What’s so bad about boat turnbacks?
‘Boat turnbacks’ have been used by Australia for over 10 years but has come under a lot of criticism for its impact on people fleeing danger and persecution. Here is an overview of the process and its concerns.
What are boat turnbacks?
‘Boat turnbacks’ is the practice of stopping ‘Suspected Illegal Entry Vessels (SIEVs)’ (boats carrying asylum seekers) before they reach Australian soil, and sending them back to their country of origin, or out of Australian waters. It is a policy first used in 2001 after the ‘Tampa Affair’, but was retired in July 2006, before being introduced in September 2013 with the Liberal-National Party winning back power.
How many boats are turned back?
This changes year on year, for example in 2014 there were 11 boats turned back carrying a total of 312 people, whilst 2017 saw 3 boats turned back with a total of 60 people on board. 2023 saw 2 boats turned back, with a total of 51 people.
What is the purpose of this policy?
Despite Australia being a party to the UN Refugee Convention, meaning Australia is obligated to provide protection for asylum seekers who arrive without valid visas, this policy exists as a deterrent for irregular migrants and asylum seekers from reaching Australia. It is just one policy aimed at deterring these people, with others including offshore processing, which sees those who successfully land on Australian soil being moved to detention centres in Nauru (and previously Papua New Guinea) indefinitely, as well as the “enhanced screening process”, which gives asylum seekers a short (around 15min) interview and are either ‘screened in’ and given the opportunity to make their claim for asylum, or ‘screened out’ and sent back to their country of origin.
What are the concerns with boat turnbacks?
Successive governments have used various justifications for boat turnbacks - concerns about drownings and deaths at sea, stopping people-smuggling syndicates making money off vulnerable people, and protecting Australia’s borders. However this policy poses a number of concerns:
It does not give asylum seekers the ability to apply for asylum in Australia
With the government’s policy of not talking about ‘on-water’ matters, we do not exactly know what is being done to asylum seekers at sea
It violates international law and our agreement to the UN Refugee Convention to not send people back to danger
It sends vulnerable people back to countries where we cannot guarantee their safety, which has seen people living under harassment, imprisonment, and torture
It has seen people die at sea due to the boats needing to return
What is the future for asylum seekers?
We have seen this policy being adopted across the world, but the reality is people do not seek asylum and get on a boat lightly. We are seeing more people displaced by war and climate crises, but with states hardening borders, we are set to see more people injured or dead due to these policies.
