The Wire

The Federal Opposition thinks Australia’s refugee policies are too soft. But in the global picture of refugee trafficking, Australia is only taking a very small proportion of refugees, compared to European countries such as Germany or The Netherlands. Ongoing global conflicts and the deteriorating political situation in countries such as Pakistan mean that the number of people seeking refuge will rise rather than fall over the coming years. But are border protection and tougher policies the answer to the problem or must wealthy nations around the world take a new approach to deal with this issue?