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Cruel Care: A History of Children at Our Borders
Australia has long grappled with how to treat refugees, particularly children, who come to our country. Cruel Care asks why Australia pursues such unforgiving immigration policies, and why successive Australian governments say that the cruel acts they perpetrate are a form of care. This is a story of of the politics and emotions that drive national policy. Meticulously researched – and drawing on interviews with key Australian policymakers, along with a rich set of archival sources – this book explores how legislation, ministers, political parties and the public service have combined to create a narrative of compassion while pursuing repressive policies. It details the weaponisation of rhetoric such as ‘best interests of the child’ and the histories of race – and racism – that influence Australian discourses of national security. Cruel Care asks provocative questions about how policymakers are shaped by, and in turn shape, their histories, communities and the nation. It is a clarion call for better treatment for all who arrive on our shores.
320 pages, Paperback
Published July 1, 2023
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
October 3, 2023
Silverstein examines the recent history of child refugees and asylum seekers to Australia through the lens of 'cruel care'.
"Cruel care is shaped by an understanding that 'stopping the suffering' is always an act of kindness."
Although the book is largely a modern history (1970s on) there is an excellent chapter on the earlier policies, especially those of the 1940s and 50s, which grounded later policies and attitudes. The research is impeccable using a variety of sources including, archival, news articles, and oral interviews with key players, at least those who agreed, although the list of those who did not wish to be interviewed is quite telling in itself. For those included, the extracts were enlightening and well handled. I particularly enjoyed Gillian Triggs words on Morrison and Dutton.
This is an excellent and informative read. A difficult history told with great respect, which, as Silverstein herself requests, highlights the need to bring "emotions to the forefront, [to] turn them against themselves, find ways to dismantle the divides that are being created ... to understand how Australian history is being sentimentalised and endeavour to rethink this nationalist approach ... that Australia has been kind and gentle."
"Cruel care is shaped by an understanding that 'stopping the suffering' is always an act of kindness."
Although the book is largely a modern history (1970s on) there is an excellent chapter on the earlier policies, especially those of the 1940s and 50s, which grounded later policies and attitudes. The research is impeccable using a variety of sources including, archival, news articles, and oral interviews with key players, at least those who agreed, although the list of those who did not wish to be interviewed is quite telling in itself. For those included, the extracts were enlightening and well handled. I particularly enjoyed Gillian Triggs words on Morrison and Dutton.
This is an excellent and informative read. A difficult history told with great respect, which, as Silverstein herself requests, highlights the need to bring "emotions to the forefront, [to] turn them against themselves, find ways to dismantle the divides that are being created ... to understand how Australian history is being sentimentalised and endeavour to rethink this nationalist approach ... that Australia has been kind and gentle."
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July 9, 2025very damning book detailing the 'cruel care' of refugees and asylum seekers in Australia, and how the category of "child refugee" has been created and legitimised. a must-read for anyone living in Australia.
These following paragraphs I had to make note of.
... "We do not need to volunteer to be part of the settler-colonial project for it to affect us."
"Neither childhood nor refugeehood are inherent states: they are historically created and produced categories, and they are used for political ends. We can trace the production of the category of 'child refugee', by governments, politicians, policymakers and the public, to understand the moments when it becomes visible and what it is used for."
"The category of 'refugee children' and the notion of crisis are co-created and interlinked over decades, as ministers and governments pursue their policy goals. There is a fantasy of control - it is imagined that by producing the crisis or disaster, policymakers can direct policy outcomes, as though governments can ever fully command people's movements."
"This approach to public policy is part of a broader approach that relies on mobilising successive crises in order to continue the work of colonising Australia. The maintenance of the border, and control over the population of this country, is ongoing. Discourses of crisis - the understanding that governing through crisis is a way to maintain control, the embracing and refusal of different crises, the production of an emotional community that understands crisis in certain ways, the limiting of options through the timeframe of emergency produced by a crisis, and the use of refugee children as a potent mobilising force - are integral to this project."
TW for this part:
... "One sixteen-year-old boy told them: "The Prime Minister of Australia says he is saving our lives but at the same time he is killing us."
"A father of three teenage boys said, "I have not come to this country to teach my children how to commit suicide."
"In my interview with the government staffer, we can see that she is broadly sympathetic to those ringing in with complaints and to those who self-harm, but she identifies strongly with the members of the department who provide advice on how to respond, or with the staffers in the offices receiving the angry phone calls. She expresses sympathy for them while remaining keenly aware of the broader tragedy of the situation. But this may create a false equivalence whether intended or not."
These following paragraphs I had to make note of.
... "We do not need to volunteer to be part of the settler-colonial project for it to affect us."
"Neither childhood nor refugeehood are inherent states: they are historically created and produced categories, and they are used for political ends. We can trace the production of the category of 'child refugee', by governments, politicians, policymakers and the public, to understand the moments when it becomes visible and what it is used for."
"The category of 'refugee children' and the notion of crisis are co-created and interlinked over decades, as ministers and governments pursue their policy goals. There is a fantasy of control - it is imagined that by producing the crisis or disaster, policymakers can direct policy outcomes, as though governments can ever fully command people's movements."
"This approach to public policy is part of a broader approach that relies on mobilising successive crises in order to continue the work of colonising Australia. The maintenance of the border, and control over the population of this country, is ongoing. Discourses of crisis - the understanding that governing through crisis is a way to maintain control, the embracing and refusal of different crises, the production of an emotional community that understands crisis in certain ways, the limiting of options through the timeframe of emergency produced by a crisis, and the use of refugee children as a potent mobilising force - are integral to this project."
TW for this part:
... "One sixteen-year-old boy told them: "The Prime Minister of Australia says he is saving our lives but at the same time he is killing us."
"A father of three teenage boys said, "I have not come to this country to teach my children how to commit suicide."
"In my interview with the government staffer, we can see that she is broadly sympathetic to those ringing in with complaints and to those who self-harm, but she identifies strongly with the members of the department who provide advice on how to respond, or with the staffers in the offices receiving the angry phone calls. She expresses sympathy for them while remaining keenly aware of the broader tragedy of the situation. But this may create a false equivalence whether intended or not."
November 5, 2023
4.5 stars. The hopeless, spineless, administrative, colonial perspectives of politicians and senior bureaucrats responsible for Australia's brutal treatment of refugees laid bare, with a focus on children. Gillian Triggs on ScoMo and Dutton is a star, but the voices of children themselves bring truth to power about what has been missing in Australia's policies: listening to children and what they want. This book is a faithful, compassionate interrogation of everything that has gone wrong for too long.
December 14, 2023
The best part about this book is the quotes from Silverstein's interviews with public servants and former immigration ministers. Striking in the repetition of themes and terminology, these quotes demonstrate the broad contours of migration discourse in Australia (with parallels elsewhere in the world). To me, these interviews were the strongest part of the book.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews