Australian govt told to help neighbours to stem refugees
Updated
Nearly 200 people from a boat intercepted by the Royal Australian Navy have arrived at Christmas Island off Western Australia's coast, but the government says Australia should expect many more refugees fleeing from wars and unrest across the Asia-Pacific.
The Australian Strategic Policy Institute says the key to reducing the number of people coming here is to help improve living conditions in poorer countries. It's released a new report recommending that Australia expand its aid program in the Asia-Pacific region, and do more to try to slow down population growth in countries like East Timor and Papua New Guinea.
Presenter: Meredith Griffiths
Speaker: Dr Mark Thomson, Australian Strategic Policy Institute
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MEREDITH GRIFFITHS: One-hundred-and-ninety-four people have arrived on Christmas Island to have their claims for asylum assessed after their boat was spotted in Australian waters yesterday. The Federal Opposition says the arrival is proof the Government has softened Australia's border protection laws, but the Immigration Minister says it's due to unrest in several parts of Asia.
His argument is supported by Dr Mark Thomson from the Australian Strategic Policy Institute.
MARK THOMSON: The principal cause of people seeking refuge is events which cause them to seek refuge - unrest in one part of the world or another. Will this stop in the future? No, there will always be parts of the world where there are problems and where people will try and seek safety offshore. Hopefully though, as globalisation spreads around the world and prosperity improves, the number of such circumstances will decrease.
MEREDITH GRIFFITHS: Today Dr Thomson published a report called 'The Human Tide', which looks at the implications of development and demographics for Australia's strategic environment. It predicts seismic economic changes in the developing world and a large increase in the populations of poor countries. But Dr Mark Thomson says there's no evidence that illegal migration will increase. He believes it could actually decrease.
MARK THOMSON: As prosperity has been spreading itself around world in the last 40 or 50 years, the imperative for people to seek a better life from one country to another has in general, on average, reduced. And in the future, with the sort of projections we have for economic development in many parts of the world, that favourable circumstance will continue.
MEREDITH GRIFFITHS: While being optimistic about globalisation's ability to improve living conditions around the world, Mark Thomson warns that some of Australia's closest neighbours aren't keeping up. He says if East Timor, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands don't see improved economic growth people will want to leave those countries and come to Australia.
Dr Thomson says as the largest and most prosperous country in the region, Australia must help those countries.
MARK THOMSON: If there's unrest, if there's starvation, if people are living at subsistence levels on our doorstep, that's not something that I think is going to be sustainable for any government in Australia to allow. The second thing is that when those sort of circumstances emerge in a country, there's also a range of other adverse outcomes that occur. They can become a hub for transnational crime, drug trafficking can emerge and they can be open to influence by external powers whose interest might not align with Australia's.
MEREDITH GRIFFITHS: The key recommendation in the report released today is that Australia's international aid program prioritise family planning.
MARK THOMSON: If we were to put a greater emphasis on family planning, an emphasis on empowering people in developing countries to control their own fertility, it would have a multiplier effect in their prosperity in the longer term. If we can avoid the sort of pressures that high population growth will put on countries in terms of demand for resources, demand for services, increasingly large urban areas, we're heading off problems in the future and getting best value for money for our aid dollar.
MEREDITH GRIFFITHS: Dr Thomson also says Australia should increase its aid program. He's suggested that the Federal Government look at expanding the Pacific guest workers scheme, and do more to encourage Australian investment in the poorer countries of the region.
