Refugees: Why seeking asylum is legal and Australia's policies are not - Tapa blanda

A short, straightforward guide to the rights and wrongs of our refugee policy written by the expert in the field. Stopping the boats, blocking queue-jumpers and proving who is a `real' refugee have become national obsessions. Misconceptions about refugees and asylum seekers seem to be increasing and governments and media continue to exploit anxieties in the community. This clear-headed book shows that there is a gap between the rhetoric and the legislated rights of refugees, who have been resettled from camps abroad, and asylum seekers, who arrive by boat. It shows why our asylum-seeker policies, developed over decades, are at odds with the legal obligations we have signed up to. And, using real-life examples, it reminds us that we're talking about real people and their children.

Jane McAdam is Scientia Professor of Law and director of the Andrew & Renata Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law at the University of New South Wales, Australia. She holds an Australian Research Council Future Fellowship, is a non-resident Senior Fellow at The Brookings Institution in Washington DC and a research associate at the University of Oxford's Refugee Studies Centre. She is joint editor-in-chief of the International Journal of Refugee Law. Fiona Chong is a recent law graduate of the University of New South Wales, Australia who, as research associate to Professor Jane McAdam, undertook research on international refugee law, complementary protection and climate change related displacement.