Nauru, where Australia had transferred families of asylum seekers for processing and resettlement, a humanitarian crisis developed which generated intense debate. This chapter shows how contemporary migration crises are more about the political dynamics and insecurities of those in destination states such as Australia than they are about the migrants.
