Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / The thesis investigates the motivations behind, the methods used in, and the results of the overseas students’ collective action contesting the measures, which the Australian government introduced from 1983 to 1996. As a group of temporary residents located outside the boundaries of domestic political systems, yet within the core of Australia’s revenue earnings, overseas students independently mobilised in an attempt to influence the Australian Government policy on education from a position of limited political, social and legal rights. As temporary residents on short-term permits fully regulated under prescribed immigration rules, overseas students employed conventional repertoires of contention— they established formal structures, adopted action tools, framed their claims, internationalised their protest, formed alliances — in an attempt to mobilise resources and access existing avenues to influence government’s export of education services policy. Their mobilisation response and campaign strategy achieved modest success in securing some policy concessions, particularly during the early stages of education aid reform. Their strategy, however had to evolve as the fledgling export of education services expanded and eventually they shifted their position to fully embrace and reinterpret the government’s own ‘language of liberalisation’, which they used to greater effectiveness in making subsequent claims. Overseas students ability to procure concessions is derived not from their political or universal rights to education, but from their ability to influence policy changes based on their importance and strategic location in the Australian economy. In other words, government, universities and industry stakeholders have increasingly become dependent on substantial revenue earnings derived from overseas students and have become susceptible to potential chaos that may be precipitated if current students withdrew from the economy, or potential students choosing alternative education service destinations.

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / The thesis investigates the motivations behind, the methods used in, and the results of the overseas students’ collective action contesting the measures, which the Australian government introduced from 1983 to 1996. As a group of temporary residents located outside the boundaries of domestic political systems, yet within the core of Australia’s revenue earnings, overseas students independently mobilised in an attempt to influence the Australian Government policy on education from a position of limited political, social and legal rights. As temporary residents on short-term permits fully regulated under prescribed immigration rules, overseas students employed conventional repertoires of contention— they established formal structures, adopted action tools, framed their claims, internationalised their protest, formed alliances — in an attempt to mobilise resources and access existing avenues to influence government’s export of education services policy. Their mobilisation response and campaign strategy achieved modest success in securing some policy concessions, particularly during the early stages of education aid reform. Their strategy, however had to evolve as the fledgling export of education services expanded and eventually they shifted their position to fully embrace and reinterpret the government’s own ‘language of liberalisation’, which they used to greater effectiveness in making subsequent claims. Overseas students ability to procure concessions is derived not from their political or universal rights to education, but from their ability to influence policy changes based on their importance and strategic location in the Australian economy. In other words, government, universities and industry stakeholders have increasingly become dependent on substantial revenue earnings derived from overseas students and have become susceptible to potential chaos that may be precipitated if current students withdrew from the economy, or potential students choosing alternative education service destinations.

La problématique des réfugiés fait partie du cadre plus large des politiques migratoires et de la migration internationale en général. Étant un pays d’immigration, le Canada a dû composer avec plusieurs vagues migratoires et s’y adapter en changeant sa politique d’immigration (au niveau fédéral et provincial) en définissant, en termes numériques, les objectifs annuels d’admission des immigrants (le nombre souhaité d’immigrants), ainsi que les objectifs politiques, humanitaires, économiques et démographiques à long terme. Le groupe visé par le présent rapport (les demandeurs d’asile et les réfugiés) se distingue de toute autre catégorie d’immigration par la spécificité de sa condition - une fuite involontaire et une absence de protection des autorités nationales de leur pays. Au plan international et dans le cadre de la politique canadienne, un réfugié: « l’individu qui fuit la persécution » devient un «demandeur d’asile » au moment de faire face à un processus de reconnaissance du statut de réfugié, conforme aux définitions, aux lois et à la politique d’immigration canadiennes. Les étapes de ce processus sont importantes, parce qu’elles établissent une continuité de la demande d’asile, mais aussi parce qu’elles influencent la comptabilisation et les statistiques sur les demandeurs d’asile et les réfugiés. Les données de Citoyenneté et Immigration Canada figurent parmi les rares sources disponibles donnant à la fois des informations sur les demandeurs d’asile et les réfugiés. Cette population au Canada est mal connue et assez difficile à décrire à cause de la faiblesse des statistiques. Du point de vue démographique, une meilleure connaissance du nombre et de l’évolution des immigrants de la catégorie « demandeur d’asile » ou « réfugié », ainsi que de leurs caractéristiques sociodémographiques (sexe, âge, scolarité, connaissances linguistiques, pays d’origine, etc.) aide à cerner leurs besoins en services et à leur fournir des politiques adéquates d’intégration à la culture et à la vie canadiennes. / The problem of refugees is part of the broader framework of migration policies and international migration in general. As a country of immigration, Canada has had to deal with several waves of migration and to adapt its immigration policy (at the federal and provincial level) by defining, in numerical terms, the annual targets for the admission of immigrants (the desired number of immigrants), as well as its political, humanitarian, economic and demographic objectives. The target group for this report (the asylum seekers and refugees) differs from any other category of immigration by a specific condition – an inadvertent leak and a lack of protection from the national authorities of their country. At the international level and in the context of Canadian politics, a refugee: “the individual who is fleeing persecution” becomes an “asylum seeker” when engaging a process of recognition of refugee status, consistent with the Canadian immigration policy. The steps involved in this process are important because they establish continuity in the application process for asylum, but also because they influence the accounting and statistics on asylum seekers and refugees. The data from Citizenship and Immigration Canada are among the few sources available that provides indication on both asylum seekers and refugees. From a demographic point of view, a better knowledge of the number and the evolution of the immigrants of the category “asylum seeker” or “refugee”, as well as of their sociodemographic characteristics (sex, age, education, language skills, country of origin, etc.) help to identify their needs in services and to provide them with adequate policies of integration to Canada.

La problématique des réfugiés fait partie du cadre plus large des politiques migratoires et de la migration internationale en général. Étant un pays d’immigration, le Canada a dû composer avec plusieurs vagues migratoires et s’y adapter en changeant sa politique d’immigration (au niveau fédéral et provincial) en définissant, en termes numériques, les objectifs annuels d’admission des immigrants (le nombre souhaité d’immigrants), ainsi que les objectifs politiques, humanitaires, économiques et démographiques à long terme. Le groupe visé par le présent rapport (les demandeurs d’asile et les réfugiés) se distingue de toute autre catégorie d’immigration par la spécificité de sa condition - une fuite involontaire et une absence de protection des autorités nationales de leur pays. Au plan international et dans le cadre de la politique canadienne, un réfugié: « l’individu qui fuit la persécution » devient un «demandeur d’asile » au moment de faire face à un processus de reconnaissance du statut de réfugié, conforme aux définitions, aux lois et à la politique d’immigration canadiennes. Les étapes de ce processus sont importantes, parce qu’elles établissent une continuité de la demande d’asile, mais aussi parce qu’elles influencent la comptabilisation et les statistiques sur les demandeurs d’asile et les réfugiés. Les données de Citoyenneté et Immigration Canada figurent parmi les rares sources disponibles donnant à la fois des informations sur les demandeurs d’asile et les réfugiés. Cette population au Canada est mal connue et assez difficile à décrire à cause de la faiblesse des statistiques. Du point de vue démographique, une meilleure connaissance du nombre et de l’évolution des immigrants de la catégorie « demandeur d’asile » ou « réfugié », ainsi que de leurs caractéristiques sociodémographiques (sexe, âge, scolarité, connaissances linguistiques, pays d’origine, etc.) aide à cerner leurs besoins en services et à leur fournir des politiques adéquates d’intégration à la culture et à la vie canadiennes. / The problem of refugees is part of the broader framework of migration policies and international migration in general. As a country of immigration, Canada has had to deal with several waves of migration and to adapt its immigration policy (at the federal and provincial level) by defining, in numerical terms, the annual targets for the admission of immigrants (the desired number of immigrants), as well as its political, humanitarian, economic and demographic objectives. The target group for this report (the asylum seekers and refugees) differs from any other category of immigration by a specific condition – an inadvertent leak and a lack of protection from the national authorities of their country. At the international level and in the context of Canadian politics, a refugee: “the individual who is fleeing persecution” becomes an “asylum seeker” when engaging a process of recognition of refugee status, consistent with the Canadian immigration policy. The steps involved in this process are important because they establish continuity in the application process for asylum, but also because they influence the accounting and statistics on asylum seekers and refugees. The data from Citizenship and Immigration Canada are among the few sources available that provides indication on both asylum seekers and refugees. From a demographic point of view, a better knowledge of the number and the evolution of the immigrants of the category “asylum seeker” or “refugee”, as well as of their sociodemographic characteristics (sex, age, education, language skills, country of origin, etc.) help to identify their needs in services and to provide them with adequate policies of integration to Canada.