The Longest Journey

Australia is one of only ten western countries which resettles refugees recommended by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. The federal government has justifiably defended this long-term contribution to assisting the world’s refugees. But how fair is the resettlement process? Does it always—as Amanda Vanstone and her predecessor, Philip Ruddock, insist—help the neediest of all refugees? Drawing on interviews with refugees, policymakers, officials and aid workers in Nairobi, Kakuma, Geneva, Canberra and Melbourne, this book looks at the opportunities and obstacles that face refugees whose homelands are in turmoil.