Nauru

Unbroken tells the true story of Louis Zamperini, and Olympic runner and serviceman during World War II, who was captured by Japanese after his plane crashed into the Pacific Ocean. Laura Hillenbrand, the author of Unbroken, also authored a number one New York Times Bestseller, Seabiscuit. Hillenbrand studied at Kenyon College, but left early after the onset of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) caused her to not have enough energy to attend. In order to write the book, Hillenbrand interviewed…

B. THE CASE OF MV TAMPA The MV Tampa was a Norwegian merchant ship which was prevented by the Australian Government from entering into its territory. The Tampa rescued about 433 people in August 2001; many of them were of Afghan origin. These persons had been trying to reach Australia in a wooden fishing boat but the boat started sinking about 140 kilometers off the coast of Christmas Island. Some of the people aboard the ship required urgent medical attention so the Tampa decided to proceed to…

2. TERRITORIAL WATERS Article 2(1) of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)48 provides that, “[t]he sovereignty of a coastal State ex-tends, beyond its land territorial and internal waters and, in the case of an archipelagic State, its archipelagic waters, to an adjacent belt of sea, described as the territorial sea”. This maritime zone extends up to 12 nautical miles (Article 3, UNCLOS). The only major exception to this sovereign power of the state is the right of…

The other rationale deterrence measures is that they prevent futile deaths. However, drawing causal relationships between Australia’s policies and refugee mortality is an almost impossible task. While Operation Relex and Operation Sovereign Borders clearly reduced arrivals to Australian territory, their impact on the attempted journeys has not been transparently reported by the relevant government agencies. The claims of immigration ministers are accepted, however, these operations have slowed…

The securitization of Asylum Seekers by Australia Orin Troyer Introduction By the conclusion of 2014, in accordance to reports of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) there are approximately 59.5 million displaced people globally as a result of conflict, violence, environmental degradation and human rights violations. Of these, approximately 19.5 million are classified as an asylum seeker or refugee collectively. A refugee is a person who is unable or unwilling to…

Hence I read “The undesirables – Inside Nauru” by Mark Isaacs. The study was not prejudiced but supported by factual evidence developed via an in depth investigation into how immigration detention facilities run in Australia. This investigation was the first to be allowed in Australia, as the…

Intro (237) Children in immigration detention centres have been a prevalent issue since 1992, which has affected the lives of many that are fleeing their countries to seek a better life. This issue affects the common good in unfathomable ways. Some of the happenings in the detention centres affect the dignity of not only the children in the detention but the adults too. The children have either been witness to or experienced some form of violence or abuse whether it is sexual, physical, or…

“Being gay is natural. Hating gay is a lifestyle choice” - John Fugelsang. The question of LGBT rights come into play with this quote. What kind of human rights violations are LGBT people exposed to? When thinking about the answer to the question, there are a lot of themes to take into consideration. For example, LGBT rights affect government, environment, social relations, and ethics. Determining what themes human rights violations affect allows us to see how some countries have better human…

World War II was a devastating event after just 20 years of peace between nations. Although the Allies declaring war on Germany, after the invasion of Poland, was the official start of the Second World War, there were many other factors that led to an outbreak of conflict in 1939. The Treaty of Versailles was the main reason for Germany forcing the Allies into another war but there was also the Great Depression, Adolf Hitler, the Nazi Party and the Appeasement policy. The Treaty of Versailles…

In recent decades, there has been a global increase in the number of displaced people and people seeking asylum. The sheer magnitude and complexity of refugee movements has placed pressure on many destination countries to respond in ways which are sustainable, economical and respectful of human rights. One such approach has been the creation of detention centres to process asylum seekers. In this essay, an argument is made that while short-term detention of asylum seekers is justifiable,…