The Forgotten Refugees: Intersectional Insights for Australia’s Refugee Program

Ana Rengel-Goncalves, Sam Blanch, B. Aloka Wanigasuriya

Publikation: Konferencebidrag uden forlag/tidsskriftKonferenceabstrakt til konferenceForskning

Abstract

As Western states respond to refugees emerging out of current conflicts, disability is often forgotten as a vector of vulnerability. Australia is listed amongst the top countries for refugee resettlement. In Australia, refugee status is determined, processed and accepted through Australian domestic law and may involve a determination by the United Nations Refugee Agency. Under the umbrella of its humanitarian and refugee program, Australia expressly recognises different categories of vulnerability vis-a-vis persecution. Within these, special focus has been attributed to gender, religion and a few others. In this context of broad ministerial discretion and a deliberately secretive policy apparatus, the recognition of vulnerabilities emerging as a result of the different dimensions of personhood remain virtually unexplored

In particular, disability and its interaction with the other categories of identity is under-explored in policy and in scholarship. This constrains our understanding of persecution, and limits decision-makers’ ability to prioritise the most vulnerable. In this article, we critique analyses of harm that do not consider other dimensions of personhood, such as disability. We further argue disability must be understood intersectionally, as vulnerabilities emerging out of disability converge with other more legible forms of persecution. This research applies a deductive intersectional roach to Australian refugee policy.

This research will contribute to the academic literature by critiquing Australia’s narrow approach to the categorisation and assessment of harm and vulnerability. It has the potential to contribute to other refugee intake jurisdictions that seek to adopt inclusive approaches to vulnerability and harm.
OriginalsprogEngelsk
Publikationsdato2022
StatusUdgivet - 2022
Udgivet eksterntJa
BegivenhedWar, Economic Strife and the Long-Lasting Intersectional Effects on Refugees, Minorities, Disabled People and the Global Environment - Online
Varighed: 14. sep. 202214. sep. 2022
https://www.injustice-intl.org/abstracts-for-postgraduate-worksh

Workshop

WorkshopWar, Economic Strife and the Long-Lasting Intersectional Effects on Refugees, Minorities, Disabled People and the Global Environment
LokationOnline
Periode14/09/202214/09/2022
Internetadresse

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