Citizens as Bargaining Chips: Australia is Lagging on Hostage Diplomacy

Sarah Myatt | Australian Foreign Policy Fellow

Image sourced from Vilius Kukanauskas via Pixabay.

Hostage diplomacy threatens not only individual human rights but defies the very foundations of a global rules-based order and collective international security. The wrongful and arbitrary detention of citizens to pressure another nation, often termed ‘hostage diplomacy’, is increasingly being pursued by authoritarian regimes as a desperate means of leverage and coercion against democratic nations. Australia’s allies such as the United States and Canada have taken meaningful policy steps to confront this coercive tactic. However, Australia has been conspicuously slow to act, even following the presentation of comprehensive expert advice to the government over a year ago. Inaction risks becoming dangerous complacency.

If Australia is serious about protecting its citizens amid the global rise of authoritarianism, it must adopt a clearer and values-driven strategy to disincentivise and ultimately end hostage diplomacy.

Australians at Risk

The time for such action has never been more pertinent when considering the growing number of high-profile cases involving Australians wrongfully detained overseas.

The experiences of Australians including Sean Turnell, Kylie Moore-Gilbert, and Cheng Lei reveal the personal risks and costs of Australia’s current passivity. Turnell, who generously shared insights with me for this piece, spent 650 days imprisoned by Myanmar’s military junta after serving as an economic adviser to the democratically elected government. Moore-Gilbert, falsely accused of espionage, was held in an Iranian prison for over two years, enduring solitary confinement and psychological abuse. Cheng, an Australian journalist, was detained for more than three years by Chinese authorities on vague accusations of supplying state secrets, with her trial conducted in secret.

These incidents reflect a troubling trend, as Australians are being targeted by regimes willing to violate human rights and international norms for political leverage.  

A Reliance on Quiet Diplomacy

This risk may arguably be compounded by Australia’s longstanding preference for quiet diplomacy. Currently, official advice to families at home is to stay quiet and allow the government to negotiate complex releases behind closed doors.

However, former detainees challenge the effectiveness of this approach. Moore-Gilbert has argued that more public pressure, both on the Australian government and the Iranian regime, could have secured her earlier release. Visibility allows for more accountability, pressuring regimes to improve human rights approaches when they are being watched. Turnell echoes this, warning that those whose names are not known are quietly disposed of by authoritarian governments. In his case, the tireless advocacy of his wife, Ha Vu, maintained political pressure for his return.

These accounts indicate a broader issue in that Australia’s current strategy lacks formal pathways for public advocacy and coordinated accountability. As Turnell puts it, public attention is often about pressuring your own government as much as pressuring the detaining regime. If Australia is to succeed in protecting its citizens and upholding a principled foreign policy, it must embed public advocacy into its strategy.

A Stronger Policy Framework

As highlighted in the 2024 Senate Inquiry into the wrongful detention of Australian citizens overseas, Australia currently has no official, public definition of wrongful detention, no framework to ensure such cases are identified, and no specific office dedicated to responding to this growing threat. These mechanisms must be implemented to align with international best practices, protect Australians abroad, and embed moral clarity into foreign policy.

First and foremost, the Australian Government should adopt and publicise a clear definition of arbitrary detention for diplomatic leverage, consistent with definitions used by global partners. This is not only vital for pursuing international cooperation but signals that Australia wholeheartedly rejects the manipulative practice of hostage diplomacy and will not remain silent in the face of injustice. Drawing on this definition, Australia must then design a national framework to reduce the risk of Australians being targeted and collect comprehensive data on incidents of hostage diplomacy.

The most effective means through which to achieve these goals would be a Special Envoy for Wrongfully Detained Australians, along with a corresponding office resourced with policy expertise and trauma-informed case management capabilities to institutionalise this commitment. Creating these entities would pave a productive pathway for advocacy, helping to professionalise and coordinate Australia’s response. The position would also oblige Australian representatives, including the Foreign Minister or senior diplomats, to invoke the Special Envoy’s mandate and discuss the cases of detained Australians in inter-governmental meetings. This ensures the application of consistent diplomatic pressure to regimes holding political hostages as a structural expectations of Australia’s foreign policy conduct.

Despite the significance of its findings and the wealth of expert knowledge contributing to them, the Senate Inquiry and these recommendations have not received a formal response from the government. Yet Australia simply cannot neglect this opportunity to undertake urgent and meaningful action.

Time to Act

Australia’s passive approach to hostage diplomacy is no longer defensible. As the international landscape continues to shift, the risks to Australians are not only real but growing. We must not allow policy inaction to become institutional complacency. Expert-backed reforms provide a safer path forward, including adopting a formal definition of wrongful detention, implementing a national response framework, and establishing a Special Envoy with resources to act. Silence is not an acceptable response to politically motivated injustice that rolls the dice on innocent lives.

Sarah is an emerging voice in Australian international relations and public policy. She is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in Economics and Political and International Studies at the University of Melbourne. A highly accomplished student, she has had her academic work published in peer-reviewed journals and was recently the winner of Queens College's Foreign Affairs Competition.