Argumentative Essay On Refugees

In this piece, I will argue that the social factors and attitudes surrounding the distinction of asylum seekers and official refugees, are constructed and exploited by the Australian Government, to improve their political and economic position over the nation. The Government uses nationalism and assimilation to maintain their power to shape the culture and normality of Australian society. They achieve this by influencing society through the media, to fear 'illegal ' asylum seekers, but accept those that fit the 1951 refugee convention criteria. By exaggerating the security threat of foreign asylum seekers, but accepting white refugees or those with potential to conform, the government has constructed a common and visible enemy as a racist

In states with both weak states and human rights abuse, the difference between economic and human rights migrants are difficult to distinguish (Castles, 2003). The Australian Government takes advantage of this by granting refugee status to the skilled and educated migrants. These new refugees benefit the nation economically, as 35% of non-English speaking migrants are over-educated for their job and underpaid for their skill level (Colic-Peisker, 2005), so therefor generate a larger profit than an Australian citizen doing the same job. These individuals experience social inclusion in being an official refugee as well an asset to the nation. This social inclusion is strengthened by creating stronger barriers of exclusion towards asylum seekers. The government uses policy and popular discourse to depict asylum seekers as a radicalised and undeserving social category (Sales, 2005) as they don 't have the legality or the skills to benefit Australia. This discrimination shows that globalisation and economic growth, as used as a nation building tool by the government, is a system of selective inclusion and exclusion of specific groups and areas. The Government abuses their power to grant refugee status to boost globalisation rates in Australia, which further stigmatises asylum