Australian Immigration Policy and Its Relation to Asia

Australia is a classic country for immigration. It is an attractive country for migrants, with its friendly, multi-cultural society, most mild climates and a strong, vibrant economy. In the past 20 years Australia has "experienced large-scale immigration" from a new source of countries, particularly from Asia (Castles & Miller, 1993, pp.5). Australia's permanent immigration program has two components - Migration (non-Humanitarian) for skilled and family migrants and Humanitarian, for refugees and others with humanitarian needs (DIMIA, 2004). This essay will critically analyse Australian immigration policy and its relation to Asia.
Before analysing Australians immigration policy, it is important to define what a migration and asylum seeker is. Papastergiadis (2000, pp.54) defined 'migration' as the process of people's movement through national boundaries. Migration is not only an issue of Australia and Asia, but it is also a global phenomenon.…