Rather than Australia taking a lead in rescuing vulnerable people found at sea, recent allegations that money has instead been handed over to people smugglers, by Australian officials, are extraordinary. The way Australia treats asylum seekers is already abysmal – we have seen reports of sexual abuse of women and children on Nauru, and we know the psychological damage done to people kept in detention for extended periods of time. The reports of alleged payments to people smugglers add to the questions the government refuses to answer on the way it treats asylum seekers.

But issues of neglect towards vulnerable people on the move are not unique to Australia. Worldwide, more than 50 million people are displaced – this is the highest number since World War II. Yet the response of the world's richest countries to one of the defining challenges of the 21st century has been nothing short of a shameful failure.

Illustration: John Spooner

In Syria, more than 50 per cent of the population has been displaced, with more than 4 million Syrians having fled the country. Currently, 95 per cent of these refugees are struggling to survive in neighbouring countries – many of them living in poverty or spending years in refugee camps. For Lebanon, this means that one in five people in the country are Syrian refugees. This has a very real impact on the day-to-day lives of everyone living in Lebanon.

In sub-Saharan Africa, there are more than 3 million refugees – but fewer than 15,000 refugees from African countries were resettled outside of Africa in 2013. And these are just two examples. This is a global crisis, and it needs a global response.