Disabled mobility and the production of impairment: The case of Australia's migration policy framework

Abstract

In Australia, the transfer of asylum seekers to Nauru for ‘processing’ and the harm experienced by refugees in this context has been analysed from various perspectives, including criticisms that this is a form of torture. However, the harm experienced by refugees seeking asylum has not been considered through a southern disability theory (SDT) lens. Whilst SDT has been employed to examine various contexts, the framework has not explicitly been used to discuss the production of impairment in Nauru. Our application of this framework in this context highlights the Global North and Global South inequalities operating on the bodies of those refugees seeking asylum who are initially obstructed from entry into Australia. SDT also highlights some Global North framings that do not include the production of impairment in theorising disabling conditions. This obscures the power relations underpinning the policies generating harm to those in Nauru; however, SDT makes these power relations central, thus providing a better framework for appreciating what is occurring in Nauru and the ongoing refugee transition undertaken to ‘claim’ asylum in Australia.