During the last decade or so, schooling policy has had to increasingly grapple with processes that have a global reach. One significant aspect of globalisation has been the global flows of asylum seekers and refugees. Although Australia has a long history of accepting asylum seekers and refugees, in recent times, concerns about national security have fuelled community disquiet about refugees and asylum seekers. As such the "refugee problem" is a crucial site for research by those interested in the relationships between a vibrant and socially just society and educational policy and practice. This paper draws on Rose's genealogy of "community" (that is community now a site for governmentality); and Bauman's meditation on "elusive community" (how can we have both freedom and security?) as a means to think through an appropriate ethico-politics for educators grappling with the refugee problem in Australia. (Contains 5 notes.)