Asylum Seekers Essay

Mandatory detention is the practice of compulsorily detaining or imprisoning people seeking political asylum. Whilst Australia is not the only country to detain unauthorized arrivals in certain circumstances, it is the only country where there is mandatory immigration detention for all unlawful non-citizens. This imposition of mandatory detention for asylum seekers arriving in Australia without visas is a violation of basic human rights principles. As a signatory to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and countless treaties from the UN, our nation is in compliance with these principles, and whilst Australia continues to impose mandatory detention on Asylum Seekers we are violating the terms of these treaties.

In this essay I will be talking about the impact of the fall of Singapore on Australia’s immediate security, and also be giving a brief background of important events during that time.

Asylum Seekers People who flee their homes in the face of persecution, or threats to

The bilateral relationship between Australia and Indonesia has a long but fluctuating history as ‘strange neighbours’, based on a traditional stance from Australian parties of Indonesia as the weaker state (Robert and Hadir 2015: 195). The discourse on Australia’s role in East Timor, particularly the intervention as the head of the UN sanctioned INTERFET team, has been praised or criticized depending on the narrative constructed of the events (Maley 2000: 151). Australia’s role in the East Timor crisis began through complicity in its causes, followed by a change in foreign policy which caused a deterioration of the Indonesia-Australia relationship at a time when Indonesia’s new democratic governance should have deepened relations (Sulistiyanto 2010: 125). While Australia and Indonesia have been steadily rebuilding their relationship, especially in regard to security, the

Asylum seekers have been escaping their hostile countries for decades now, but where are they fleeing to? Not to Australia. With the Australian government forcing asylum seekers to Thailand and other foreign countries, it is lessening the number we, as Australians, have to "deal with", at least that is the government’s plan. Many Australians believe that asylum seekers and refugees don't deserve to come here to Australia, however if those Australians were to be forced to flee Australia due to war, they would support them coming. The point being made is that asylum seekers deserve as much as any Australian. Australia is a free country, and we want the entire world to believe that, so why are we trying to relieve asylum seekers of the joy of

In handling bilateral relationships, the Government often claims to have adopted an integrated approach taking into account the totality of Australian interests. But, a closer analyses of this claim reveals it would be almost impossible to meet the totality of Australia’s interests in any bilateral relationship and this is especially true of China which has such a different socio-political system. This close relationship continues to raise political questions for Australia to grapple with, such as her relations with Taiwan, Tibet and Chinese human rights issues. In some instances Australias interests will be confined mainly to trade and investment; in the more substantial bilateral relationships, the Government will implement comprehensive strategies

The Treaty, which enjoys broad bipartisan support in Australia as its pre-eminent formal security treaty alliance, was invoked for the first time—by Australia—in response to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks (Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, 2016).

Bipartisan support for the deepening security relationship is an important factor in its growth. Despite several changes of ruling party or prime minister in each country between 2007 and 2014, the two Governments have maintained a strong commitment to the high-level security relationship.13 The relationship in 2015 is extremely strong, demonstrated by a recent defence technology treaty and discussion of potential Australian acquisition of a Japanese submarine, with strong personal ties between national

Providing aid to developing countries in the Asia-Pacific region allows the countries to develop politically and economically, helping the region prosper, and therefore improve Australia’s personal security. The aid provided by Australia helps developing countries to stabilise their situation

Australian-Indonesian relations are the foreign relations between the two countries, whether economically, politically, legally or socially. Australian-Indonesian relations involve an interaction in foreign policies between the two nations (Wolfsohn, 1951, p. 68). As long as Indonesia is Australia 's closest and largest neighbor, they are bound to have great international relations. These relations began as early as the 17th century and had only become enhanced with time (Daly, 2003, p. 397). The relationship has been defined by a conjoint growth trade of up to $14 between the years 2011-2012 which reports an increase from the previous economic year (Mark, 2012, p.402). These countries are members of various trade deals such as the ASEAN Regional Forum in addition to having close ties with education, defense, and leadership. Australia 's relationship with Indonesia is crucial, and lack of such could severely bruise the economy, and hence they need to keep united by ensuring the use of widespread media with beneficial input. Australia interacts with Indonesia in a way such as sporting activity, tourism, education, economic policies, youth exchange programs, cultures and above all their diplomacy (Okamoto, 2010, p.241).

According to the Australian Government’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the nation’s relationship with China is “extensive and continues to grow in breadth and depth.  It is based on strong economic and trade complementarities and assisted by a comprehensive program of high level visits and wide-ranging cooperation activities” (People’s Republic of China Country Brief, 2014). In addition, Australia is also pursuing bilateral trade agreements with Japan and South Korea. The nation is also exploring its options with the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) with Chile, New Zealand, Singapore, Brunei, the United States, Malaysia, Peru, Vietnam, Canada, Mexico and Japan as well as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) along with the 10 members of ASEAN, Japan, China, South Korea, India and New Zealand (Wesley, 2014). With more than two-thirds of its trade with Asian partners, Australia relies heavily and has invested in that locale’s prosperity. Unfortunately, this can lead to bit of a balancing act for the nation, as it has been an ally of the United States since 1951. (Wesley, 2014). Journalist Brian Penton said the prosperity of Asia is far more important to Australia than the prosperity of American or Britain. Therefore, the purpose of this essay is to examine and establish the veracity of Penton’s statement.

Tony Abbott, John Howard and Kevin Rudd each have a different perspective on foreign affairs, but there is also a common thread to their approach. In the following paper I compare and contrast a speech made by each of them concerning foreign affairs and note the large similarity of ideology between each of them. All speeches support a strong relationship with the United States of America and active engagement in international affairs. I argue that they differ only in the nuance of emphasis although there is some evidence of traditional 'realist ' and 'liberal ' approaches to international politics. Howard concentrates on pragmatic state to state engagement for the benefit of Australians. Abbott focuses more on building up the military and physical security. Rudd is the only one of the three to emphasise that Australia 's foreign engagement should be for the benefit of others, as well as Australia. Overall, however, the speeches demonstrate a greater commonality of purpose and direction than they do divergent opinions. I argue the resulting stability of foreign policy engagement benefits not only Australia, but the rest of the world.

East Asia is also important for the US when it comes to the search for regional partners focusing on global problems. Climate change, energy security, transnational crimes and food security have all been major topics in US foreign policy. The same can be said about democracy and human rights. In this context, a partnership with Indonesia would enhance the efforts to find both a regional and global solution to those problems.

Every country in our world today shares some sort of relationship with another country. Whether it’s peaceful, aggressive, wanted or unwanted, each place shares a link with another. Australia has countless connections across the world, but one continent we have a major connection with is Asia, more specifically South Asia. The Asia-Australia relationship can be separated into cultural and political links. These cultural links include customs and traditions, religion, literature and art and food and language. The political connections are history, politics and economy and trade.

An Overview of Malaysia 's Foreign Policy As an extension of domestic policy, foreign policy is designed with the purpose in mind of defending and promoting the country 's national security, economic and other vital interests. Despite the diversity of views regarding the perception and explanation of foreign policy, no foreign policy can be formulated in a vacuum. It must serve to function in a dynamic environment. Malaysia 's foreign policy is no exception. Various geographical, historical, social and political determinants contribute to shaping the nature of Malaysia 's foreign policy and the conduct of the country 's international relations. Added to this is the external environment, or what may be termed as the systemic determinant,