Australia's Pacific Solution

Australia's Pacific Solution Published Articles Published Podcasts The human rights implications of Australia’s war on people smugglers

The Saturday Paper and 7am podcast: a travesty of justice

This story was originally published by The Saturday Paper and by the 7am podcast. Ali…

Mark IsaacsJune 24, 2025

Australia's Pacific Solution Published Podcasts

ABC Radio National: Absence makes the heart grow fonder (part 2)

Ahmed spent six years in immigration detention before he won a landmark legal case and…

Mark IsaacsJune 20, 2022

Australia's Pacific Solution Published Podcasts

ABC Radio National: Absence makes the heart grow fonder (part 1)

Danice and Ahmed fell hard for each other, even though he was behind bars and…

Mark IsaacsJune 15, 2022

Australia's Pacific Solution Published Articles

Behrouz Boochani: Writing as Resilience and Resistance

This is a short extract from a chapter in a collection titled Creative writing practice :…

Mark IsaacsOctober 28, 2021

Australia's Pacific Solution Published Articles

Overland: Going inside the Manus Island Detention Centre

Step foot inside the Manus Island Detention centre in the midst of an international humanitarian…

Mark IsaacsDecember 22, 2017

Australia's Pacific Solution Published Articles

Berlin Literatur Festival: A Moonlight Tour of the Damned

An in-depth investigation into the humanitarian disaster unfolding on Manus Island.

Mark IsaacsDecember 11, 2017

Australia's Pacific Solution

What It’s Like Getting to Manus Island

A short blog about travelling to and around Manus Island.

Mark IsaacsNovember 29, 2017

Australia's Pacific Solution

A Poem from Manus

The face of evil is a white man.

Mark IsaacsNovember 19, 2017

Australia's Pacific Solution Published Articles

Sydney Morning Herald: Simmering tensions on Manus Island

"This was not the Manus people's decision. The refugees want to go to Australia. They…

Mark IsaacsNovember 18, 2017

Australia's Pacific Solution Published Articles

Hardie Grant: The Undesirables Teachers’ Resource

A high school teachers' resource, commissioned by Hardie Grant, to study The Undesirables: Inside Nauru…

Mark IsaacsAugust 5, 2017

Australia's Pacific Solution

Nauru Burning Teachers’ Resource (English Subject)

A high school teachers' resource to study Nauru Burning as an English text. It is…

Mark IsaacsJuly 21, 2017

Australia's Pacific Solution Published Articles

Nauru Burning Extract: The Dog Pound

This extract from my second book, Nauru Burning, describes the days after the 2013 riot…

Mark IsaacsFebruary 26, 2017

Australia's Pacific Solution Published Articles

The Guardian Australia: Excerpt from The Undesirables Second Edition (2016)

Hardie Grant Books has decided to launch a second edition of my book The Undesirables:…

Mark IsaacsDecember 28, 2016

Australia's Pacific Solution Published Articles

The Vocal: Go Back To The Bible You Came From, Why Peter Dutton Is Wrong (2016)

Peter Dutton is sick and tired of “political correctness gone mad”, according to his interview…

Mark IsaacsDecember 21, 2016

Australia's Pacific Solution

Guest Post: Excerpt from the People Smuggler by Robin de Crespigny

This is an excerpt from Robin de Crespigny's award-winning book, The People Smuggler: The true…

Mark IsaacsDecember 20, 2016

Australia's Pacific Solution The Indonesia Project

Ali’s Story Part 5: The Struggle for Resettlement

Ali is a Hazara man from Afghanistan trying to seek asylum in Australia. In Part…

Mark IsaacsOctober 26, 2016

Australia's Pacific Solution

NOW AVAILABLE: Nauru Burning: An uprising and its aftermath

It is with great pleasure (and relief) that my book, Nauru Burning: An uprising and…

Mark IsaacsOctober 21, 2016

Australia's Pacific Solution The Indonesia Project

Ali’s Story Part 4: Boat Journeys, Arrests and Death

Ali is a Hazara man from Afghanistan trying to seek asylum in Australia. Part 4…

Mark IsaacsOctober 17, 2016

Australia's Pacific Solution Published Articles

The Undesirables Teachers’ Resource (English Subject)

High school teachers' resource to study The Undesirables: Inside Nauru as an English text available…

Octopus 2024October 5, 2016

Australia's Pacific Solution Published Articles

New Internationalist: It’s time to close Australia’s abusive detention regime (2016)

When faced with overwhelming evidence of systemic abuse, the Australian government shifted responsibility and blamed…

Mark IsaacsAugust 22, 2016

Australia's Pacific Solution Published Articles

Mamamia: How A Person Becomes a Whistleblower (2016)

The Refugee Council of Australia asked me to write a piece for their campaign against…

Mark IsaacsMay 27, 2016

Australia's Pacific Solution Published Articles

Right Now: The Breaking of a Man (2016)

A fictional short story about the gradual erosion of a man's spirit in the Australian…

Mark IsaacsMarch 30, 2016

Australia's Pacific Solution The Indonesia Project

Guest Post: At the Knife’s Edge by Robin de Crespigny

Robin de Crespigny, author of the People Smuggler, writes an essay come creative non-fiction piece…

Mark IsaacsMarch 18, 2016

Australia's Pacific Solution

Guest Post: Establishing Deterrence by Greg Lake

Greg Lake writes about his work for the Department of Immigration, managing Immigration Detention Centres…

Mark IsaacsMarch 11, 2016

Australia's Pacific Solution

Guest Post: Nauru and Manus Island are as Bad as Guantanamo

Professor David Isaacs, a consultant paediatrician in Westmead Children's Hospital and a clinical professor at…

Mark IsaacsMarch 1, 2016

Australia's Pacific Solution The Indonesia Project

Guest Post: A Refugee Community Group in Indonesia

A guest post from a group of people currently waiting for resettlement in Indonesia who…

Mark IsaacsFebruary 20, 2016

Australia's Pacific Solution

In Conversation with the Australian Labor Party

On Sunday 14 February, I will be discussing the treatment of people seeking asylum in…

Mark IsaacsFebruary 13, 2016

Australia's Pacific Solution

Let Them Stay: Bondi Beach

Bondi Beach community joined the 'Let Them Stay' campaign to protest the Government's plan to…

Mark IsaacsFebruary 11, 2016

Australia's Pacific Solution

Sydney Get Up Protest: Let Them Stay

Thousands of Australians across the country protested against the Government's proposed plan to return 267…

Mark IsaacsFebruary 10, 2016

Australia's Pacific Solution Published Articles

New Matilda: The Truth-Silencers Demand the Truth (2016)

It's a strange world when the Australian Department of Immigration simultaneously suppresses the truth and…

Mark IsaacsFebruary 10, 2016

Australia's Pacific Solution

Former Nauru Detainee Speaks Out

In the current political climate of secrecy that envelops Australia's treatment of people seeking asylum…

Mark IsaacsJanuary 22, 2016

Australia's Pacific Solution Published Articles

We Are Better Than This: The Humanitarian Triumph (2015)

We have been told by governments past and present that stopping the boats is a…

Mark IsaacsJanuary 4, 2016

Australia's Pacific Solution The Indonesia Project

Ali's Story Part 3: Finding a People Smuggler

Ali arrives in Indonesia and begins his search for a people smuggler to take him…

Mark IsaacsDecember 14, 2015

Australia's Pacific Solution The Indonesia Project

Same Skies: A Strengths- and Rights-based Approach to Supporting Displaced People

How do displaced people seeking protection and resettlement in Indonesia survive the tough, restrictive conditions?…

Mark IsaacsDecember 9, 2015

Australia's Pacific Solution The Indonesia Project

Ali’s Story Part 2: Escaping Afghanistan and Pakistan

Ali tells his story of how he left Afghanistan and Pakistan en route to Indonesia.

Mark IsaacsDecember 3, 2015

Australia's Pacific Solution The Indonesia Project

Meeting Ashkan: Seeking Asylum in Jakarta

I visit Ashkan, an Iranian man living in Jakarta, Indonesia, who is trying to seek…

Mark IsaacsNovember 22, 2015

Australia's Pacific Solution The Indonesia Project

Ali’s Story Part 1: Why I left Afghanistan

Ali is a Hazara man stranded in Indonesia hoping for resettlement to Australia. This is…

Mark IsaacsNovember 20, 2015

Australia's Pacific Solution Published Articles

Writing to the Wire: If this is a Man (2016)

You who live in the land of plenty, safe from war, torture, and civil unrest,…

Mark IsaacsNovember 3, 2015

Australia's Pacific Solution The Indonesia Project

Meeting Ali: A Trip to Bogor

I travelled to Indonesia to meet people who are waiting for resettlement to Australia. I…

Mark IsaacsOctober 26, 2015

Australia's Pacific Solution Published Articles

VICE: Big Picture Brutality (2015)

This is an excerpt of an article published by VICE Australia regarding the Australian government's…

Mark IsaacsOctober 22, 2015

Australia's Pacific Solution Published Articles

No Fairness on Nauru (2014)

On Friday 19th July 2013, it was reported that over 150 asylum seekers had rioted…

Mark IsaacsOctober 13, 2015

Australia's Pacific Solution

A New Way Forward (2015)

The speech I gave at the Refugee Action Collective rally against offshore detention, held in…

Mark IsaacsOctober 13, 2015

Australia's Pacific Solution Published Articles

Deterring Boat Arrivals (2014)

A short analysis of Australia's humanitarian approach to 'saving lives at sea'.

Mark IsaacsOctober 13, 2015

Australia's Pacific Solution Published Articles

The Salvation Army on Nauru (2014)

A short evaluation of the Salvation Army's role in Nauru.

Mark IsaacsOctober 13, 2015

Australia's Pacific Solution Published Articles

Nauru Riot Press Release: Salvation Army Staff Condemn Cruel and Degrading Conditions (2013)

A statement by past and present Salvation Army staff members condemning the treatment of those…

Mark IsaacsOctober 13, 2015

Australia's Pacific Solution Published Articles

Non-People Locked Nowhere: An Extract from The Undesirables (2014)

Every person has a breaking point. When you are pushed and prodded towards the brink,…

Mark IsaacsOctober 13, 2015

Australia’s Pacific Solution

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