Editing Pacific Solution (section)

{{Short description|Australian asylum policy from 2001}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2015}}
{{Use Australian English|date=March 2015}}

[[File:BoatArrivals.gif|thumb|400px|alt=Persons arriving by unauthorised boat to Australia by calendar year|Persons arriving by unauthorised boat to Australia by calendar year]]
{{John Howard sidebar}}

The '''Pacific Solution''' is the name given to the [[Australian Government|government of Australia]]'s policy of transporting [[asylum seeker]]s to detention centres on island nations in the [[Pacific Ocean]], rather than allowing them to land on the Australian mainland. Initially implemented from 2001 to 2007, it had bipartisan support from the [[Coalition (Australia)|Coalition]] and [[Australian Labor Party|Labor opposition]] at the time. The Pacific Solution consisted of three central strategies:
*Thousands of islands were excised from the [[Australian migration zone]] and Australian territory; 
*The [[Australian Defence Force]] commenced [[Operation Relex]] to intercept vessels carrying asylum seekers ([[SIEV]]s);
*The asylum seekers were removed to [[Nauru Regional Processing Centre|detention centres in Nauru]] and [[Manus Regional Processing Centre|on Manus Island]], [[Papua New Guinea]], while their refugee status was determined. 
A number of pieces of legislation enabled this policy. The policy was developed by the [[Howard government]] in response to the [[Tampa affair]] in August 2001 and the [[Children Overboard affair]],<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url = http://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/pubs/BN/2012-2013/PacificSolution#_Toc334509636|title = The 'Pacific Solution' revisited: a statistical guide to the asylum seeker caseloads on Nauru and Manus Island|date = 4 September 2012|access-date = 25 July 2013|last = Philips|first = Janet|publisher = [[Parliament of Australia]]|archive-date = 14 August 2020|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200814123059/https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/pubs/BN/2012-2013/PacificSolution#_Toc334509636|url-status = live}}</ref> and was implemented by Immigration Minister [[Philip Ruddock]] on 28 September before the [[2001 Australian federal election|2001 federal election]] of 24 November.

The policy was largely dismantled in 2008 by the [[Rudd government (2007–10)|first Rudd government]] following the election of the Labor Party; [[Chris Evans (Australian politician)|Chris Evans]], the [[Minister for Immigration and Citizenship (Australia)|Minister for Immigration and Citizenship]] described it as "a cynical, costly and ultimately unsuccessful exercise".<ref name="smh">{{cite news|title=Flight from Nauru ends Pacific Solution|url=http://news.smh.com.au/national/flight-from-nauru-ends-pacific-solution-20080208-1qww.html|newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald|date=8 February 2008|access-date=26 August 2013|archive-date=6 June 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140606041705/http://news.smh.com.au/national/flight-from-nauru-ends-pacific-solution-20080208-1qww.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

In August 2012, the succeeding [[Gillard government]] (Labor) introduced a similar policy, reopening the Nauru and Manus detention centres for offshore processing.<ref>{{cite news|title=Govt embraces Pacific Solution measures|url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/breaking-news/labor-considers-reopening-nauru/story-fn3dxiwe-1226448896536|access-date=17 June 2013|newspaper=The Australian|date=13 August 2012|archive-date=13 August 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120813192655/http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/breaking-news/labor-considers-reopening-nauru/story-fn3dxiwe-1226448896536|url-status=live}}</ref>

On 19 July 2013, newly returned Prime Minister [[Kevin Rudd]], during his [[Rudd government (2013)|short-lived second term of office]], announced that "asylum seekers who come here by boat without a visa will never be settled in Australia",<ref name="smi">{{cite news|title=Kevin Rudd to send asylum seekers who arrive by boat to Papua New Guinea|url=http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/federal-election-2013/kevin-rudd-to-send-asylum-seekers-who-arrive-by-boat-to-papua-new-guinea-20130719-2q9fa.html|newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald|date=19 July 2013|access-date=26 August 2013|archive-date=31 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171031075513/http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/federal-election-2013/kevin-rudd-to-send-asylum-seekers-who-arrive-by-boat-to-papua-new-guinea-20130719-2q9fa.html|url-status=live}}</ref> striking a Regional Resettlement Arrangement between Australia and Papua New Guinea,<ref name="reg">{{cite web |url=http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/download/library/prspub/5P1X6/upload_binary/5P1X6.pdf |title=Regional resettlement arrangement between Australia and Papua New Guinea |publisher=Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade |access-date=26 August 2013 |archive-date=14 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200814145603/https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/download/library/prspub/5P1X6/upload_binary/5P1X6.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> colloquially known as the '''PNG Solution''', to divert all "unauthorised maritime arrivals" to mandatory detention on [[Manus Island]] with no possibility of attaining Australian residency.<ref name="imm">{{cite web|title=Regional Resettlement Arrangements|url=http://www.immi.gov.au/visas/humanitarian/novisa/byboatnovisa.pdf|publisher=Australian Department of Immigration and Citizenship|access-date=26 August 2013|archive-date=9 October 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131009194246/http://www.immi.gov.au/visas/humanitarian/novisa/byboatnovisa.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The [[Operation Sovereign Borders]] policy took over from the Pacific Solution after the [[2013 Australian federal election|2013 federal election]], won by the [[Coalition (Australia)|Coalition]]. It commenced on 18 September 2013 under the new [[Abbott government]].<ref name=policy>{{cite web|author=Liberal Party of Australia & The Nationals|title=The Coalition's Operation Sovereign Borders Policy|url=http://lpaweb-static.s3.amazonaws.com/Policies/OperationSovereignBorders_Policy.pdf|access-date=27 October 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303211828/http://lpaweb-static.s3.amazonaws.com/Policies/OperationSovereignBorders_Policy.pdf|archive-date=3 March 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> On 31 March 2019, Operation Sovereign Borders reported that there were no people held in the detention centre on Nauru, which had been closed, and that the Manus centre had been officially closed on 31 October 2017.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://newsroom.abf.gov.au/releases/operation-sovereign-borders-monthly-update-march-2019|title=Operation Sovereign Borders monthly update: March 2019 - Australian Border Force Newsroom|website=newsroom.abf.gov.au|access-date=2019-05-04|archive-date=14 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200814123127/https://newsroom.abf.gov.au/releases/operation-sovereign-borders-monthly-update-march-2019|url-status=live}}</ref> However, on 30 September 2019 the total number of asylum seekers still in PNG and Nauru was 562 (separate numbers were not published), being housed in alternative accommodation.<ref name=senateoct19>{{cite web|url=https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/download/committees/estimate/48ea734a-e5f8-4bc6-813e-1f22b32a238a/toc_pdf/Legal%20and%20Constitutional%20Affairs%20Legislation%20Committee_2019_10_21_7290_Official.pdf;fileType=application%2Fpdf#search=%22committees/estimate/48ea734a-e5f8-4bc6-813e-1f22b32a238a/0000%22|page=76|title=Estimates|author=Australian Government. Senate. Legal And Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee|date=21 October 2019|quote=Proof Committee Hansard|access-date=27 April 2020|journal=|archive-date=27 April 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200427035326/https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/download/committees/estimate/48ea734a-e5f8-4bc6-813e-1f22b32a238a/toc_pdf/Legal%20and%20Constitutional%20Affairs%20Legislation%20Committee_2019_10_21_7290_Official.pdf;fileType=application%2Fpdf#search=%22committees/estimate/48ea734a-e5f8-4bc6-813e-1f22b32a238a/0000%22|url-status=live}}</ref>