Savitri Taylor | La Trobe University (original) (raw)

Papers by Savitri Taylor

Australian Journal of Politics and HIstory, 2024

The emergence in the 1990s of voluntary repatriation as a significant new norm in the United Nati... more The emergence in the 1990s of voluntary repatriation as a significant new norm in the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) practice in refugee protection is often represented as something of an inevitability. Numerous scholars have suggested that the growth at UNHCR of a “repatriation culture” throughout the 1980s was principally the result of the increasing pressures of mass influx events alongside the challenges of dwindling resources and states’ demands for durable solutions to successive refugee crises. In this article, we argue that these challenges offer only a partial explanation for UNHCR’s turn from the cold war “exilic bias” of the international protection regime, towards the post-cold war prioritisation of repatriation. We suggest that states such as Australia, deeply concerned with the long-term outcomes of refugee flows in the late 1970s and 1980s, worked in tandem with key individuals who helped to shape the normative landscape of international protection. We identify GJL Coles as one such individual and offer a close analysis of his influence on key statements concerning voluntary repatriation throughout the 1980s. By making visible the entangled contributions of Australia and Coles, we add a hitherto missing strand to the story of how the “repatriation culture” at UNHCR, and the human rights discourse that accompanied it, emerged.

Refugee Protection in Southeast Asia: Between Humanitarianism and Sovereignty, 2025

This chapter discusses how the Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network (APRRN) has contributed to the... more This chapter discusses how the Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network (APRRN) has contributed to the advancement of refugee rights in Southeast Asia up to the end of 2021 and whether it has the organizational capacity to make a continuing contribution. In doing so, it furthers the book’s investigation of the impact of nonstate actors on refugee protection in Southeast Asia.

Australian Historical Studies, 2024

Starting in 1969, small groups of West Papuans have occasionally crossed the Torres Strait to Aus... more Starting in 1969, small groups of West Papuans have occasionally crossed the Torres Strait to Australia and sought its protection. In public discourse, these arrivals have figured as part of a narrative about Australia’s relationship with Indonesia. By contrast, in the public discourse about border control, which focuses on attempted travel across the Indian Ocean and distinct ‘waves’, they have been treated as a footnote, at most. In this article, we closely examine the Australian government’s response to West Papuan ‘boat people’ over time to demonstrate that, unlike in public discourse, border control considerations have loomed large in the government’s response. We argue that, in order to understand Australia’s approach to border control, we should see West Papuan asylum seekers in the context of border control policy and not only as a problem in Australia’s relationship with Indonesia.

Australian Historical Studies, 2024

Starting in 1969, small groups of West Papuans have occasionally crossed the Torres Strait to Aus... more Starting in 1969, small groups of West Papuans have occasionally crossed the Torres Strait to Australia and sought its protection. In public discourse, these arrivals have figured as part of a narrative about Australia’s relationship with Indonesia. By contrast, in the public discourse about border control, which focuses on attempted travel across the Indian Ocean and distinct ‘waves’, they have been treated as a footnote, at most. In this article, we closely examine the Australian government’s response to West Papuan ‘boat people’ over time to demonstrate that, unlike in public discourse, border control considerations have loomed large in the government’s response. We argue that, in order to understand Australia’s approach to border control, we should see West Papuan asylum seekers in the context of border control policy and not only as a problem in Australia’s relationship with Indonesia.

University of New South Wales law journal, 2010

This article discusses Australia’s implementation of its non-refoulement obligations under the Co... more This article discusses Australia’s implementation of its non-refoulement obligations under the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Statelessness and Citizenship Review, 2022

This article examines the changing concepts of racialised citizenship in two intertwined nations:... more This article examines the changing concepts of racialised citizenship in two intertwined nations: the Independent State of Papua New Guinea (‘PNG’) and the Commonwealth of Australia (‘Australia’), PNG’s former colonial ruler, as the latter sought to shake off the legacies of its recently abandoned ‘White Australia’ policy. It examines the historical intersection between PNG’s developing citizenship criteria, with its racialised articulation of who was ‘in’ and who was ‘out’, and Australia’s efforts to recast its image on the international stage as a multi-racial, nonracist
and anti-imperial nation. Specifically, it demonstrates how the intersection of these policy choices impacted on a particular cohort of so-called ‘Australian Protected Persons’ (‘APPs’). APPs who happened also to fall outside PNG’s citizenship criteria were left stateless at PNG’s independence. Drawing on newly released Australian archival material, this article casts light on the particular historical moment that allowed for this outcome.

Not all of them were entirely overlooked, but Inside story contributors definitely read them this... more Not all of them were entirely overlooked, but Inside story contributors definitely read them this year… • WE ASKED Inside Story contributors to write a paragraph about a book they’d read during the year that mightn’t have had the recognition it deserved, and immediately the question became more complicated than we’d anticipated. The books didn’t need to have been published in 2010 – which opened up the field considerably but makes the headline a little misleading. More importantly, “overlooked” turned out to be harder to define than expected. So the selection includes books that might or might not have been overlooked by some or most of us but probably (with one notable and belated exception) haven’t received any literary awards, or not yet anyway. With those caveats, here’s the list, in no particular order… Read the full article Illustration: Detail from “The Kindle Gazer, after Lilla Cabot Perry” by Mike Lich

International Journal of Refugee Law, 2018

This article analyses the drafting process of the 1967 Declaration on Territorial Asylum, with pa... more This article analyses the drafting process of the 1967 Declaration on Territorial Asylum, with particular attention given to the internal deliberations of the Australian government, which, at the time and since, has been a key contributor to the formation of international refugee and human rights law. It demonstrates that the Australian government believed that by voting for the Declaration it would commit itself to responding to requests for asylum in accordance with the Declaration – not just because the Declaration could have been the stepping stone for a convention, but because it was not confident that ‘soft law’ would be treated as entirely non-binding. The article also shows that the existence of the Declaration influenced Australian government policies and practices in the immediate aftermath of its adoption, thus demonstrating that it exerted a compliance pull independently of its perceived legal status.

Australian Journal of Politics & History, 2018

On 22 April 1980, Australian Foreign Minister Andrew Peacock announced that East German ballet da... more On 22 April 1980, Australian Foreign Minister Andrew Peacock announced that East German ballet dancer Heidrun Giersch had been granted political asylum. His announcement came as a surprise, because it made Giersch become one of only a handful of people ever to be granted political asylum in Australia. This article explores the circumstances that led to Peacock's decision. We argue that it was not informed by considerations about any persecution faced by Giersch, nor was it the outcome of attempts to shore up support for an Australian boycott of the Moscow Olympic Games, as variously claimed at the time. Rather, it has to be seen in the context of different policies governing the granting of political asylum and the granting of protection following the determination of refugee status, and of conflicts between the Minister for Foreign Affairs and his department, on the one hand, and the Immigration Minister and the Department of Immigration and Ethnic Affairs, on the other, about their respective responsibilities for Australia's refugee and asylum seeker policies. In 1979, legendary Australian television producer Hector Crawford sold a new idea to Australia's Channel Seven network: Skyways, a soap opera inspired by Arthur Hailey's bestselling novel Airport. 1 Channel Seven responded enthusiastically, and initially commissioned enough one-hour episodes to fill thirty-nine weeks, with two episodes to be screened each week. "Everything you see has happened, could happen or is likely to happen. It's as factual as could be", Crawford told a preview audience about the serial's story lines. 2 The first episode premiered on 9 July 1979. 3 Among others, it featured scriptwriter and part-time actor Beverly Blankenship in the role of Ilse Bergner, a young East German woman trying to defect. Such a defection had never happened in

International Relations of the Asia-Pacific, 2009

... returning them to Indonesia or encouraging their voluntary repatriation; ... In order to forc... more ... returning them to Indonesia or encouraging their voluntary repatriation; ... In order to force PNG's hand, Australia indicated that it would only provide UNHCR in PNG with funding for repatriation operations (Radio Australia, 1995). ...

Alternative Law Journal, 2018

This article demonstrates that many refugees in Australia are deliberately denied a realistic pro... more This article demonstrates that many refugees in Australia are deliberately denied a realistic prospect of achieving family reunion. It then explains why, in cases not involving child refugees in Australia, Australia has significant room to deny any international obligation to enable refugee family reunion. Finally, it discusses what might have been, if international legal history had played out a little differently.

Refugee Journeys: Histories of Resettlement, Representation and Resistance, 2021

Australia has undertaken non-refoulement obligations under the Refugees Convention, CAT and the I... more Australia has undertaken non-refoulement obligations under the Refugees Convention, CAT and the ICCPR. However, Australia’s interpretations of its non-refoulement obligations are so narrow, and its law and policy allowing visa refusals on bad character grounds is so sweeping, as to create a real possibility that Australia may return some asylum seekers to their countries of origin in breach of its international obligations.

The conversation, 2012

Sharon Pickering Professor of Criminology at Monash University Helen Ware Professor, Internationa... more Sharon Pickering Professor of Criminology at Monash University Helen Ware Professor, International Agency Leadership at University of New England Melissa Phillips Doctoral Candidate at University of Melbourne Sandy Gifford Prof of Anthropology and Refugee Studies at Swinburne University of Technology Savitri Taylor Associate Professor, Law School at La Trobe University Stephen Castles Research Chair in sociology at University of Sydney

Melissa Conley Tyler, Allan Gyngell and Bryce Wakefield (eds) Australia and the Rules-Based International Order, 2021

Response to Pene Matthew

Human Rights Review, 2021

This article introduces a special section of Human Rights Review dealing with international solid... more This article introduces a special section of Human Rights Review dealing with international solidarity in the context of refugee protection.

This article argues that Australia has, on the whole, been overly restrictive in its interpretati... more This article argues that Australia has, on the whole, been overly restrictive in its interpretation and application of key elements of the Refugee Convention definition and, insofar as it returns those persons wrongly rejected, has been violating its non-refoulment obligation under Article 33 of the Refugee Convention.Available for download at http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/SydLRev/1994/4.html

In the aftermath of September 11, Australia has committed itself to active participation in the ‘... more In the aftermath of September 11, Australia has committed itself to active participation in the ‘war on terrorism’. In light of concerns expressed by the Australian government that terrorists might sometimes take the guise of asylum-seekers, this article considers whether Australian procedures for dealing with onshore asylum-seekers have adequate safeguards in place to ensure that persons suspected of being a ‘danger to the security of the country’ are not removed in breach of Australia’s international protection obligations. To the extent that procedural safeguards are found to be inadequate, the article considers how they can be improved without unduly compromising Australia’s legitimate security interests. Available for download at http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/MULR/2002/21.html

The Australian Year Book of International Law Online

Australian Journal of Politics and HIstory, 2024

The emergence in the 1990s of voluntary repatriation as a significant new norm in the United Nati... more The emergence in the 1990s of voluntary repatriation as a significant new norm in the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) practice in refugee protection is often represented as something of an inevitability. Numerous scholars have suggested that the growth at UNHCR of a “repatriation culture” throughout the 1980s was principally the result of the increasing pressures of mass influx events alongside the challenges of dwindling resources and states’ demands for durable solutions to successive refugee crises. In this article, we argue that these challenges offer only a partial explanation for UNHCR’s turn from the cold war “exilic bias” of the international protection regime, towards the post-cold war prioritisation of repatriation. We suggest that states such as Australia, deeply concerned with the long-term outcomes of refugee flows in the late 1970s and 1980s, worked in tandem with key individuals who helped to shape the normative landscape of international protection. We identify GJL Coles as one such individual and offer a close analysis of his influence on key statements concerning voluntary repatriation throughout the 1980s. By making visible the entangled contributions of Australia and Coles, we add a hitherto missing strand to the story of how the “repatriation culture” at UNHCR, and the human rights discourse that accompanied it, emerged.

Refugee Protection in Southeast Asia: Between Humanitarianism and Sovereignty, 2025

This chapter discusses how the Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network (APRRN) has contributed to the... more This chapter discusses how the Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network (APRRN) has contributed to the advancement of refugee rights in Southeast Asia up to the end of 2021 and whether it has the organizational capacity to make a continuing contribution. In doing so, it furthers the book’s investigation of the impact of nonstate actors on refugee protection in Southeast Asia.

Australian Historical Studies, 2024

Starting in 1969, small groups of West Papuans have occasionally crossed the Torres Strait to Aus... more Starting in 1969, small groups of West Papuans have occasionally crossed the Torres Strait to Australia and sought its protection. In public discourse, these arrivals have figured as part of a narrative about Australia’s relationship with Indonesia. By contrast, in the public discourse about border control, which focuses on attempted travel across the Indian Ocean and distinct ‘waves’, they have been treated as a footnote, at most. In this article, we closely examine the Australian government’s response to West Papuan ‘boat people’ over time to demonstrate that, unlike in public discourse, border control considerations have loomed large in the government’s response. We argue that, in order to understand Australia’s approach to border control, we should see West Papuan asylum seekers in the context of border control policy and not only as a problem in Australia’s relationship with Indonesia.

Australian Historical Studies, 2024

Starting in 1969, small groups of West Papuans have occasionally crossed the Torres Strait to Aus... more Starting in 1969, small groups of West Papuans have occasionally crossed the Torres Strait to Australia and sought its protection. In public discourse, these arrivals have figured as part of a narrative about Australia’s relationship with Indonesia. By contrast, in the public discourse about border control, which focuses on attempted travel across the Indian Ocean and distinct ‘waves’, they have been treated as a footnote, at most. In this article, we closely examine the Australian government’s response to West Papuan ‘boat people’ over time to demonstrate that, unlike in public discourse, border control considerations have loomed large in the government’s response. We argue that, in order to understand Australia’s approach to border control, we should see West Papuan asylum seekers in the context of border control policy and not only as a problem in Australia’s relationship with Indonesia.

University of New South Wales law journal, 2010

This article discusses Australia’s implementation of its non-refoulement obligations under the Co... more This article discusses Australia’s implementation of its non-refoulement obligations under the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Statelessness and Citizenship Review, 2022

This article examines the changing concepts of racialised citizenship in two intertwined nations:... more This article examines the changing concepts of racialised citizenship in two intertwined nations: the Independent State of Papua New Guinea (‘PNG’) and the Commonwealth of Australia (‘Australia’), PNG’s former colonial ruler, as the latter sought to shake off the legacies of its recently abandoned ‘White Australia’ policy. It examines the historical intersection between PNG’s developing citizenship criteria, with its racialised articulation of who was ‘in’ and who was ‘out’, and Australia’s efforts to recast its image on the international stage as a multi-racial, nonracist
and anti-imperial nation. Specifically, it demonstrates how the intersection of these policy choices impacted on a particular cohort of so-called ‘Australian Protected Persons’ (‘APPs’). APPs who happened also to fall outside PNG’s citizenship criteria were left stateless at PNG’s independence. Drawing on newly released Australian archival material, this article casts light on the particular historical moment that allowed for this outcome.

Not all of them were entirely overlooked, but Inside story contributors definitely read them this... more Not all of them were entirely overlooked, but Inside story contributors definitely read them this year… • WE ASKED Inside Story contributors to write a paragraph about a book they’d read during the year that mightn’t have had the recognition it deserved, and immediately the question became more complicated than we’d anticipated. The books didn’t need to have been published in 2010 – which opened up the field considerably but makes the headline a little misleading. More importantly, “overlooked” turned out to be harder to define than expected. So the selection includes books that might or might not have been overlooked by some or most of us but probably (with one notable and belated exception) haven’t received any literary awards, or not yet anyway. With those caveats, here’s the list, in no particular order… Read the full article Illustration: Detail from “The Kindle Gazer, after Lilla Cabot Perry” by Mike Lich

International Journal of Refugee Law, 2018

This article analyses the drafting process of the 1967 Declaration on Territorial Asylum, with pa... more This article analyses the drafting process of the 1967 Declaration on Territorial Asylum, with particular attention given to the internal deliberations of the Australian government, which, at the time and since, has been a key contributor to the formation of international refugee and human rights law. It demonstrates that the Australian government believed that by voting for the Declaration it would commit itself to responding to requests for asylum in accordance with the Declaration – not just because the Declaration could have been the stepping stone for a convention, but because it was not confident that ‘soft law’ would be treated as entirely non-binding. The article also shows that the existence of the Declaration influenced Australian government policies and practices in the immediate aftermath of its adoption, thus demonstrating that it exerted a compliance pull independently of its perceived legal status.

Australian Journal of Politics & History, 2018

On 22 April 1980, Australian Foreign Minister Andrew Peacock announced that East German ballet da... more On 22 April 1980, Australian Foreign Minister Andrew Peacock announced that East German ballet dancer Heidrun Giersch had been granted political asylum. His announcement came as a surprise, because it made Giersch become one of only a handful of people ever to be granted political asylum in Australia. This article explores the circumstances that led to Peacock's decision. We argue that it was not informed by considerations about any persecution faced by Giersch, nor was it the outcome of attempts to shore up support for an Australian boycott of the Moscow Olympic Games, as variously claimed at the time. Rather, it has to be seen in the context of different policies governing the granting of political asylum and the granting of protection following the determination of refugee status, and of conflicts between the Minister for Foreign Affairs and his department, on the one hand, and the Immigration Minister and the Department of Immigration and Ethnic Affairs, on the other, about their respective responsibilities for Australia's refugee and asylum seeker policies. In 1979, legendary Australian television producer Hector Crawford sold a new idea to Australia's Channel Seven network: Skyways, a soap opera inspired by Arthur Hailey's bestselling novel Airport. 1 Channel Seven responded enthusiastically, and initially commissioned enough one-hour episodes to fill thirty-nine weeks, with two episodes to be screened each week. "Everything you see has happened, could happen or is likely to happen. It's as factual as could be", Crawford told a preview audience about the serial's story lines. 2 The first episode premiered on 9 July 1979. 3 Among others, it featured scriptwriter and part-time actor Beverly Blankenship in the role of Ilse Bergner, a young East German woman trying to defect. Such a defection had never happened in

International Relations of the Asia-Pacific, 2009

... returning them to Indonesia or encouraging their voluntary repatriation; ... In order to forc... more ... returning them to Indonesia or encouraging their voluntary repatriation; ... In order to force PNG's hand, Australia indicated that it would only provide UNHCR in PNG with funding for repatriation operations (Radio Australia, 1995). ...

Alternative Law Journal, 2018

This article demonstrates that many refugees in Australia are deliberately denied a realistic pro... more This article demonstrates that many refugees in Australia are deliberately denied a realistic prospect of achieving family reunion. It then explains why, in cases not involving child refugees in Australia, Australia has significant room to deny any international obligation to enable refugee family reunion. Finally, it discusses what might have been, if international legal history had played out a little differently.

Refugee Journeys: Histories of Resettlement, Representation and Resistance, 2021

Australia has undertaken non-refoulement obligations under the Refugees Convention, CAT and the I... more Australia has undertaken non-refoulement obligations under the Refugees Convention, CAT and the ICCPR. However, Australia’s interpretations of its non-refoulement obligations are so narrow, and its law and policy allowing visa refusals on bad character grounds is so sweeping, as to create a real possibility that Australia may return some asylum seekers to their countries of origin in breach of its international obligations.

The conversation, 2012

Sharon Pickering Professor of Criminology at Monash University Helen Ware Professor, Internationa... more Sharon Pickering Professor of Criminology at Monash University Helen Ware Professor, International Agency Leadership at University of New England Melissa Phillips Doctoral Candidate at University of Melbourne Sandy Gifford Prof of Anthropology and Refugee Studies at Swinburne University of Technology Savitri Taylor Associate Professor, Law School at La Trobe University Stephen Castles Research Chair in sociology at University of Sydney

Melissa Conley Tyler, Allan Gyngell and Bryce Wakefield (eds) Australia and the Rules-Based International Order, 2021

Response to Pene Matthew

Human Rights Review, 2021

This article introduces a special section of Human Rights Review dealing with international solid... more This article introduces a special section of Human Rights Review dealing with international solidarity in the context of refugee protection.

This article argues that Australia has, on the whole, been overly restrictive in its interpretati... more This article argues that Australia has, on the whole, been overly restrictive in its interpretation and application of key elements of the Refugee Convention definition and, insofar as it returns those persons wrongly rejected, has been violating its non-refoulment obligation under Article 33 of the Refugee Convention.Available for download at http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/SydLRev/1994/4.html

In the aftermath of September 11, Australia has committed itself to active participation in the ‘... more In the aftermath of September 11, Australia has committed itself to active participation in the ‘war on terrorism’. In light of concerns expressed by the Australian government that terrorists might sometimes take the guise of asylum-seekers, this article considers whether Australian procedures for dealing with onshore asylum-seekers have adequate safeguards in place to ensure that persons suspected of being a ‘danger to the security of the country’ are not removed in breach of Australia’s international protection obligations. To the extent that procedural safeguards are found to be inadequate, the article considers how they can be improved without unduly compromising Australia’s legitimate security interests. Available for download at http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/MULR/2002/21.html

The Australian Year Book of International Law Online