This thesis is a study of some of the schemes used by illegal immigrants to circumvent Australia’s visa entry requirements. The study encompasses twenty years of personal observation of Australia’s illegal immigration industry. By the end of the 20th Century, illegal immigration into Australia was out of control. The most visible form of illegal entry was by small boat via Australia’s northern approaches, and from 1989, until it was stopped in August 2001, a total of 13,475 people had entered Australia illegally by this method. But by far the greatest number of migrants to have entered Australia illegally over the past two decades came through our airports via the insidious technique of visa misuse. This misuse was a byproduct of Australia’s visa entry requirements which are based on procedures which can be manipulated, processes which can be fabricated and documents which can be forged. Both Labor and Liberal Governments during the past two decades had policies aimed at stemming the tide of illegal immigration into Australia. However, the only policy which was totally successful was the Liberal Government’s “Pacific Solution” which ended the trafficking of boat people. This thesis explains why other policies were only partially successful and why illegal immigration during these years was a continuing process.
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