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The Securitization of the “Boat People” in Australia the Case of Tampa

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The Securitization of the “Boat People” in Australia the Case of Tampa The securitization of the “boat people” in Australia The case of Tampa Phivos Adonis Björn Deliyannis International Relations Dept. of Global Political Studies Bachelor programme – IR103L (IR61-90) 15 credits thesis [Spring / 2020] Supervisor: [Erika Svedberg] Submission Date: 13/08/2020 Phivos Adonis Björn Deliyannis 19920608-2316 Abstract: The thesis will examine how the Australian government through its Prime Minister John Howard presented the asylum seekers on “MV Tampa” ship as a threat jeopardizing Australian security. Using the theory of securitization as a methodological framework and Critical Discourse Analysis as utilized by Fairclough’s Three-dimensional Framework transcripts of interviews by John Howard will be analyzed in order to expose the securitization process that framed the asylum seekers as an existential threat that needed extraordinary measures. Keywords: International Relations, Australia, Immigration, Tampa, Discourse Word count: 13.622 Phivos Adonis Björn Deliyannis 19920608-2316 Table of Contents 1 Introduction …………………………………………………………...…1 2. Literature Review and Theoretical Framework ………......4 2.1 The concept of security and the debate about security studies ……………….....4 2.2 Earlier Research on the securitization of migration ……………………………6 2.3 The Securitization Framework ………………………………………………..8 2.4 Critique ……………………………………………………………………..11 3. Methods …………………………………………………………………12 3.1. Data Selection and Source Criticism ………………………………………...12 3.2. Case Study …………………………………………………………………15 3.3. Critical Discourse Analysis …………………………………………………15 3.4. Methodological Framework: Fairclough’s Three-dimensional framework …….17 4. Analysis ……………………………………………………………….…21 4.1. Background of the “Tampa affair” ……………………………………….…22 4.2. Data Analysis ……………………………………………………………..24 4.3 The Tampa affair – a case of successful securitization……………………….…. 30 5. Conclusion ………………………………………………………….…..31 6. Bibliography …………………………………………………………....32 Phivos Adonis Björn Deliyannis 19920608-2316 Page intentionally left blank Phivos Adonis Björn Deliyannis 19920608-2316 1. Introduction A lot is being said and written about asylum seekers who have to endure great obstacles as they are trying to immigrate from their country of origin due to their non-privileged socioeconomic status, to escape from war or from environmental disasters, or simply in an attempt to avoid prosecution because of their political beliefs, religious faith, ethnicity or sexual orientation. However, several Western governments are using a discourse that portrays asylum seekers as a threat to their national security resulting in the adoption of anti- immigration policies and the implementation of strict border controls. Asylum seekers in their desperate attempt to have a better future and acquire the longed-for refugee status are increasingly choosing irregular and unsafe paths to reach Western countries (Hirsch, 2017, p. 48). All Western countries claim that they respect and protect human rights with no exceptions but some of them at the same time regard and treat asylum seekers as a nationa l threat even though according to international law and the 1951 Refugee Convention asylum seekers have a right to apply for asylum and cannot be denied entry in a country (UN General Assembly, 1951). But this was not always the case with Australia since through the 20th century it was a country of destination for many immigrants who went there to work and live under better conditions and a safe haven for asylum seekers who fled from their home countries trying to escape from misery or death. After all, Australia was a country founded by immigrants that after big catastrophes and major wars like the Second World War, the Vietnam War, and the Yugoslav Wars welcomed without hesitation large flows of migrants offering them a refuge and a place to settle in and start a new life. Unfortunately, this humane and warm- hearted approach by Australia was about to end a few months before the 2001 elections by John Howard administration. It was the first time that an Australian government framed the asylum seekers who were entering Australia by boat, or the “boat people” as they called them, as an existential threat to Australian security. Howard administration adopted a strict approach to this issue, changing the Australia n immigration legal framework and even using elite military units in an attempt to stop asylum seekers from entering Australian territoria l waters. But this would not be done without the public support from Australian people. But how Australia justified the implementation of strict measures that deny asylum seekers their right to apply for asylum? How people who left their home countries for a better future are 1 Phivos Adonis Björn Deliyannis 19920608-2316 regarded as threats? What process led the people of a country that was founded by immigrants to endorse this kind of approach by the Australia n authorities? And most importantly I aim to answer my main research question, how Australia framed the “boat people” as a threat to its national security? This thesis will try to answer these questions and provide a well-supported answer. In order to gain public support for this hardline approach towards the boat people the Howard administration adopted new rhetoric and incorporated a discourse that framed the boat people as a threat to Australian national security. The goal of the Australian government was to utilize this strong anti-immigration discourse to create fear and a feeling of uncertainty among the population for the boat people. By presenting boat people as “ille gitimate ”, “ille ga l”, incompatible with Australian values, “queue jumpers” that deny “genuine refugees” the chance for asylum they could frame them as a security threat to Australia, an existential threat that requires emergency action. By fra min g them as a security threat they justified their decision to use extraordinary measures against them measures that could not be used otherwise because Australian people would protest, so they used strong discourse to “numb” the people so to say. This process in which a powerful actor is using securitizing discourse to frame a certain issue as a security threat to justify extraordinary measures is called “securitization”. There is no definition that states in a crystal-clear way if a measure can be categorized as “extraordinary” or not. Tromble (2014, p. 528) defines extraordinary measures as measures that depart from the rules of normal politics, such as allowing additional executive powers and activities that would otherwise be ille ga l”. Other scholars regard stricter border controls as an “extraordina ry measure” (Ceccorulli, 2018; Ronney, 2013). According to the Copenhagen school, extraordinary measures are nothing more that special measures, so in that sense even the sudden implementation of stricter border controls can be categorized as extraordinary measures (Buzan et al, 1998, p. 27). In this paper I adopt the definition by Tromble. In order to answer my research question, I will examine the case of “MV Tampa”. The “MV Tampa” was Norwegian ship that in August of 2001 rescued 433 asylum seekers outside Australian territorial waters and then requested permission to reach Australia but was denied entry to Australian territory. I will draw from the “Securitization Theory” of the Copenhagen school and I will examine transcripts of interviews from the Australian prime minister John Howard and by using the method of Critical Discourse Analysis and by utilizing Fairclough’s Three-dimensional Framework I will be able to trace securitizing elements in John Howard’s discourse. This paper does not seek to answer if the asylum seekers posed a 2 Phivos Adonis Björn Deliyannis 19920608-2316 threat to Australian national security, it rather seeks to examine the process through which these people were framed as a security threat and how extraordinary measures were used and justified against them. In recent times, when the anti-immigration discourse is gaining ground and strict measures deny the opportunity from people to apply for asylum the subject of the securitization of immigration becomes more relevant than ever. The “Tampa affair” is an interesting topic because it offers the opportunity to the researcher to explore the way in which asylum seekers become securitized and presented as a threat in order for a political actor to benefit from this process. Another motivational factor of choosing this topic is the current state of research since not many studies about the Tampa affair and the securitizatio n of immigration in Australia can be found. The subject examined in this thesis is IR relevant because it uses the “Securitization Theory”, which is a theory of IR and because it examines issues of security. The notion of security lies in the core of International Relations according to traditionalist approaches of IR since the survival of the state is the priority. This thesis seeks to contribute to International Relations literature by examining securitization, the notion of security, and more specifically it contributes to the IR literature regarding securitization in the context of Australia. This thesis consists of 3 main parts. In the first main part (2. Literature Review and Theoretical Framework) I will explore the theoretical considerations that are relevant to the research such as the concept of security and I will present the existing research about the securitization of immigration. Then I will describe the theoretical framework, “Securitization theory”
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