Question - Discuss the history of and impact that asylum seekers and refugees have had on Australia’s culture and its economy. Reflect on how Australia’s government contributes to the welfare of asylum seekers and refugees.
Yasmin and Ali, a couple, in 2012 fled their unknown homeland in angst to find a means of survival in another country. They fled to Indonesia where they payed a local man USD$5000 for him to arrange for them to travel to and settle in the United States. The couple then boarded a boat which was headed for Australian waters. They thought they would be transferred to America once they had made it to Australia. Unfortunately, the latter would inhibit the former from happening altogether. Their boat was intercepted and everyone onboard was taken to Nauru. The couple were in even more distress as they thought they would be allowed to enter Australia upon entering Australian waters. Due to their displacement to a third world country, their chances of seeing
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American soil were further diminished. This had happened even after they were recognised as genuine refugees. Why did the Australian government allow this? Well, it was the Australian government that facilitated this. To fully understand the absurdity of this situation one must look at Australia’s history regarding dealings with asylum seekers and refugees. Before that, one must familiarise themselves with the terms ‘asylum seeker’ and ‘refugee’. An asylum seeker is “a person who has left their home country as a political refugee and is seeking asylum in another” ("Definition of asylum seeker in English", n.d.). A refugee is an asylum seeker who has been recognised by Australia as a refugee and is allowed into the country with a Refugee and humanitarian visa or a bridging visa that is issued on-shore by the Department of Immigration and Border Protection.
They are given the status of refugee from asylum seeker after they have been proven to have undergone persecution and trauma. The refugee and humanitarian visas allow a refugee to settle in Australia while a bridging visa allows a refugee to temporarily reside in Australia as they apply for a long-term visa or to leave the country for another. All visas issued for refugees allow the refugee to work although this wasn’t the case for refugees with the bridging visas before December 2014. Before that month bridging visas only allowed a person to temporarily stay in Australia with some resources provided. During the time of their persecution claims were being processed, the asylum seekers were sent to detention camps in places like Nauru and Papua New
Guinea. History The earliest record of Australia accepting refugees was in the 19th century when Lutherans escaped Prussia and settled in South Australia because of their right to worship being challenged. Some Hungarians, Italians and Poles also left their countries and came to Australia due to religious and political discrimination. Australia, after the Immigration (Restriction) Act in 1901 only allowed Europeans to enter Australia thus essentially initiating White Australia policy. In the 1930s around 7000 refugees leaving Nazi Germany entered Australia because of the well-known persecution at the time. From 1976-1982, around 2000 Vietnamese asylum seekers fled Vietnam due to political apprehension. In 1990, under the government of Paul Keating, asylum seekers were required to compulsorily be detained in detention centres before they can attain the status of a refugee. The asylum seekers were to make claims of persecution or oppression and their claims were analysed while they were at the detention centres and if their claims were found to be true, they were granted a visa to then enter Australia. 1990 saw multitudes of Somalians enter Australian waters without visas and were detained in Villawood Immigration Detention Centre for 1 and a half years until they went on a hunger strike when they were recognised as genuine refugees. Australia had been consistently sheltering asylum seekers in some way or the other until in the mid-1990s Chinese and Vietnamese refugees were sent back to their countries as their persecution claims were false. Asylum seekers were being sent back at such alarming rates that the public were and stayed oblivious to this denial of refuge. From a superficial view it seems like Australia is doing a noble deed in providing some shelter to the persecuted but a profound look into ‘offshore processing’ will reveal that it is in fact inefficient and borderline selfish.
There have been many unanswered questions in Australia about Aboriginal history. One of these is which government policy towards indigenous people has had the largest impact on Indigenous Australians? Through research the Assimilation Policy had the largest impact upon Indigenous Australians and the three supporting arguments to prove this are the Aborigines losing their rights to freedom, Aboriginal children being removed from their families, and finally the loss of aboriginality.
A Refugee is a person who has been forced to leave their country because of the war or the
Licina, Dunja, and Arunachalam Dharmalingam. "Cultural and Economic Adaptation of Sudanese Refugee Migrants in Melbourne: A Dandenong Case Study." N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Nov. 2013. .
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.
In doing so, we are also blocking out people who have the potential to bring even more cultural diversity into the community. If we honestly believe that we are a generous and multicultural nation, it’s time we show it by empathising with our fellow human beings. In order to improve the conditions in detention centres there must be a change to our unnecessarily harsh system. We need rules to be enforced, such as; a maximum 30 day time limit, and the people that are detained must be let out within this time frame. Within this time, health, character and identity checks must be completed. Shutting down isolating and remote detention centres. Speeding up the processing system. Asylum seekers must be given the opportunity to communicate with the outside world and have full access to legal advice and counselling. This means that telephones, internet and external activities need to be an option. Unaccompanied minors also need to be a priority. It is time that Australia treats our neighbours with all the dignity and respect that they finally
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
Refugee is someone who fled his/her country because of conflict or for fear of been prosecuted for reason of race, nationality, religion, sexuality, and political opinion (UNHCR, 1 February, 2002). An asylum seeker is someone who fled his/her country of origin and applies for recognition as a refugee in another country, and
Assess the extent to which Indigenous Australians have achieved rights and freedoms in the period from 1945-present.
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...
To look for refuge in the United States a person must have a well-founded fear of mistreatment based on their race, ethnicity, religion, or political social affiliations. Refugees of various backgrounds had everything ripped away from them. It is the duty of the United States to put on an armor and protect these human beings, welcoming them to a different more comforting life. Many Americans, attract the refugee population by doing as much as they can, to achieve the goal of being as helpful as can be. Although others are concerned, on how much is too much, when it comes to helping the refugees. There must be an exception on the right amount of effort, to
If you have a fear of persecution in your own country due to some unavoidable circumstances, you can apply for asylum as a refugee in Canada (from within or outside of Canada). The country offers refugee protection to those who have a fear of oppression and danger in they go back to their own country.
Before the change of migration policies in Australia, it was very difficult to get into Australia unless you were a white European. Even skilled migrants from Asia had dilemmas migrating to Australia. Eventually, these policies changed due to the aftermath of the Vietnam War. Before, there were less than 2000 Vietnamese in Australia, but these figures significantly changed after ten years. During the 1970s, more than half of the Vietnam population relocated due to fear and desperation from the war. Over 90,000 of these refugees came to Australia after the Vietnam War, looking for hope for a new beginning. Most of them stayed in Australia, leaving a permanent impression on Australian and making a great contribution to society. They have brought over their culture, food, new knowledge and their will to do hard work.
This meant that even though Australia had accepted multiculturalism they would put any asylum seekers arriving in Australia without a valid visa into detention centres where they would undergo assessments and checks. The aim of these detentions and this policy was that although Australia was trying to increase its population the government did not want people arriving in Australia thinking they would be just let into the country. This policy has changed from when it was introduced to present day as it although we still do have detention centres we have ever-changing ways of thinking of solutions like Tony Abbott’s strategy of just stopping the ‘boat people’ all
The 2013 federal election focussed heavily on the issue of asylum seekers, in particular those who come by boat. People fleeing war and persecution often undertake desperate measures in pursuit of a safe and happy life for themselves and their families. This includes making dangerous journeys by sea in poorly maintained vessels, often without adequate lifesaving provisions. Men, women, children and babies cram into these boats and hope to make it safely to our shores. Hundreds drown when their boat leaks, or shatters on the rocks of our northern coast.