Immigration and asylum and Baptists

Address by Rod Benson to a meeting of Encore, Morling College, Sydney

7 September 2012

The world today faces a global refugee crisis with up to 40 million displaced people, the majority of whom are women and children.  Australia currently accepts around 13,750 refugees each year as part of total planned annual immigration of around 182,000 people,[2] although the federal government last month increased the annual refugee quota to 20,000 in line with recommendations of the report of the Expert Panel on Asylum Seekers.

I have four aims today:

(a)     outline some of the most recent statistics on immigration and asylum seekers;

(b)    identify social and political problems relating to asylum seekers and refugees;

(c)    summarise the biblical teaching on a responsible Christian approach to asylum seekers;

(d)   indicate how Australian Baptists have responded, or might respond, to the current challenges and opportunities presented by the immigration debate and the influx of asylum seekers .

The situation facing Australia today

Immigration policy is one of the two most bitterly contested issues in Australian politics, and has been for more than ten years.  People who seek asylum by boat, and various policy instruments designed to deter both asylum seekers and people smugglers, have been at the heart of an increasingly contentious public and political discussion in Australia for more than a decade.  The debate has polarised large sections of the Australian community and prevented many politicians from engaging in a constructive policy dialogue.

With little to differentiate their product, especially on economic and employment issues, the two major political parties have resorted to defining their voter appeal on the basis of pragmatic and regressive policies with respect to asylum seekers.  It is the poor and vulnerable who stand to lose most from this.  In addition, there is an extraordinary volume of misinformation and political spin, and it becomes increasingly difficult to allow the facts to speak for themselves.  The same is true of debates about climate change policy.

Several common public assumptions arise regarding asylum seekers and refugees, such as:

(a)        Asylum seekers are illegal immigrants;

(b)       Asylum seekers are queue jumpers;

(c)        More people are coming to Australia by boat because the government is “soft” on asylum seekers;

(d)       Offshore detention will stop the boats and break the people-smugglers’ business model;

(e)        Australia is full and we will be swamped with foreigners;

(f)         Asylum seekers take jobs away from Australian citizens;

(g)       Most asylum seekers are Muslims and potential terrorists;

(h)       Children are no longer in immigration detention in Australia.

All of the assumptions listed above are either seriously contested or false, and can be refuted.  To address these perceived problems it is necessary to establish the facts, clarify our biblical and theological convictions about asylum seekers and refugees, and determine what principles should be articulated and what actions taken to effectively deal with the issues.  But that is not my purpose today.

Some recent statistics

The Australian Bureau of Statistics provides the following snapshot from the 2011 Australian census:[3]

• 2011 national population 22,485,300 (up 302,600 from 2010, or 1.4 per cent)
• Natural increase for 2011 was 149,000 people (2.5%)
• Net overseas migration for 2011 was 184,000 people (9%), up 15,200 on 2010 figures

 

TOP 10 COUNTRIES OF BIRTH FOR THE OVERSEAS-BORN POPULATION, SELECTED CHARACTERISTICS

Country of birth	Persons	Proportion of   all overseas-born	Median age	Sex ratio(a)
	‘000	%	years
United Kingdom	1 101.1	20.8	54	101.7
New Zealand	483.4	9.1	40	102.8
China(b)	319.0	6.0	35	79.8
India	295.4	5.6	31	125.2
Italy	185.4	3.5	68	104.7
Vietnam	185.0	3.5	43	84.6
Philippines	171.2	3.2	39	60.6
South Africa	145.7	2.8	39	96.9
Malaysia	116.2	2.2	39	83.5
Germany	108.0	2.0	62	90.6
Born elsewhere overseas	2 183.8	41.2	44	95.6
Total overseas-born	5 294.2	100	45	96.1
(a) Number of males per 100 females.
(b) Excludes Special Administrative Regions and   Taiwan Province.

2011 Census age and sex distribution: recent arrivals and Australian-born:

SELECTED CHARACTERISTICS OF ANCESTRY GROUPS

			Generations in Australia
	Persons(a)	Proportion of   total population	First   generation	Second   generation	Third-plus   generation	Also stated another ancestry
Ancestry	‘000	%	%	%	%	%
English	7 238.5	36.1	18.5	20.1	61.4	53.5
Australian	7 098.5	35.4	2.0	18.3	79.6	38.5
Irish	2 087.8	10.4	12.9	13.9	73.2	80.4
Scottish	1 792.6	8.9	17.1	19.1	63.8	78.3
Italian	916.1	4.6	24.1	41.0	34.9	44.3
German	898.7	4.5	17.3	19.8	62.9	75.4
Chinese	866.2	4.3	74.3	21.3	4.4	16.2
Indian	390.9	2.0	79.8	18.6	1.6	12.9
Greek	378.3	1.9	30.9	44.8	24.3	26.2
Dutch	335.5	1.7	32.5	43.3	24.2	55.1
(a) Table presents collective responses to   ancestry question. As some people stated two ancestries, the total persons   for all ancestries exceed Australia’s total population.

 

 

RELIGIOUS AFFILIATIONS

		Population	Proportion   born overseas(a)
Religion	‘000	%	%
Christian	13 150.6	61.1	22.9
Catholic	5 439.2	25.3	24.0
Anglican	3 680.0	17.1	17.5
Uniting Church	1 065.8	5.0	11.4
Presbyterian and Reformed	599.5	2.8	26.3
Eastern Orthodox	563.1	2.6	43.6
Baptist	352.5	1.6	28.8
Lutheran	251.9	1.2	24.5
Pentecostal	238.0	1.1	32.6
Other Christian	960.7	4.5	31.0
Non-Christian	1 546.3	7.2	67.0
Buddhism	529.0	2.5	69.4
Islam	476.3	2.2	61.5
Hinduism	275.5	1.3	84.3
Judaism	97.3	0.5	48.9
Other non-Christian	168.2	0.8	57.2
No Religion	4 796.8	22.3	22.5
Total(b)	21 507.7	100.0	26.1
(a) Proportion of people reporting this religion   who were born overseas.
(b) Total includes inadequately described   (supplementary codes) religions and people who did not state a religion.

 

 The Bible and refugees

Baptists are people of biblical conviction, and take seriously the teaching of the Bible as it relates to contemporary social and political issues.  The Bible refers to asylum seekers and refugees in many different situations, and instructs readers in how to respond to their plight.  It could be said that Adam and Eve were the first refugees, compelled to flee the Garden of Eden because they were unworthy of residency (Genesis 3:22-24).  Later, at various times, Abram was a migrant or a refugee (Genesis 12:1-10; cf Hebrews 11:8), as were Isaac (Genesis 26:16), Jacob (Gen 46:6) and Joseph (Genesis 39; and family reunion, Genesis 41-42) and Moses (Exodus 1).

Following their dramatic flight from slavery in Egypt, the Israelites lived as nomads for forty years before entering Canaan (Exodus 13ff).  The sons of Benjamin fled from a military attack and resettled in another country where they found peace and safety (2 Samuel 4:3).  After the division of the kingdom, many Israelites experienced displacement, loss and trauma when they were exiled to Assyria and Babylon, and even when some of them returned to the land, life was never the same (e.g. 2 Kings 24:14-16; but see also Jeremiah 29:4-7).

Ancient Israel possessed laws designed to ensure the just treatment of “strangers” and “aliens,” persons who were not ethnic members of the nation but who were protected by law (e.g. Deuteronomy 24:17-18).  The law also recognised the non-assimilating “stranger” (Leviticus 19:33-34a), whose different customs were respected and protected.  And, despite Israel’s commitment to racial and religious purity, these foreigners were able to share in Israel’s cultural and religious life.  The story of Rahab (Joshua 6:24f) and Ruth (Ruth 1:1-22; 4:13-17) demonstrate the radical nature of Israel’s commitment to the welfare of the vulnerable and the outsider.

The reason often given for these gracious principles was the memory of the harsh experience of the Israelites when they were slaves in Egypt (e.g. Exodus 23:9; Deuteronomy 10:17-19).  Further, the welcome and care of foreigners was structured into Israel’s gleaning and tithing laws (Leviticus 19:9-10; Deuteronomy 14:28-29).  Finally, there were designated places of sanctuary (not detention) in ancient Israel, where refugees could live in peace and safety while their claims were being processed (Numbers 35:6-15).

The New Testament portrays Jesus as the ultimate immigrant, coming from heaven to point the way back to God and God’s ways (2 Corinthians 8:9; Philippians 2:5-8).  The infant Jesus and his family experienced life as political refugees for a time, forced to flee the wrath and malice of King Herod, and finding sanctuary in Egypt until the immediate threat had passed (Matthew 2:13-23; see also 8:20). The church is collectively described as “foreigners and exiles” (1 Peter 2:11; cf Hebrews 11:13); and its early leaders found themselves oppressed, attacked, imprisoned and even deported from time to time for their faith and because of the threat they allegedly posed to the centres of religious and political power.

There are many biblical principles of love and justice which apply to refugees and asylum seekers (e.g. Micah 6:8; Matthew 22:34-40).  In Jesus’ parable of the sheep and the goats, the king declares that the faithful may enter the kingdom because “I was a stranger and you welcomed me … whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me” (Matthew 25:35, 40).

See also the following New Testament texts:

• Luke 1:46-55 (the Magnificat)
• Luke 10:25-37 (the parable of the Good Samaritan)
• Romans 12:13 (“Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.”)
• Hebrews 13:1-3 (“Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers.”)
• James 2:15-17 (on failure to meet people’s physical needs)

For those who remain unpersuaded by this compelling evidence for the need for an active response to the plight of refugees and asylum seekers today, there is the Golden Rule from the Sermon on the Mount, where Jesus said, “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets” (Matthew 7:12).

The Bible presents a coherent and consistent emphasis on justice, grace and neighbour-love toward all who are in need, summed up most profoundly in the biblical concept of shalom, “a picture of community, of life in relationships, in which things are as they are supposed to be [and where people] live in harmony and delight with God, each other, and the world.”[4]

Both individual Christians and local churches are expected to reach out to such people with compassion and sacrificial love, possessing no ulterior motive and showing no favouritism toward particular groups.  Further, the Lordship of Jesus Christ precedes and overrides any and all demands from, or commitments to, the nation state and its laws and policies.

Moreover, Roy Branson observes that:

While Christianity affirms the importance of the individual stranger, it also values community.  The sanctuary movement [i.e. the historic practice of offering sanctuary to those fleeing danger] not only draws attention to the exile but also to the cities of refuge.  As in designated Old Testament towns, and in British and European cathedrals into the 16^th century, security from retaliation and injustice must be provided …

The theme of exiles and pilgrims as the chosen of God, who must in turn welcome the stranger, is so strong a theme in biblical faith that it creates a presumption in favor of admitting the immigrant, granting asylum to the refugee, and treating the alien as an equal.[5]

And John Stott notes:

It is important that a church which has a passion for justice should stand up against any culture or system which overlooks injustice, especially when it refers to the weaker members of society.  Yet such injustice goes further: it denies the very roots of the creation story as affirming each person as made in the image of God and worthy of dignity and respect.[6]

Finally, Brisbane-based Christian lawyer Mark Fowler states:

The phenomenon of the seeking of asylum is as old as man’s capacity for war.  In the time of Isaiah, refugees were recorded fleeing from Moab, which had been invaded by an ancient middle eastern power. Isaiah records God’s concern for these people, saying, “on the roofs and in the public squares they all wail, prostrate with weeping … My heart cries out over Moab; her fugitives flee as far as Zoar” (Isaiah 15: 3-5).  If God cried so earnestly over this suffering almost four thousand years ago, might we not reasonably assume that He continues to cry over similar suffering today? …

There will continue to be a diversity of opinion within the Australian community on the question of how we are to respond to the boat people, and that diversity will be reflected within the Christian community.  However the sharing of the motivations of Christ is the unique contribution His church may make to this debate, and to the lives of the asylum seekers.  The Christ who was a refugee, is the Christ who offers compassion and healing for refugees today.[7]

 

Australian Baptists and asylum seekers

Historically, Baptists have tended to take a strong stand on issues such as religious liberty and race relations, either in opposition or response to public sentiment, but their response to immigration and asylum issues has been less strong and less consistent.  In the early 1980s, W. David Lockard, a former director of the U.S. Southern Baptist Christian Life Commission, observed that:

The continuing plight of refugees in the world today is a serious challenge to the conscience of all nations.  It is a special challenge to all Christians.  We must not let the size of the problem or the recognition of our limitations anaesthetize our conscience or wither our generosity.[8]

Baptists in Australia have generally shared this conviction, especially during the years immediately following World War II, and in the 1970s when asylum seekers from South-East Asia began arriving in Australia in large numbers.  The response by Australian Baptists to more recent trends in immigration and asylum is more complex, as a result of perceptions in the wider community that a majority of asylum seekers are of Arabian (or Persian) ethnicity, and of Muslim faith (and therefore, so the argument goes, probably anti-Christian and potentially terrorists); and due to the self-serving politicization of debates on asylum seekers by Australian political parties.

In August 1950, the Chairman of the Australian Baptist Home Mission Board, Rev W.P. Phillips, addressed the Triennial Assembly of the Baptist Union of Australia in Sydney.  His address, titled “Immigration and the future development of Australia,” was published as a booklet.  Phillips’ main argument was that Australia was a continent richly blessed with natural resources, and could sustain a much higher population; and the postwar situation in Europe, with a prolonged economic crisis coupled with severe food shortages and large-scale refugee movements, offered an unprecedented opportunity for Australian Baptists to welcome refugees and other immigrants who could potentially contribute to church extension.

The emphasis in W.P. Phillips’ address was clearly on British immigration (and preferably British Baptists).  He admired NSW Presbyterian leader Rev John Dunmore Lang’s nineteenth-century vision for Protestant immigration.  He quoted federal Immigration Minister Harold Holt, who had said earlier in 1950, “This is a British community, and we want to keep it a British community, living under British standards … We must keep a proper balance of migrants so that the British element will be predominant and that our British institutions will persist.”[9]  It would be three decades before Malcolm Fraser formally launched Australia’s multicultural policy.  But Phillips concluded his address with these unqualified words:

As Christians we should count it a privilege to show friendship to strangers.  As we read today the Master’s answer to the question, “Who is my neighbour?” we interpret it to mean, in the light of our new conditions, the lonely stranger who comes to make his home in our country.  We must be foremost in stretching out the hand of welcome.  The Head of the Church takes notice.  There is a day coming when the King shall say to His faithful ones, “Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink; I was a stranger, and ye took me in.”[10]

A similar tendency was evident in the states.  For example, in the first half of the twentieth century, NSW Baptist interest in immigration clearly arose from a desire to boost membership of Baptist churches.  There was a strong preference for Baptist immigrants from Britain and, to a lesser extent, from Northern Europe.

But there were exceptions.  For example, in 1939, NSW Baptists formally supported an Inter-Church Committee for Non-Aryan Refugees, and during and immediately following World War II took an active interest in welcoming European refugees, “especially Jews.”  In 1947 the Executive Committee of the Baptist Union of NSW cautiously expressed the view that “the prospects for the admission of Baptists of other races should improve with the passing of time.”

To sponsor and provide for the physical needs of immigrants (and especially refugees) was a significant challenge.  Usually such sponsorship was directed toward persons fleeing religious persecution such as was faced by Baptists in the Soviet Union before and during the cold war.  It was not until the late 1980s, after fundamental changes had been made to Australia’s population and public policy (e.g. the dismantling of the White Australia policy and the official embrace of multiculturalism) that NSW Baptists formally moved to endorse ethnic and multicultural influences, and again this appears to have been largely on the grounds of church extension and supporting ethnic churches.

A shift occurred after 1990 with the passage of a series of NSW Baptist Assembly resolutions focused on human rights, urging the federal government to take specific action to increase the annual refugee quota and to treat asylum seekers with greater respect, calling on local churches to provide stronger advocacy on behalf of refugees, and lobbying politicians to introduce more liberal immigration policies.  In recent years this emphasis has been extended to include opposition to mandatory detention of asylum seekers and to call for a progressive increase in the refugee component of immigration quotas, and there appears to be widespread tacit support among Baptists (in NSW and in other states, especially Victoria) for progressive action in support of asylum seekers and their interests.[11]

With respect to immigration and asylum, what we have seen among Australian Baptists over the past 70 years is a shift in emphasis from what would best promote Baptist church membership to what would best promote the common good.  There are many reasons for this shift, including better universal education, deeper experience of other cultures and faiths, higher penetration of news and opinion on public issues, and a weakening of denominational tribalism and loyalty.

Above all, the Baptist community today appears to increasingly attract people who express a biblically informed worldview, a theologically mature faith, a confident moral vision, a progressive political vision, a growing understanding of the limitations and potential of realpolitik, and a willingness to work with cobelligerents of various kinds.  Recent Baptist policy statements on immigration and asylum seekers, both in Australia and by the Baptist World Alliance, reflect this trend.

It is vitally important that Baptist leaders obtain grass-roots support for such policies, and empower and inspire Baptists and others to transfer the principles into concrete practices.  The key to achieving this is to discern God’s will in this area of personal and national life, to recognise the opportunities facing us and the limitations we bring to the task, and to exercise leadership by example.

What then should we do?

In the light of the principles and issues outlined above, and because we are talking about federal not state policies, I submitted a proposal to the National Council of Australian Baptist Ministries last year, suggesting a way forward.  To my delight, with only minor changes (and all of them good, in my opinion), our National Council adopted the policy at its November 2011 meeting.

However, while we Baptists are sometimes good at putting our thoughts and beliefs and aspirations on paper, we are often less inclined to do anything about social issues that might involve personal effort, ridicule, hardship or sacrifice.  That may sound strange and perhaps harsh, but I assure you it is the case.  And not for Baptists in NSW and the ACT alone, but throughout Australia, and in many other Baptist communities.  We see this tendency also in the Baptist World Alliance, where what I regard as excellent social policies are proposed by our finest theologians and pastors, and affirmed through rigorous processes, but individual Baptist Unions and Conventions, local churches, and individual Baptists find the policies rather challenging to implement.

There are many reasons for this including preoccupation with existing programs and emphases, lack of good models for effective implementation, and capitulation to the narratives and forces opposed to compassionate and progressive action.

So what should we do?  I recommend that you take the ABM policy on immigration and asylum seekers back to your churches and families, and examine it in the light of what you know of these issues from Scripture.  Then gather whatever information you need, and pray for discernment and inspiration, and do whatever God leads you to do.  And be ready to work with others, discover new insights into yourself and others, and tell the stories of what God is doing through you.

To conclude, let me remind you of the biblical teaching on the Christian’s political responsibility, as beautifully summarized by C.E.B. Cranfield:[12]

(a)    respect those in authority (Rom 13:7);

(b)   obey the state so far as it does not involve disobeying God (Tit 3:1);

(c)    disobey the state whenever obedience would involve disobeying God (Acts 4:19ff; 5:29);

(d)   pay your taxes (Mk 12:13-17; Rom 13:6ff);

(e)    pray for those in authority (1 Tim 2:1ff);

(f)     witness to Christ in the public sphere (Mk 13:9);

(g)    participate in parliamentary and municipal elections in the fear of Christ and out of love for your neighbor (Mt 22:34-40);

(h)   keep yourself fully informed concerning political and social issues;

(i)     criticize the government, its policies and its agents in the light of the gospel and law of God;

(j)     support just and humane policies, and oppose those policies and decisions that are unjust and inhumane, by helping to build up an enlightened public opinion and in various other lawful means available to you;

(k)    diligently endeavor to be a mature Christian, so transformed by the renewing of your mind that you are able to “test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will”(Rom 12:2).

May God give you the wisdom, courage and resources to go and make a difference for good in your world.  Thank you.

Rev Rod Benson is Ethicist and Public Theologian at the Tinsley Institute, Morling College.  He previously pastored four Baptist churches in Queensland and NSW.

 

Appendix 1: Baptist World Alliance resolutions on refugees and related issues

BWA Resolution 4 (Accra, 2007) – On Detention and Due Process

The General Council of the Baptist World Alliance Annual Gathering, meeting in Accra, Ghana, July 2-7, 2007:

Urges all governments, enforcement agencies under their jurisdictions, and non-state actors to enforce and abide by the basic tenets of human rights as represented in international laws and conventions in the investigation, arrest, interrogation, detention, due process, trial, sentencing, and incarceration of all persons, regardless of race, religion, gender, national status, or political association.

 

BWA Resolution 7 (Prague, 2008) – Refugees and Immigration

The General Council of the Baptist World Alliance, meeting in Prague, Czech Republic, July 20-25, 2008;

Recognizes the global growth of refugee migration and international relocation with more than 67 million current refugees and internally displaced people and more than 191 million international migrants;

Understands that this generates political situations of great sensitivity, fear and misunderstanding in host and home countries alike;

Realizes that immigrants often face an array of cultural, linguistic and economic burdens and often retain important responsibilities for family members in home countries;

Believes that we are all fellow sojourners in this world and that our treatment of the immigrants in our midst is central to authentic scriptural faith;

Calls on:

Nations to:

• Give shelter to all refugees.
• Develop transparent and equitable systems of migration that treat applicants with dignity.
• Administer laws and regulations with justice and fairness to citizens and immigrants alike.
• Renounce xenophobia and the misuse of immigration for political repression and division.

Member bodies to:

• Instill an ethic of love that supersedes ethnic, gender and political boundaries.
• Act as advocates for refugees and migrants in solidarity with them.
• Develop ministries of welcoming reconciliation and integration.

Churches and individuals to:

• Renew their scriptural study, academic understanding and prophetic proclamation of the scriptural mandate to live in love and justice with refugees and immigrants.
• Grow in grace and hospitality through intentional friendships and relationships.
• Freely share resources with those in need.

Encourages the development of additional study material for the Baptist World Alliance Human Rights Sunday and its utilization by churches and member bodies.

BWA Resolution 2 (Ede, 2009) – Baptist-Muslim Relations

The General Council of the Baptist World Alliance, meeting in Ede, the Netherlands, July 27-August 1, 2009:

Welcomes the opportunities opened up by the friendly and constructive spirit in which A Common Word, signed by 138 Muslim scholars and leaders, has been written;

Appreciates the advances in friendship and understanding made through conversations between Baptists and Muslims at Andover Newton Theological School in January 2009 and in Amman, Jordan, in March 2009;

Agrees with A Common Word that the double command to love God and our neighbor is at the heart of the message of Jesus Christ, and that this can form a common ground for conversation and for working together for a co-existence characterized by peace, justice, mutual understanding and respect;

Recognizes that Baptist Christians living in situations of religious conflict wish to create friendly and peaceful relations with their neighbors of other faiths;

Believes that we can humbly but confidently make our witness to the uniqueness of Christ as the way of salvation and to the self-giving of the Triune God in ways that are not demeaning of other people’s beliefs;

Asks Baptist theologians to study the response made by the BWA to A Common Word, together with the original document, and to use both in their teaching;

Encourages Baptist conventions and unions to engage in conversations and joint activities for human welfare with Muslims in ways that are appropriate for their own regions and cultures.

 

Appendix 2: Further information

Asylum Seeker Resource Centre: http://www.asrc.org.au

Australian Human Rights Commission, “Immigration detention and human rights” (recent information and links), available at http://www.humanrights.gov.au/human_rights/immigration/detention_rights.html

Australian Human Rights Commission, Face the Facts (education resource for children, 2010), available at http://www.humanrights.gov.au/education/face_the_facts/index.html

Australian Human Rights Commission, Face the Facts: Questions and Answers about Indigenous Peoples, Migrants and Refugees and Asylum Seekers (2008), available at http://www.humanrights.gov.au/racial_discrimination/face_facts/chap3.html

Benson, Rod, “What Jesus would say about immigration,” sermon preached at Hornsby Baptist Church, 9 Oct 2011, available at https://rodbenson.com/2011/10/10/sermon-what-jesus-would-say-about-immigration/

Crock, Mary & Saul, Ben, Future Seekers: Refugees and the Law in Australia (Leichhardt, NSW: Federation Press, 2002).

Department of Immigration and Citizenship, “Asylum statistics – Australia 2010-11,” available at http://www.immi.gov.au/media/publications/statistics/asylum/

Department of Immigration and Citizenship, “Immigration detention statistics summary,” 31 July 2011, available at http://www.immi.gov.au/managing-australias-borders/detention/_pdf/immigration-detention-statistics-20110731.pdf

Joint Standing Committee on Migration, Immigration Detention in Australia: Community-based Alternatives to Detention (Canberra: Parliament of Australia, May 2009), available at http://www.aph.gov.au/house/committee/mig/detention/report2/fullreport.pdf

Marr, David & Wilkinson, Marian, Dark Victory: The Military Campaign to Re-elect the Prime Minister (Sydney: Allen & Unwin, 2003).

McMaster, Don, Asylum Seekers: Australia’s Response to Refugees (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 2001).

Menadue, John, Keski-Nummi, Arja & Gauthier, Kate, A New Approach: Breaking the Stalemate on Refugees and Asylum Seekers (Centre for Policy Development, August 2011), available at http://cpd.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/cpd_refugee_report_2nd-run-WEB-VERSION3.pdf

Parker, Lynette M., “The ethics of migration and immigration: Key questions for policy makers,” Briefing Paper, May 2007, available at http://www.scu.edu/ethics/practicing/focusareas/global_ethics/migration.html

Phillips, Janet & Spinks, Harriet, “Boat arrivals in Australia since 1976,” (updated 15 July 2011), available at http://www.aph.gov.au/library/pubs/bn/sp/boatarrivals.htm

Preece, Gordon, “We’re all boat people: A biblical view of refugees,” originally published in BriefCACE 7, Dec 2003, pp. 1-3, available at http://www.ea.org.au/Ethos/FaithCommunity/We-re-All-Boat-People.aspx

Regan, Hilary D. & Hamilton, Andrew (eds), Refugees: Justice or Compassion? (Adelaide: Australian Theological Forum, 2002).

Report of the Expert Panel on Asylum Seekers (the Houston Report), released 13 August 2012, available at http://expertpanelonasylumseekers.dpmc.gov.au/

Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health et al, “Significant harm – the effects of administrative detention on the health of children, young people and their families,” briefing paper, 2009, available at http://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/pdf/Significant%20Harm%20intercollegiate%20statement%20Dec09.pdf

Sampson, R., Mitchell, G. and Bowring, L., There are Alternatives: A handbook for Preventing Unnecessary Immigration Detention (Melbourne: International Detention Coalition, 2011) available at http://www.latrobe.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/133693/54661929-IDC-Handbook-There-are-alternatives.pdf

Soerens, Matthew & Hwang, Jenny, Welcoming the Stranger: Justice, Compassion and Truth in the Immigration Debate (Downers Grove: IVP, 2009).

Spencer, Nick, Asylum and Immigration: A Christian Perspective on a Polarised Debate (Carlisle: Paternoster Press, 2004).

Tyler, Heather, Asylum: Voices Behind the Razor Wire (South Melbourne: Lothian Books, 2003).

Ward, Tony, “Long-term health costs of extended mandatory detention of asylum seekers,” paper published by the Yarra Institute, Oct 2011, available at http://www.socialpolicyconnections.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Ward.long-term-costs-v12Oct.2011.pdf

Welcome to Australia: http://www.welcometoaustralia.org.au