CPD Fellow and co-author of our report, A New Approach: Breaking the Stalemate on Refugees & Asylum Seekers, Kate Gauthier offers a detailed perspective on the present asylum seeker debate.

Kate Gauthier chats to The Conversation and provides a structured categorical alternative to the Gillard government’s current ‘Malaysia Solution’.  Gauthier endorses a framework divergent from classical deterrence models; promoting the inception of an independent commission to facilitate factual debate on immigration, and mitigating the politicization of refugee policy.

Our report calls for an independent commission to be established to facilitate informed public debate. There is currently a lot of misinformation around so no-one is forming opinions about this issue based on fact.

We should also establish another independent authority which will administer our refugee and asylum seeker programs.

At the moment, this function is embedded in the Department of Immigration, headed by Immigration Minister, Chris Bowen. That makes it essentially political. Refugee issues are not an immigration or migration issue, they’re an international law and human rights issue.

The full article on The Conversation here.

Kate was a co-author in the recent report released by the Center for Policy Development entitled; A New Approach: Breaking the Stalemate of Refugee & Asylum Seekers.

Access the full report here.