Acts of Cruelty

This book documents the complex, drawn out and harsh legal procedures and historically racist and toxic immigration culture that await people arriving by plane and subsequently seeking refugee status in Australia. This story has hitherto been sidelined because of the more notorious offshore detention policies of successive Australian governments for people arriving by boat. In this book, research by Dr Aileen Crowe, a Franciscan nun and refugee advocate, provides both detailed insight into the lived experiences of such would-be migrants and the tangle of immigration processes and laws which they must navigate at their peril. The author’s support and advocacy role brings her close to individuals and families attempting to escape numerous forms of persecution in their own countries as they confront further trauma in seeking Australias protection. The book is an important and challenging document for potential migrants and asylum seekers, politicians, lawyers, students of international relations, and the general public internationally.