Securitization Of Australia Policies in Managing Unauthorized Boat Arrivals After the Tampa Incident (2001-2007)

Australia’s immigration and security policy has reached its harsh turning point in the aftermath of Tampa Incident in 2001. It is shocking that a country with strong record of protecting civil and political rights has chosen to put the problem of boat people as a matter of security-emergency instead of humanitarian one. This research will seek further explanation of why and how the securitization process on the matter of unauthorized boat arrivals has influenced Australian security policy especially after the Tampa incident. Within the time frame of 2001-2007 it can be seen that a security logic wherein boat arrivals are treated as threat had widely legitimized, apparent from public opinion regarding the issue. Politician had often thrown speech act by framing the boatpeople as “them” who misused Australian generosity and threatening national border. This type of research is descriptive research with a qualitative approach that explains the phenomenon profusely. Data collection techniques used in this study are documentation. Documentation involves various journals and books as references in describing the problem. Data reduction, data display, and conclusion drawing/verification are used to analyze the data. This research concludes that the securitization process which takes place for years has shifted the discussion about boat arrivals from human rights protection to political commodity and then to a matter of border protection. Within the time frame of 2001-2013 it can be seen that a security logic wherein boat arrivals are treated as a threat has widely legitimized