The asylum issue

Will border laws and illegal immigration become an election issue in Australia for the first time since 2001, when asylum-seekers split the nation and delivered an unexpected re-election victory to conservatives? Some facts:

The government blames the latest surge in illegal arrivals on conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as the end of Sri Lanka's long ethnic civil war.

Home Affairs Minister Brendan O'Connor said there were 42 million forcibly displaced people around the world at the end of 2008, including 15.2 million refugees. Asylum claims last year rose 28 percent, creating "push" factors outweighing the lure, or "pull", of relaxed Australian immigration law changes, he says.