Department of History and Civilization International Trends and National Differences in Asylum Policymaking. Australia, Italy and Ireland compared, 1989-2008 Irial Glynn Thesis submitted for assessment with a view to obtaining the degree of Doctor of History and Civilization of the European University Institute Florence, November 2009 EUROPEAN UNIVERSITY INSTITUTE Department of History and Civilization International Trends and National Differences in Asylum Policymaking. Australia, Italy and Ireland compared, 1989-2008. Irial Glynn Examining Board: Prof. Jay Winter (Yale) [supervisor] Prof. Rainer Bauböck (EUI) Prof. Gil Loescher (University of Oxford) Prof. Leo Lucassen (Leiden) © 2009 No part of this thesis may be copied, reproduced or transmitted without prior permission of the author 2 Contents List of Tables and Figures ........................................................................................... 5 Abstract......................................................................................................................... 7 Acknowledgements .......................................................................................................... 8 Introduction ............................................................................................................... 10 1. Setting the Context: Asylum before 1989 ............................................................. 23 1.1 The Seculiarisation of Asylum ........................................................................... 25 1.2 Inter-War Refugees ........................................................................................... 28 1.3 The Genesis of the Geneva Convention ............................................................ 41 1.4 The Consequences of the Convention ................................................................ 49 1.5 Asylum during the Cold War ............................................................................. 50 1.6 The Age of the Asylum Seeker .......................................................................... 57 2. Asylum in Australia and the Politics of Control .................................................. 63 2.1 Asylum in Australia before 1989 ....................................................................... 64 2.2 The Return of Boat People to Australia, 1989-1996 ........................................... 71 2.3 Between Waves ................................................................................................. 81 2.4 Restriting Asylum Advocates and Advocating for Restrictions, 1996-2001 ........ 84 2.5 Boat and Votes: Tampa and beyond, 2001-2008 ................................................ 92 3. Seeking Asylum in Italy ...................................................................................... 105 3.1 Asylum in Italy before 1989 ............................................................................ 106 3.2 The Martelli Law and the “Albanian Effect”, 1989-1991 ................................. 110 3.3 Tangentopoli and the Politics of Immigration, 1992-1996 ................................ 123 3.4 Emergency Measures and Absent Laws: Aslum in Italy, 1997-2000 ................ 126 3.5 Anti-Immigrant Politics, 2001-2008 ................................................................ 138 4. Asylum in Ireland: From Empathy to Enmity? ................................................. 154 4.1 Asylum in Ireland before 1989......................................................................... 155 4.2 Surprise Guests, 1989-1997 ............................................................................. 162 4.3 Struggling to Restrict Asylum, 1997-2002 ....................................................... 168 3 4.4 Regaining Control, 2002-2008 ......................................................................... 190 5. International Trends and National Differences ................................................. 202 5.1 The 1990s ........................................................................................................ 203 5.2 The 2000s ........................................................................................................ 222 Conclusion .............................................................................................................. 235 Bibliography ............................................................................................................ 242 4 List of Tables and Figures 1.1 Refugee NGOs in the Union of International Associations, 1919-2006 .................. 57 1.2 Refugees worldwide, 1980-1995 ........................................................................... 59 1.3 Asylum applications in EU15, 1980-1990.............................................................. 61 2.1 Annual immigration intake in Australia, 1970-1990............................................... 68 2.2 Asylum applications in Australia, 1989-1996 ........................................................ 72 2.3 Percentage of labour force unemployed in Australia, 1988-1996............................ 80 2.4 Boat People arriving in Australia, 1996-2001 ........................................................ 89 2.5 Asylum claims in Australia, 2000-2005 ............................................................... 101 3.1 Percentage of labour force unemployed in Italy, 1982-1991................................. 117 3.2 Percentage of vote obtained by Christian Democrat Party and Italian Communist Party in general elections, 1953-1987 ........................................................................ 123 3.3 Movimento Sociale Italiano/Alleanza Nazionale share of the national vote, 1948- 1994 .......................................................................................................................... 125 3.4 Asylum applications in Italy, 1993-2000 ............................................................. 138 3.5 Decisions on asylum applications in Italy, 2000-2005 ......................................... 148 4.1 Asylum applications in Ireland, 1988-1997 ......................................................... 167 4.2 Irish daily newspaper circulation ........................................................................ 170 4.3 Nigerian and Romanian asylum applications in Ireland, 1992-1999 .................... 172 4.4 Asylum applications in Ireland, 1997-2002 ......................................................... 184 4.5 Asylum applications in Ireland per month, 1999 ................................................. 187 4.6 Deportation orders, Ireland, 2000-2004 ............................................................... 194 4.7 Asylum applications in Ireland, 2002-2008 ......................................................... 198 5.1 Asylum applications in Australia, Italy and Ireland in the 1990s .......................... 204 5.2 Percentage of the labour force unemployed in Australia, Italy and Ireland in the 1990s ....................................................................................................................... 211 5.3 Outcome of asylum applications in EU15 in the 1990s ....................................... 219 5.4 Involuntary returns as a proportion of rejected asylum seekers in Germany, 1993- 2000 ......................................................................................................................... 220 5.5 Deportations as a proportion of rejected asylum seekers in the UK, 1996-2000.... 220 5 5.6 Percentage of labour force unemployed in Australia, Italy and Ireland in the 2000s .................................................................................................................................. 225 5.7 Asylum applications in Australia, Italy and Ireland, 2000-2008 ........................... 231 6 Abstract The primary purpose of this interdisciplinary study is to show the value of history in investigating asylum policymaking from 1989 to 2008. Chapter 1 provides a short summary of asylum before 1989. It focuses especially on the power, influence and composition of actors who advocated for generous asylum policies and actors who proposed restrictive asylum policies at crucial times throughout the twentieth century. Chapters 2, 3 and 4 analyse the case studies of Australia, Italy and Ireland. By setting traditional emigration countries against a traditional immigration country, EU countries against a non-EU country, Catholic countries against a multidenominational country, islands against a peninsula, common law states against a civil law state, as well as countries where boat people drove asylum debates against one that lacked boat people , many divergences and convergences emerged. Every country had, to a certain degree, a unique asylum system based on its own history, identity and geography. The comparative Chapter 5 reveals that despite inherent national differences, noticeable international asylum trends also appeared during this period. In contrast to people who applied for asylum during the Cold War, asylum applicants in the 1990s provided limited political and economic returns for receiver states. Accordingly, governing political parties inclined towards the formation of more restrictive asylum policies. But secular and religious NGOs, INGOs and certain opposition political parties loudly protested by referencing humanitarian ideals, national commitments to human rights and the rule of law. Acknowledging the challenges posed by actors sympathetic to asylum seekers, governments in the 2000s attempted