All Topics  
Australian migration zone

 

 
   Email Print
   Bookmark   Link
 

 

Australian migration zone
 
 
  Topics Australian migration zone Topic Home

The Australian migration zone refers to the parts of Australian
Australia

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the southern hemisphere comprising the Australia of the world's smallest continent, the major island of Tasmania, and numerous list of islands of Australia in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Oceans....
 territory where a non citizen must hold a visa
Visa (document)

A visa is an indication that a person is authorized to enter the country which "issued" the visa, subject to permission of an immigration official at the time of actual entry....
 to legally enter and remain. It includes all states and mainland territories, plus some external territories, at the mean low water mark.

In September 2001 the Federal Parliament passed the Migration Amendment (Excision from Migration Zone) Act and the Migration Amendment (Excision from Migration Zone) (Consequential Provisions) Act.






Discussion
Ask a question about 'Australian migration zone'
Start a new discussion about 'Australian migration zone'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum



Encyclopedia


The Australian migration zone refers to the parts of Australian
Australia

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the southern hemisphere comprising the Australia of the world's smallest continent, the major island of Tasmania, and numerous list of islands of Australia in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Oceans....
 territory where a non citizen must hold a visa
Visa (document)

A visa is an indication that a person is authorized to enter the country which "issued" the visa, subject to permission of an immigration official at the time of actual entry....
 to legally enter and remain. It includes all states and mainland territories, plus some external territories, at the mean low water mark.

In September 2001 the Federal Parliament passed the Migration Amendment (Excision from Migration Zone) Act and the Migration Amendment (Excision from Migration Zone) (Consequential Provisions) Act. These pieces of legislation excised certain external territories from the migration zone, for purposes relating to unauthorised arrivals. These territories included Ashmore Island, Cartier Islands
Cartier Islands

Image:Cartier Island.pngThe area within of the centre of the reef is protected as the Cartier Island Marine Reserve. At the southern edge of the reef is a shipwreck of the Ann Millicent, an iron-hulled barge of 944 tons wrecked in 1888....
, Christmas Island
Christmas Island

The Territory of Christmas Island is a Territory of Australia in the Indian Ocean. It is located northwest of the Western Australian city of Perth, Western Australia, south of the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, and ENE of the Cocos Islands....
, and Cocos Islands.

In an excised area, an unauthorised arrival has no right to apply for a visa. Asylum seekers who land in an excised area of Australian territory, may apply for refugee
Refugee

Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, a refugee is a person who flees to a foreign country or power to escape danger or persecutionOwing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion, is outside the country of their nationality,...
 status with the UNHCR. However, Australia has no obligation to grant them a visa to settle permanently in Australia (as opposed to temporary protection) and they have no recourse to Australian courts.

The acts also included the powers to move unauthorised arrivals to another country where their claim for protection could be considered. These changes allowed for thousands of asylum seekers to be moved to immigration detention facilities
Australian immigration detention facilities

Australian immigration detention facilities comprise a number of different facilities throughout Australia and the Pacific Ocean. They are used to house people who are detainee under Australia?s policy of mandatory detention in Australia and the Pacific Solution....
 on Christmas Island
Christmas Island

The Territory of Christmas Island is a Territory of Australia in the Indian Ocean. It is located northwest of the Western Australian city of Perth, Western Australia, south of the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, and ENE of the Cocos Islands....
, Nauru
Nauru detention centre

The detention center on the South Pacific island nation of Nauru was based on a Statement of Principles, signed on 10 September2001 by the President of Nauru, Ren? Harris, and Australia's then Minister for Defence, Peter Reith....
, and Manus Island
Manus Island

Manus Island is part of Manus Province in northern Papua New Guinea and is the largest island of the Admiralty Islands. It is the 5th largest island in Papua New Guinea with an area of 2,100 km?, measuring around 100 km x 30 km....
.

In subsequent years the government excised many islands, sometimes attempting to do so retroactively after boat people
Boat people

Boat people is a term that usually refers to illegal immigrants or asylum seekers who emigrate en masse in boats that are sometimes old and crudely made rendering them unseaworthy and unsafe....
 had already landed.

The excising of islands from the Australian migration zone remains a very controversial aspect of Australian immigration policy. Refugee advocates argue that Australia is not meeting its obligations under international law to protect refugees. This is not accepted by the Australian government, which contends that international law obliges Australia to provide temporary protection only and not necessarily a permanent settlement.

Effect of excision on sovereignty


At times there has been confusion over the effect on Australia's sovereignty
Sovereignty

File:Leviathan gr.jpgSovereignty is the exclusive right to control a government, a State, a people, or oneself. A sovereign is a supreme lawmaking authority....
 over the excised area. Various constitution authorities have voiced the opinion that excising territory from the migration zone does not affect Australia's sovereignty.

The 'excision' of areas from the migration zone has no impact on the rights of Australian citizens and permanent residents to travel to and remain in that area, and no documentation is required to travel between these areas and the rest of Australia. Nor is there any impact on the rights of those non-citizens who arrive in these territories with valid visas.

For example, the territory of Norfolk Island
Norfolk Island

Norfolk Island is a small island in the Pacific Ocean located between Australia, New Zealand and New Caledonia. It and two neighbouring islands form one of Australia's external Territory ....
, although under Australian sovereignty, is entirely outside the migration zone, as are the uninhabited territories of Heard Island and McDonald Islands
Heard Island and McDonald Islands

Heard Island and McDonald Islands are a volcanic group of Barren_vegetation islands located in the Southern Ocean, about two-thirds of the way from Madagascar to Antarctica, approximately 4099 km west of Perth, Western Australia....
 (in the Southern Ocean
Southern Ocean

The Southern Ocean, also known as the Great Southern Ocean, the Antarctic Ocean and the South Polar Ocean, comprises the southernmost waters of the World Ocean south of 60th parallel south latitude....
) and the Australian Antarctic Territory
Australian Antarctic Territory

The Australian Antarctic Territory is the part of Antarctica claimed by Australia and is the largest territory of Antarctica claimed by any nation....
.

See also


  • Pacific Solution
    Pacific Solution

    The Pacific Solution was the name given to the Australian government policy of transporting asylum seekers to detention camps on small island nations in the Pacific Ocean, rather than allowing them to land on the Australian mainland....
  • Mandatory detention in Australia
    Mandatory detention in Australia

    Mandatory detention in Australia concerns the Government of Australia's policy and system of mandatory detention active from 1992 to date, pursuant to which all persons entering the country without a valid visa are compulsorily detained and might be subject to deportation....
  • Permanent Resident of Norfolk Island visa
    Permanent Resident of Norfolk Island visa

    A Permanent Resident of Norfolk Island visa is a type of Australian immigration visa granted on arrival in Australia to a non-citizenship who is a Permanent residence of Norfolk Island....
  • Australian permanent resident
    Australian permanent resident

    Australian permanent residents are Residency of Australia who hold permanent residency visa but are not citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia....


External links