The United Nations Refugee Agency's mid-year trends report, released on Friday, reveals more than 5.9 million people globally were forced to flee their homes in the first half of this year. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Guterres, said: ''It is hard to see such numbers and not ask why so many people are today becoming refugees or internally displaced.''

But the same question is unlikely to be asked in Australia, where we rarely debate the broader question of global displacement or discuss the roots of a refugee's experience. These are subjects our governments try to erase from our thinking.

By narrowing our view of a refugee's experiences, the protection needs of individuals seeking Australia's help can more easily be ignored by short-sighted politicians with self-serving agendas.

Paul Power from the Refugee Council said recently: ''Early indications suggest that the new government is increasingly using a more punitive approach to detention, both offshore and in Australia, to achieve its policy objectives.'' Reports on conditions and processes in offshore detention facilities confirm the view of a government cutting corners and avoiding its responsibilities.

In October, the UNHCR visited Australia's Manus Island detention centre and observed a ''return-orientated'' environment for asylum seekers ''rather than one promoting safe, fair and humane conditions, and identifying and protecting refugees in accordance with the 1951 Refugee Convention''. Similarly, in Nauru, the UNHCR witnessed conditions and procedures that did not comply with international standards.