Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/1959.3/74785

Title

Australia, Indonesia, and West Papuan refugees, 1962-2009

Author(s)

Neumann, Klaus;  Taylor, Savitri

Abstract

In this paper we examine the Australian government's response to West Papuan asylum-seekers during the period 1962-2009. We argue that, throughout this period, the Australian government has attempted to appease the sensitivities of its powerful northern neighbour, Indonesia, as far as it can without outraging a domestic public sympathetic to West Papuans or drawing international condemnation by too obviously breaching international law. For the most part, it has done so by trying to avoid accommodating refugees from Indonesia, liaising closely with the Indonesian government in relation to asylum-seekers, and assuring the Indonesian government of its unequivocal support for Indonesian territorial integrity.

Publication type

Journal article

Research centre

Swinburne University of Technology. Faculty of Life and Social Sciences. Institute for Social Research

Source

International Relations of the Asia-Pacific, Vol. 10, no. 1 (Jan 2010), pp. 1-31

Publication year

2010

Keyword(s)

Asylum seekers;  Australia;  Government policy;  Indonesia;  Papua New Guinea;  Refugees

Publisher

Oxford University Press

ISSN

1470-482X

Publisher URL

http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/irap/lcp012

Copyright

Copyright © The authors (2009). Published by Oxford University Press in association with the Japan Association of International Relations. The full text of this article will be available here 24 months after publication (January 2012). For more information, please refer to the journal's website or contact the author.

Peer reviewed