Event Details

Sixty years ago the Catholic Church affirmed two seemingly conflicting rights; the right to seek asylum and the right of nations to manage migration flows across their border. The only way to reconcile these two rights is to recognise that both rights serve the same purpose - “devotion to humanity". This means seeking the common good and concrete solidarity between those suffering regions and those which, already for years, have accepted a large number of fleeing people. Australia's approach to refugees and asylum seekers continues to dominate news headlines. Many Australians urgently wish to see better outcomes for asylum seekers and refugees. However there is no single agreed consensus on how this can be best achieved. The aim of this conference is to bring together people who are working with refugees, those with an interest in the asylum seeker phenomenon and those in the public arena to help all involved to better discern how such “devotion to humanity” in response to the asylum seeker phenomenon can be achieved.