By Invitation Only

Many refugees who come uninvited to Australia are compelled to do so because they cannot find effective protection anywhere else, Human Rights Watch said in a new report released to mark International Human Rights Day. The 94-page report, "By Invitation Only: Australian Asylum Policy," is based on eight months of investigation and challenges the Australian government's policy on asylum seekers as a breach of the country's international obligations to protect refugees. Human Rights Watch found that many asylum seekers from Afghanistan, Iraq and Iran were still at risk in the countries through which they passed - such as Jordan or Indonesia - and were unable to access the offices of United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees or foreign embassies to apply for resettlement.