Leanne Weber and Sharon Pickering, Globalization and Borders: Death at the Global Frontier
| Author | Linda Briskman |
| Published date | 01 December 2012 |
| Date | 01 December 2012 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/0004865812458053 |
| Subject Matter | Book Reviews |
The above insights are not exhaustive and will not necessarily apply to every person
accused of organising smuggling operations. However, I would suggest they are more
likely to be the norm than not and require us to radically re-think the approach to people
smuggling. Fundamentally, the criminogenic role of border controls in creating the need
to utilise illicit forms of travel and generating high levels of risk (see review of Weber and
Pickering this issue) needs to be acknowledged. With that as our starting point, rather
than the constructed criminality of the smuggler, genuinely humanitarian solutions, such
as state facilitated travel and a significantly increased re-settlement program, can be
envisaged.
Notes
1. See the Australian Broadcasting Commission’s 4 Corners program, broadcast on 4 June 2012.
Available at http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/stories/2012/05/31/3515475.htm (accessed 10 July
2012).
2. Per Mildren J, The Queen and Al Hassan Abdolamir Al Jenabi, [2004] NTSC, SCC 20302840
and 20302843, 21 September.
Reference
Kelly J (2010) People Smugglers: Saviours or Criminals? A Report on 16 Convicted People
Smugglers in Australia Between 2001–2006. Sydney: Australian Lawyers for Human Rights.
Michael Grewcock
Faculty of Law, University of New South Wales
Leanne Weber and Sharon Pickering, Globalization and Borders: Death at the Global Frontier, Palgrave
Macmillan: Basingstoke and New York, 2011, 248 pp.: ISBN 978-0-230-24734-5 (hbk)
The global tragedy of death at border frontiers fails to capture the hearts and
minds of policy actors. Instead, responses of inhumanity occur through political
posturing and ideologies that privilege border security. In the public and political dis-
course the human cost of these tragedies is severely neglected. Reading this timely
book through my Australian gaze of deep despair at asylum seeker deaths that con-
tinue at sea, reinforces the need for a fresh policy approach that focuses on the
human rather than the border. But regrettably compassion in Australia and else-
where is at a low ebb and political manoeuvrings of restricting entry continue
unabated, creating policies that lead to the loss of life on a monumental scale.
Globalization and Borders tackles not only the loss of lives during journeys whether by
sea or other means, but also examines deaths in detention facilities and deaths resulting
from deportation.
For most observers of border deaths, the limited and sensationalised reporting in the
media is a key source of (mis)information. By way of contrast Weber and Pickering,
through meticulous research, present insights that are perceptive, compelling and dis-
turbing. Although this book is a welcome addition to the topic of forced migration,
reading about premature and predictable death is indeed painful.
446 Australian & New Zealand Journal of Criminology 45(3)
To continue reading
Request your trial