What is a refugee?
There are more displaced people in the world today than ever before, presenting nations with a massive challenge
“If you took everybody who arrived by boat to Australia without authorisation in the last 40 years and put them into the MCG, more than a quarter of the seats would still be unoccupied,” says William Maley, Professor of Diplomacy at the Asia-Pacific College of Diplomacy, Australian National University, and author of the recently published book What is a Refugee?.
Yet the global refugee crisis continues to grow. At the end of 2015, more than 65 million people were displaced across the world, with a little under one per cent of the Earth’s population being either an asylum seeker, internally displaced or a refugee. That’s more than ever before, surpassing even post-World War 2 numbers.

The power of a warm welcome
In this episode of The Policy Shop podcast, Professor Maley examines the huge public policy challenge facing Australia and nations around the world.
Hosted by the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Melbourne, Professor Glyn Davis, The Policy Shop is a monthly podcast about public policy and the way it affects Australia and the world.
Banner image: Pixabay