Refugees and human rights abuses: we can’t pretend that we do not know
Hannah Arendt provides a useful framework to think about the extraordinary statement about torture made by Tony Abbott during his visit to Sri Lanka
Jeff Sparrow
Tony Abbott visits the Sri Lanka Navy vessel in Sri Lanka. Australia will expand cooperation between their navies to crack down on people smuggling. Photograph: Xinhua/Landov/Barcroft Media
The writer Hannah Arendt noted how, during the refugee crises of the 1930s, the treatment received by those fleeing repression was determined, even when they escaped, by their oppressors.
