By: Nathasa Tiara Ramadan

114 Pages·2012·6.16 MB·English

AUSTRALIA’S POLICY SHIFT REGARDING ‘BOAT PEOPLE’ ISSUE:
THE RE-ESTABLISHMENT OF OFFSHORE PROCESSING FACILITIES
IN NAURU AND PAPUA NEW GUINEA
(2010-2012)
An Undergraduate Thesis
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By:
Nathasa Tiara Ramadan

DEPARTMENT OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
FACULTY OF SOCIAL AND POLITICAL SCIENCES
STATE ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY SYARIF HIDAYATULLAH
JAKARTA 2015
DECLARATION OF ORIGINALITY
This thesis entitled:
..AUSTRALIA'S
POLICY SHIFT REGARDING'BOAT PEOPLE' ISSUE:
THE RE.ESTABLISHMENT OF OFFSHORE PROCESSING FACILITIES IN
NAURU AND PAPUA NEW GUINEA (2OIO-2012)"
Is my original work proposed to fulfill one of requirements to obtain
1.
undergraduate degree in Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University
(UIN) Jakarta.
2. All sources used in this thesis I have attached according to the rules
applied in Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University (UIN) Jakarta.
If this thesis is afterwards found not as my original work recognized as
-).
plagiarize from other's work, I agree to take all the responsibilities and
penalties applied by Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University (UIN)
I akarta.
THESIS ADVISER RECOMMENDATION LETTER
Thesis adviser hereby declares that the student:
Name
: Nathasa Tiara Ramadan
Number
Student : 1110114000032
Major : Intemational Relations (Intemational Program)
Has finished the undergraduate thesis entitled:
.AUSTRALIA'S POLICY SHIFT REGARDING'BOAT PEOPLE' ISSUE:
THE RE-ESTABLISHMENT OF OFFSHORE PROCESSING FACILITIES IN
NAURU AND PAPUA NEW GUINEA (2OIO-2012)"
And fulfiiled requirements to be examined.
Jakarta, April 17,2015
Acknowledged by, Approved by,
Head of Depatlment Thesis Adviser
4, n-
*b,
Debbie AffiantY, M. A Mutiara Pertiwi. M.A
NIP: 19801 129 200912 2 002
PANEL OF EXAMINERAPPROVAL SHEET
THESIS
..AUSTRALIA'S
POLICY SHIFT REGARDING'BOAT PEOPLE' ISSUE:
THE RE-ESTABLISHMENT OF OFFSHORE PROCESSING FACILITIES IN
NAURU AND PAPUANEW GUTNEA (2010-2012)"
By
Nathasa Tiara Ramadan
1110114000032
Has been defended in thesis orai defense in the Faculty of Social and Political
Sciences of Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University (UIN) Jak,rta on Apdl
1'].'h, 2014. This thesis was assessed and approved as partial fulfillment of the
requirements for Bachelor of Afts (B.A.) in Intemational Relations.
Head of Oral Defense,
Debbie Affiantv. M.A
Examiner II,
Budi S. Satari. M.A
Head of Departmelt
Faculty of Social and Political
Science
h*
Debbie Affianty. M.A
ABSTRACT
The practice of transferring asylum seekers who arrive to Australia by boat
(boat people) to countries in the Pacific was first introduced by the Howard
Government in 2001. This policy became widely known as the ‘Pacific Solution.’
It provided boat people to be sent to offshore facilities in Nauru and Papua New
Guinea’s (PNG) Manus Island, where their refugee status was being processed.
Yet, the Australian Labor Party, United Nations, and international human rights
groups strongly opposed it. They accused the implementation of Pacific Solution
over the issue of human rights violation, inadequate offshore processing location,
and political interest.
Meanwhile, Kevin Rudd, Australia’s Prime Minister from the Labor party
abolished the Pacific Solution in February 2008. A ministerial press release noted
that a total of 1637 people had been detained in the Nauru and Manus facilities
between 2001 and 2008, including 786 Afghans, 684 Iraqis and 88 Sri Lankans.
However, Rudd’s Labor colleague, Julia Gillard resumed Howard’s Pacific
Solution in 2012 when she became the Prime Minister. Gillard’s decision was
highly provocative, considering her refusal on the implementation of offshore
processing before. Despite the controversy, the policy is still adopted by the
Australian government until now. The qualitative method in the form of literature
review will be the guidance througout the data colelecting. This research will
employ Foreign Policy Analysis of Domestic Influnces to investigate the driving
factors of Gillard’s change. The author argues that; (1) legislatures and (2) public
opinion are two factors which influence the policy shift of Australia on ‘boat
people’ issue.

Keywords: boat people, offshore processing facility, Australia, Nauru, PNG.

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v
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Alhamdullilahhirabbilalamin...
I would like to express my gratitude for those who have supported me
throughout the making of this thesis. I realized without their support I could not
even sit here at the moment and wrote this testimony. I want to appreciate them
with a few words that came deep from my heart:
1. My immense gratitude to Allah SWT for the endless blessings. So that I
can finish my skripsi and fulfill my duty as an undergraduate student.
2. I present this thesis as gift to my parents, my sisters and brother. They are
my true champion.
3. Mrs. Mutiara Pertiwi M.A, my thesis advisor. She poured many positive
impacts in me. Thank you for being honest with me for all this time,
therefore I can learn from my mistakes and take actions to remedy them.
4. My friends, Qory, Andri, Sutan, and all HI Inter 2010 classmates.

Batusangkar, 5 April 2015

Nathasa Tiara Ramadan

vi
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ABSTRACT......................................................................................................... v
ACKNOWLEDGMENT...................................................................................... vi
TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CHARTS................................................ viii
TABLE OF TABLES.......................................................................................... ix
TABLE OF FIGURES......................................................................................... xi
TABLE OF ABBREVIATION............................................................................ xii
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION............................................................... 1
A. Problem Statement........................................................ 1
B. Research Question........................................................ 6
C. Objectives and Benefits................................................ 7
D. Literature Review......................................................... 7
E. Theoretical Framework................................................. 9
F. Research Method........................................................... 12
G. Outline........................................................................... 13

CHAPTER II AUSTRALIA, THE ‘BOAT PEOPLE,’ AND THE
‘PACIFIC SOLUTION’........................................................15
A. Australia’s commitment on refugee under international
conventions................................................................... 15
B. John Howard’s ‘Pacific Solution’ in 2001.................... 17
1. The Tampa case..................................................... 17
vii
2. The opening of offshore processing facilities in
Nauru and Papua New Guinea’s Manus Island in
2001........................................................................ 22
3. Critics from international human rights
organizations…...................................................... 25
C. The Evaluation of Offshore Processing Facilities under
Kevin Rudd in 2008...................................................... 27
1. The Australian Labor Party position on the
Howard’s offshore processing arrangement…..…….
................................................................................ 27
2. The shutdown of offshore processing facilities in
Nauru and Manus Island in 2008........................... 30

CHAPTER III THE RE-ESTABLISHMENT OF OFFSHORE PROCESSING
FACILITIES IN 2012............................................................ 33
A. The attitude shift of Labor party: from Rudd to Gillard
government................................................................... 33
B. The re-opening of offshore processing facilities in Nauru
and Manus Island in 2012............................................. 37
C. Critics from international human rights organizations......
...................................................................................... 40

viii
CHAPTER IV. THE DRIVING FACTORS CONTRIBUTED TO THE
AUSTRALIA’S POLICY SHIFT ON ‘BOAT PEOPLE’... 43
A. Legislatures................................................................... 43
B. Public Opinion.............................................................. 56
BAB V. CONCLUSION.................................................................... 64
BIBLIOGRAPHY................................................................................................ xiv
APPENDIX......................................................................................................xxxiii

ix
LIST OF CHARTS

Chart IV.A.1. Boat Arrival to Australia (2003-2013)
Chart IV.B. 1. Concerns on asylum seekers arriving by boat Chart IV.B. 1.
Number of Permanent Visas Divided by Categories
Chart IV.B. 2. The percentages of whether Australians are concerned or not
concerned over arriving ‘boat people,’ from 2009-2011

x