This thesis maps the values that have guided the asylum policy decisions of Australia's political leaders over the past half-century, drawing on archival records and interviews with former immigration ministers and senior public servants. For comparative purposes, it also maps the values shaping the views of asylum among leaders of a supra-national organization (the European Commission) and of a major non-government organization (the Jesuit Refugee Service). The findings support the view that a culture of control permeates Australian asylum policy decisions, and that the quest for control stems from perceptions of national interest as articulated in immigration and foreign policy. However, beneath this it shows the primary values shaping policy to be nation building and good governance in the case of the Australian leaders, and (European) community building in the case of European Commission leaders. Building on a 'caring for us, caring for them' conundrum found running through the values of all three groups of leaders, and seeking a secular equivalent to the faith-inspired relational approach of the Jesuit Refugee Service leaders, the thesis explores the contribution an ethics of care might make to asylum policy design, delivery and evaluation. It argues that such an approach, in which care is conceived as a value, process and practice rather than a sentiment or theory, is well suited to the area, especially when refined to provide for the work of empathy and imagination. It concludes by considering the potential implications for Australian asylum policy if an ethics of care were adopted. The primary goals of the thesis are a better understanding of the issues involved in asylum policy, and the articulation of an ethical approach potentially as engaging of policy insiders as of policy spectators.

Thesis (doctoral)--Universität Heidelberg.

Tesis (profesor adjunto de derecho internacional público)--Universidad de la República, Montevideo.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--George Mason University, 2009. / Vita: p. 279. Thesis director: Janine Wedel. Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Public Policy. Title from PDF t.p. (viewed June 10, 2009). Includes bibliographical references (p. 223-278). Also issued in print.

Thesis--Marburg. / Bibliographical footnotes.

Univ., Diss.--Tübingen, 2000. / Literaturverz. S. 370 - 392.

Thesis (doctoral)--Université de Genève. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 306-324).

Thesis (LL. M.)--University of Toronto, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.A.) - Carleton University, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 120-132). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

Thesis--Bonn. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 264-269) and index.