Europe’s Dirty Little Secret: How the EU’s Offshore Migration Deals Erode International Law and Expose Hypocrisy

Europe’s Dirty Little Secret: How the EU’s Offshore Migration Deals Erode International Law and Expose Hypocrisy

Lachie Macfarlan | Europe and Eurasia FellowImage sourced from Ggia via Wikimedia Commons.Twelve years ago, Tony Abbott popularised the ‘Stop the Boats’ slogan in Australia. Offshore detention had existed before, but Abbott turned cruelty into spectacle. Today, Nauru remains open, a monument to that policy. Since then, Abbott’s vision of border externalisation has become increasingly popular, not only referring to asylum seekers coming by boat t…