Seeking Asylum in Australia
Level of asylum seekers in Australia are below than those logged by other developed and non-developed countries. 441, 260 asylum cases were claimed worldwide and only 11, 500 were registered in Australia. It is because Australia is an island and crossing its border is challenging than countries who share borders. Moreover in 2012 Australian government signed an agreement with Nauru, Manus and Papua New Guniea for offshore processing of refugee’s cases. In 2013 another agreement was signed between Australian government and Papua New Guniea Prime Minister, to send any asylum seeker to Papua New Guniea who come by boat for processing. It is a discrimination on the base of mode of arrival. As asylum seekers are
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” (Abeer Hussain).
Section 196 has been implemented instead of Article 9 of the United Nations international agreement on civil and political rights which states “no one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest or detention”. (Abeer Hussain)
Moreover, People who come by boat to seek refuge are discriminated against people who come by plane. If they breach their visa conditions by overstaying, they are provided with a lawful temporary status to wait for the outcome their application by granting them a bridging visa. Therefore treatment towards asylum seekers are dependent on the way they arrive in Australia.
Refuge seekers who come by boat can be detained for their whole life, this policy applies to them only in Australia. Australian judicial system does not prohibits such detention centers therefore, law and court cannot release them from there only because of inhumane treatment and conditions, and harm they are facing inside detention centers. It is believed by the Australian Federal Government that such detention centers are powerful way of stopping illegal
An extraordinary 65.3 million Refugees have been displaced around the world. In 2015 Australia took 12,000 of them. But where are Australians placing these Refugees? Australia is deporting these Refugees to a third country, either on Manus or Nauru Island. These Islands have reports of inhumane and cruel treatment towards Refugees For those who aren’t fully aware of what Refugees are; they are people whom come to Australia illegally without the appropriate visas. They cannot obtain these visas because of the reasons they are fleeing their country … their Government. None the less it should be the Australian Government they fear. The concepts of refugees are kept hidden away from us by our own Government in reflection of their Governments own self-interest. This tragedy is classified as a modern day witch hunt.
There have been three main waves of asylum seekers in Australia’s history with the first wave being motivated by the Indochinese crisis and the second comprising of asylum seekers mainly from South China and Cambodia (McK...
Controversy has surrounded Australia’s boat arrivals since 2001, when the Howard government took office. Howard instituted Operation Relex, a policy directing the Royal Australian Navy to intercept and board suspected illegal entry vessels, or SIEV’s (Turning Back Boats). Initially widely accepted, this policy was designed to discourage people from arriving illegally by boat. However, turning back small, overcrowded boats, and returning them just inside Indonesian waters, quickly became a safety issue (Turning Back Boats). According to the “Senate Select Committee’s Inquiry into a Certain Maritime Incident,” of the 12 boats intercepted from September 2002 to March 2003, four were turned back and three sank, killing two people (Turning Back Boats). Although Australia has a right to protect its borders from illegal aliens, over 90% of these asylum-seekers qualify as refugees (Turning Back Boats). Such a low success rate is reason enough to end the hazardous practice, but even more concerning are the detention centers where the remaining 10% are held. In 2001, the Howard government passed the Pacific Solution, authorizing the transport of asylum-seekers to island nations and offshore detention centers (Turning Back Boats). Since then, countless human rights violations have occurred at the Christmas Island, Manus Island, and Nauru detention centers (Murray). The asylum-seekers, some children, are often detained in poor conditions for indefinite periods of time, subjected to enhanced screenings, and refused legal representation or the right to appeal (Australia). After Howard left office in 2006 the refugee policies stopped, and the Australian government worked to heal the damage done to the islanders and its international reputation (Turning Back Boats). However, under PM Tony Abbott, the asylum seeker policies returned in 2014 through Operation Sovereign
After the Vietnamese ’boat people’ started arriving in Australia, the Australian attitude towards refugees and asylum seekers has been very effective at integrating them.
Most Asylum Seekers Arrive by Boat: Recent wars have increased the number of asylum seekers arriving by boat; however, an average of thirteen asylum seekers arrives through Australian airports each day. Asylum seeker transport by air is ninety percent more likely than by boat. Australia is simple not being f...
The 2002 Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act abandoned the dispersal policy and voucher scheme and introduced warehousing accommodation in the form of a camp that’s like a prison to house asylum seekers with a separate education and healthcare provision, these finally excludes them from normal community life (Bochel et al, 2009:388). This was highly criticized by NGOs, refugee council, refugee organization and several charitable organizations for refugee and this sometimes led to riots in the detention centre. The 2004-2006 Act further tightens the asylum system and speeded detention and removal by the withdrawal of legal rights (Bochel et al, 2009:388). The home office insist the dispersal policy is going on well whereas on the ground opinion is mixed (Guardian, 27 June 2001) this came up due to the case of some 14 asylum seekers on hunger strike in protest against the poor living condition in the privately run Liverpool tower block. The refugee council has serious concern over the dispersal policy especially as unaccompanied minors are being dispersed alongside adults with no proper resources and support service put in place. Chief executive Nick Hardwick mentioned that for dispersal policy to work government department need to develop proper support services for asylum seekers in dispersing areas and that dumping asylum seekers on poor estate blocks where they cannot access basic services like healthcare and education is leaving them abandoned and vulnerable (Guardian, 27 June 2001). In some situation asylum seekers refused to be dispersed and decide to
They have been found to have detrimental psychological effects, as they leave refugees in a state of limbo, fearing their imminent forced return, where they are unable to integrate into society. This emotional distress is often compounded by the fact that refugees on TPVs in Australia are not able to apply for family reunification nor are they able to leave the country. Family reunification is a well-established right in Sweden, as well as most western countries. Moreover, it is a human right protected under the ICCPR whereby refugees have the right to family (Article 23) and the right to freedom from arbitrary interference with family life (Article 17). As a result of living in a state of uncertainty and heartache caused by family separation, refugees on TPVs face a “700 percent increased risk of developing depression and post-traumatic stress disorder in comparison with PPV (permanent protection visa) refugees (Mansouri et al. 2009, pp. 145). Denial of family reunification under TPVs is likely to cause more asylum seekers to engage in illegal means to arrive in
In such a heated topic, it is important to make the distinction between an asylum seeker and refugee. Definitions are disputed, but the UN uses the following definitions. A refugee is a person who has left their country due to legitimate fears of persecution because of race, religion, nationality, political views, or social class. An asylum seeker is someone who claims refugee status but has yet to officially gained said status. Often times, one might seek asylum in times of war or when one feels threatened by their government. It is important to note that while a definition seems straightforward, arge political controversies may arise depending on the...
In this essay, I will be talking about social work problems faced in the UK and how they are addressed. I will be focusing on asylum seekers particularly Unaccompanied asylum seeking children (UASC). These are children who are under 18yrs of age and applying for asylum in their own rights. I aim to highlight key areas in understanding the needs of these children while recognising that these are by no means homogenous, and therefore explain how these needs are addressed by social policies, legislature and social workers.
Most asylum seekers come from the following countries; China, Iran, Iraq, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Zimbabwe and Pakistan. Asylum seekers should not be denied permanent access to Australia because every person has the right to seek asylum. Seeking asylum in Australia is not illegal, so why do people get sent to detention centres immediately or even automatically after their arrival?
An Asylum Seeker is a person who has fled their country because they are afraid of being persecuted due to their race, religion, nationality, or political beliefs (Australian Human Rights Commission, 2014). Mandatory detention in Australia was introduced in 1992, by the Keating government to control the unauthorised refugees arriving in Australia by boats (Department of Parliamentary Services, 2013, p. 1). The policy allowed authorities to detain all unauthorised non-citizens, including children, until they have satisfactorily completed health, character and security checks and been granted a visa (Department of Parliamentary Services, 2013, pp. 5-6). The syllables are.
Australia is a democratic country. A principal drawback of a modern democracy is that it often tends to overlook the interests of those least empowered. Among those most harshly dealt with in Australia are the poor, the marginalised and the asylum seeker. Asylum seekers and refugees count among those who remain ‘othered’ by Australian society and continue to suffer through an inability to exercise their rights and an existence that is dehumanised. This essay describes the human impact of Australia’s immigration policy and tells the powerful story of a voiceless girl. In doing so it highlights the general invisibility of asylum seekers in the eyes of the law and the desperate situations they face. What is at stake here is not just the persecution
A refugee is an individual who has escaped their country of origin and is incompetent to return due to fear of being victimized because of their religion, race and for political or social view (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, 2006).This essay illustrates some of the main impacts that affect the health of refugee in Australia from overseas. Language is a significant barrier to health, these refugee come from non-English speaking countries and find it hard to access health services. They feel disempowered because every time they need an interpreter who is not always available (Australian Human Rights Commission [AHRC], 2010). The use of interpreters is many impacts on health such as, miss communication (The department
Australia is a multicultural country where immigrants from all over the world immigrate to Australia. This research is focused on Australian’s immigrants who play a big role in this society. Immigration carries significant factors that affect the process of adaptation on an immigrant. The significant factors discussed further on are social factors, economic factors and cultural factors. To understand immigration and immigrant it would be explained the meaning of it and the types of immigrants. Answering the Research question, it would also be explained what an immigrant aims to reach by explaining the factors that help to feel settled in a new country. As I’m an immigrant in Australia I personally know how factors affect directly the process of adaptation. During this research I aim to prove how these factors affect the process of adaption. It is intended to make useful recommendations to the host country and to the immigrants in order to adapt to a new country easily. It must be said that not everyone experience the same process of adaptation because everyone is exposed to different factors. Moreover, immigrants may experience more than one factor as one factor can lead to the development of other factor.
Asylum seekers may lie because they feel that if they tell the truth they will not be given asylum, even though they may have real reasons to fear being returned to their country of origin. There is also the belief that the lies are of no harm to anyone and are therefore - not considered as serious as lies that have victims. On some levels the Home Office may be viewed as the enemy, one that stands in the way of their obtaining the sanctuary that they seek, (sanctuary to which they may feel they have a moral, if not necessarily, a legal right) their attitude then may be that `all is fair in love and war`. One kind of lying arises out of the need to feel in control or to gain some certainty in an uncertain time. Lemma speaks of the need to create some certainty when faced with doubt; we as humans need to