Status Determination of Indochinese Boat Arrivals

A ‘Balancing Act’ in Australia

Bibliographic Data

ID12213010
AuthorsClaire Higgins (0000-0003-1756-4200, corresponding author)
Year2016
Pagesfev036-fev036
Publication date2016-08-17
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Refugee Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0951-6328 • E-ISSN: 1471-6925
PublisherOxford University Press (OUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1093/jrs/fev036
OpenAlexW2507543413
LanguageEN
References cited10

This article examines the assessment of Indochinese refugees through Australia’s first formal refugee status determination procedure between 1978 and 1983. Drawing from a unique set of UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) records, this is the first study to detail how the newly established Determination of Refugee Status (DORS) Committee’s decision-making on Indochinese boat arrivals evolved over time. The Committee provided a basis on which the then Fraser government could process the Indochinese who sailed directly to Australia, while attempting to reassure the Australian public that it remained in control of their arrival. Through revealing new details of DORS’ deliberations, this article provides an insight into inter-departmental debates about the Indochinese boat arrivals, and provides historical context for the Fraser government’s public insistence on accepting only ‘genuine’ refugees

Archaeology · Context (archaeology · Government (linguistics · Political science · Refugee · Sociology · Asian Geopolitics and Ethnography · Migration, Refugees, and Integration · Vietnamese History and Culture Studies · History · Law · Public Administration

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