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Appendix. Tables with an overview of legislation toward refugees from selected host countries

Table A1. Overview of legislation toward refugees in Australia.
Australia acceded to the 1951 convention relating to the status of refugees becoming the sixth nation to agree with the convention, according to the
timeline provided by the Refugee Council of Australia (https://www.refugeecouncil.org.au/getfacts/timeline/)
1958: Australian Parliament passed the Migration Act 1958, which provided guidance to entry, presence, departure, deportation of foreign nationals,
as well as procedures for asylum seekers and refugees
Australia acceded to the 1967 protocol relating to the status of refugees: Expanded the original convention to respond to new refugee situations
1976: First immigration detention center was established
1978: Release of Galbally report: Improved resources and personnel for refugees, but funding remained limited (Langfield, 1996)
1978: Arrival of Southeast Asian refugees led to expansion of federally funded services for new arrivals
1979: Community refugee settlement scheme: A network of volunteer groups was established to provide assistance to humanitarian entrants
1981: Fraser Government introduced the special humanitarian program in response to unrest in Iran
1989: Migration Legislation Amendment Act 1989 was introduced by the Hawke Government to deter and intimidate “illegal entrants,” as a response
to asylum seekers arriving following the Tiananmen Square massacre and collapse of the Soviet Union (Australia-Government, 2001)
1991: National Integrated Settlement Strategy was established to coordinate and integrate actions across the government related to migrant service
needs (Department of Immigration and Multicural Affairs, 2006)
1993: The humanitarian program was separated from the migrant program
1997: Management of immigration detention centers was outsourced to private companies
2002: Australian Government froze asylum seeker applications from approximately 2,000 Afghans
2015: Migration Amendment (protection and other measures) Act 2015 revised the Migration Act 1958, including the creation of rules to refuse visa
applications from those who fail to provide identity and the amendment of a framework related to unauthorized maritime arrivals (Australian
Government, 2015)

Table A2. Overview of legislation toward refugees in Canada.
Canada has a complicated history before the 1950s, especially with Jewish refugees during the World War II. This report started compiling analyses
from the mid-1950s
1951: The federal government issued the “Assisted Passage Loan Scheme” to help immigrants from Europe to pay for their transportation. These
immigrants still have to pay the government back after 2 years, which is a rule still used today The Canadian Government resettled over 37,000
Hungarians between 1956 and 1957
1960: The Canadian Bill Of Rights was passed by the parliament, which established that every person has the right to life, liberty, and security
1968: Canada changed its laws to allow deserters from foreign armies to receive landed immigrant status
1969: Canada acceded to the 1951 convention relating to the status of refugees
1970: Canada issued a “guideline for determination of eligibility for refugee status” for use by immigration officers selecting refugees overseas
1972: The federal government accepted 7,000 Ugandan Asians
1976: A new immigration act was the first immigration legislation to recognize refugees as a special case of immigrants, which came into force in
April 1978
1978: The CCR was formed, which has historical information of the country’s responses to refugees (CCR, 2009)
Between 1978 and 1981, refugees made up 25% of all immigrants to Canada. Private sponsorship of refugees program was launched between
1979 and 1981, during the resettlement of 50,000 Southeastern Asian refugees
1987: Canada ratified the convention against torture
1989: Establishment of the guidelines on women refugee claimants fearing gender-related persecution. This action made Canada the first country in
the world to implement these guidelines
2002: Immigration and refugee protection act came into force
2004: Safe third country agreement between the U.S. and Canada came into effect Newcomer’s pathway to becoming a Canadian citizen is a
straightforward process through the government settlements services The country has no anti-immigrant federal political parties (Seidle, 2016)
Canada is recognized as a world leader in protecting refugees, in which immigration and acquisition of citizenship are closely linked
Note: CCR: Canadian Council for Refugees

40 International Journal of Population Studies | 2018, Volume 4, Issue 1