Australia’s harsh asylum seeker policy has two clear objectives: To punish those who arrived by boat and to act as a deterrent for those considering coming to Australia by boat. 

With Operation Sovereign borders, the Australian government launched an outright war on asylum seekers back in 2013 - condemning those seeking safety to mandatory detention and temporary protection. And now, all these years after the policies were implemented, we need to ask, have they actually worked?

Australia’s harsh asylum seeker policy has two clear objectives: To punish those who arrived by boat and to act as a deterrent for those considering coming to Australia by boat. <br><br>With Operation Sovereign borders, the Australian government launched an outright war on asylum seekers back in 2013 - condemning those seeking safety to mandatory detention and temporary protection. And now, all these years after the policies were implemented, we need to ask, have they actually worked?

An initiative of UNSW Sydney, the Centre for Ideas is a thought-provoking program of events and digital content from the globe's leading thinkers, authors and artists.

<p>An initiative of UNSW Sydney, the Centre for Ideas is a thought-provoking program of events and digital content from the globe's leading thinkers, authors and artists.</p>

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