Let Them Land: Christmas Islander Responses to Tampa

Christmas Island is the site where Australia’s mandatory immigration detention policies are implemented. Protests by Christmas Islanders against the Australian government’s treatment of asylum seekers have surfaced since boatpeople began arriving in 1992 and reached a pinnacle during the Tampa affai...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Dimasi, M., Briskman, Linda
Format: Journal Article
Published: Oxford University Press 2010
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/43518
Description
Summary:Christmas Island is the site where Australia’s mandatory immigration detention policies are implemented. Protests by Christmas Islanders against the Australian government’s treatment of asylum seekers have surfaced since boatpeople began arriving in 1992 and reached a pinnacle during the Tampa affair. Based on interviews conducted in 2009 with island residents and archival material, the paper explores Christmas Islanders’ responses before and during the Tampa affair through the notion of hospitality that was disrupted when a state of emergency removed control of both ethical responsibility and island sovereignty.