Global: Stop Deportations To Danger

Campaign Timeline: 2018-2019

In 2018 and 2019, the Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility filed a shareholder resolution to Australian airline Qantas in relation to its participation in the involuntary transportation of refugees and asylum seekers as a service provider to the Australian government. In 2019, the resolution received 24% of the vote in support. The broader campaign for all airlines to stop deportations to danger was backed by 21 trade unions, British pop star MIA, and award-winning Australian directors, authors and artists. The investor statement originally intended for investors, ended up being signed by celebrities and was one of the key reasons for the initial media coverage. 

In August 2019, the Refugee Advice and Casework Service released a briefing note on the legal scenarios and risks regarding commercial airlines, including Qantas, and the deportation or forced movement of asylum seekers and refugees. 

This work builds on the incredible work of the Lesbians and Gays Support the Migrants’ campaign in the UK which forced Virgin Atlantic to stop deportations. In 2018, six US airlines including United, Delta and American Airlines announced their refusal to participate in transporting children separated from their families at US borders as a result of Trump administration policies. In Germany, pilots for Lufthansa have also refused to deport unwilling asylum seekers due to a range of reasons, with government figures claiming 222 deportations failed last year due to pilots refusing to take off.

On the global stage, the International Transport Federation, a federation of almost 700 transport unions, called on all commercial airlines to refuse to take part in forced deportations.