‘If they are genuine refugees, why?’ Public attitudes to unauthorised arrivals in Australia A review of the evidence for the Victorian Foundation for Survivors of Torture by Harriet McHugh-Dillon April 2015 Acknowledgments Warmest thanks to everybody who assisted with the preparation of this report: Josef Szwarc for auspicing the project and for his invaluable advice and comments; Rasika Jayasuriya for her close reading and insightful comments; Joyce Chia and Claire Higgins at the Renata and Andrew Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law, for their encouragement and support for the project; and All who generously provided information and/or copies of studies: Anne Pedersen, Lisa Hartley, Martha Augoustinos, Sandra Bartlett, Luke Upton, Tamanna Hashemee, Kim Huynh and Alessio Bonato. Correspondence:
[email protected] ‘If they are genuine refugees, why?’ Public attitudes to unauthorised arrivals in Australia. Written for the Victorian Foundation for Survivors of Torture by Harriet McHugh-Dillon © April 2015. Table of Contents Introduction .................................................................................................................... 4 What beliefs characterise attitudes towards asylum seekers? ................................. 6 Fairness concerns.........................................................................................................6 ‘Illegality’.......................................................................................................................9 Threat...........................................................................................................................11