Director Judy Rymer
Staring Julian Burnside
Score 5/6

Border Politics follows human rights barrister Julian Burnside as he traverses the globe examining the harsh treatment of refugees metered out by most Western democracies. Seventy years after the world constructed international conventions to ensure the horrors of World War II wouldn’t be repeated, Burnside finds it terrifying to see many western political leaders exploiting fears around border protection to extend political power. He questions whether the West has lost its moral compass adopting ideas that reject humanity and undermine democracy. He concludes this erosion of human rights poses a threat to the very democratic values that define Western society.

Before I get to the review apologies to Geoffrey Robertson AO QC for thinking that Julian Burnside AO QC hosted the show that started in the 80’s Hypotheticals.

The Migration of refugees is something that everybody has an opinion on and I am certainly not the type person who has any of the answers and I am definitely not the type who is going to solve them. I’ve never come across any Judy Rymer documentaries before and I found Border Politics to be very informative. This was only aided further by Julian Burnside’s abilities to hold your attention as a presenter which certainly was an asset given the subject matter Border Politics was dealing with.
For the record I was actually glad that I was given a chance to watch this because as regular visitors I am not in the habit of reviewing a lot of documentaries. Border Politics touched on some important historical events such as the Kindertransport and talked about The Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the 1951 Refugee Convention. I also found myself being slightly inspired by what Burnside about what towns such as Ruhpolding in South-eastern Bavaria where doing to help refugees as well as the people on the island of Lesbos. One of the most disappointing points that Border Politics touched on was how America’s attitudes towards refugees seemed to have changed after 9/11 (an attitude that seems to have spread throughout the world) and the deporting of Latino veterans of the US army.