Australia's asylum seeker policy and Christmas Island

Many political and media discussions make reference to Christmas Island, an Australian outpost located in the Indian Ocean, where asylum seekers are detained. While most mainland Australians only hear or read about asylum seekers via the media, the people of Christmas Island experience asylum seekers face to face. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork conducted on Christmas Island from 2008 to 2011, this thesis tells the story of the Christmas Island host community. It examines what meaning can be made of islander and asylum seeker encounters and provides insights into how Australia’s asylum seeker policy plays out at the Australian border.