Refugees or economic migrants?
The Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd recently came out in support of the assertion made by the Foreign Minister, Bob Carr that many of the boat arrivals were not refugees but economic migrants. Dr Sara Davies, from the Department of International Relations at Griffith University rejects these claims. She says there is a political context to this change in language as the government seeks to overcome the perceived weaknees in their refugee policies.
Are the asylum seekers arriving by boat really just economic refugees? Recent comments by the Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and the Foreign Minister Bob Carr suggest that this is the case. However, in a recent article, Dr Sara Davies, Senior Research Fellow in International Relations at Griffith University rejects this position.