The Isle of the Damned: Seeking a Historical Context to the Modern Migrant Camp at Nauru and Analyzing the Difficulties Faced by Host Nations
Recently, in an interview with 2GB Radio, Australia’s immigration minister (Peter Dutton) made some rather crass remarks referring to accusations his country’s migrant detention center located on the offshore island of Nauru. Mr. Dutton contended that allegations of sexual assaults are falsified by refugees and that “most of the allegations have been reported before” (News, BBC, 2016). While, at first look, it might seem obtuse to the general public that Dutton’s statements exemplify the tremendous difficulties experienced by host countries beset by illegal/refugee immigrations. The historical record is filled with similar accounts of the burden experienced by host nations, the refugee populations, the media, and NGO’s. To refuse aid paints a nation as insolent, to provide it opens the same to a certain amount of scrutiny, justly or otherwise.
Australia has been placed in a similarly difficult situation with regard to receiving large numbers of displaced persons before. Peter Gatrell, in his survey and analysis of refugee crises entitled The Making of the Modern Refugee, refers to the post-Vietnam war era where Australian support for American interest in the conflict resulted in the expectation they would assimilate Vietnamese refugees along with the U.S. and Canada. The overcrowded boats that brought the modern refugee from Indonesia to Nauru were merely a repeat of the 1970’s influx of over 100,000 asylum seekers (Gatrell, 210). The journey was equally difficult for the trans-oceanic migrants, and equally demanding upon the Australian state.
Although Gatrell does not specifically address the recent influx of refugees to Australia, he does, however, describe other displacement situations since WW II that, when compared with this example, demonstrate the commonality of (or perception of) harsh treatments by potential host nations. The BBC article "Australia's Immigration Minister Accuses Asylum Seekers of Lying” reveals a continuum of trepidation which manifests into official policies and unofficial biases that shock the outside observer. The “environment of secrecy” described by Human Rights Commissioner Gillian Triggs when referring to the inability of observers to imbed reporters into holding/processing camps like the one found at Nauru is disturbingly reminiscent of Thai treatment of Cambodian refugees in the late 1970’s (News, BBC, 2016). Gatrell mentions how “Officials in Bangkok also did their utmost to keep outside observers away” in order to allow for their own shaping of the narrative pursuant to their own interests (Gatrell, 214). Potential host countries respond to refugee crises in a variety of ways, many defensive and reluctant to be made the undeserving villain by mediated imagery depicting deplorable migrant camp conditions that of which they do not control.
The sensitivity of the Australian government to criticism is understandable considering the many years and many billions spent attempting to deal with those who would endure great risks to cross the Indian Ocean by boat. The Nauru and Manus centers cost Australian taxpayers $1.2 Billion a year (Farrell, 2016).
It took the publishing of the “Nauru Papers,” a leaked collection of 2,000 reports from the detention center detailing “allegations of sexual abuse, instances of self-harm and squalid living conditions” to bring the camp’s conditions to light (News, BBC, 2016).
The immigration minister added that it was his belief that many refugees resorted to self-harm in order to gain asylum status. This would not be the first time that desperate persons might become “adept in devising strategies to survive and avoid being repatriated” (Gatrell, 211). The lengthy periods of quasi-incarceration in remote, isolated camps like Nauru, coupled with indifferent treatment by guards, can prove an extremely traumatic experience, in the past, and more recently. Through understanding the complexities of host/refugee relationships, the reader gains a more accurate perspective of the situation. Gatrell’s work performs this task masterfully. He provides the contextual basis for truly discerning what Dutton called “hype” from fact and allowing the public to sort through the propaganda of political machinations wherever they are found.
Works Cited
Farrell, Paul, Nick Evershed, and Helen Davidson. "The Nauru Files: Cache of 2,000 Leaked Reports Reveal Scale of Abuse of Children in Australian Offshore Detention." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 10 Aug. 2016. Web. 06 Sept. 2016. <https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2016/aug/10/the-nauru-files-2000-leaked-reports-reveal-scale-of-abuse-of-children-in-australian-offshore-detention>.
Gatrell, Peter. The Making of the Modern Refugee. Oxford.:, 2013. Print.
News, BBC. "Australia's Immigration Minister Accuses Asylum Seekers of Lying." BBC News. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Sept. 2016. <http://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-36972455>.
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