Asylum Seekers Research Paper

For many years refugees have been demonized by the country through the spread of fear and misconception. Furthermore, the disgusting treatment of refugees in the detention camps by the Australian Government has been roundly criticised by the international community.

Australia’s treatment of asylum seekers in detention centres has been a contentious issue since the 1990s. In many instances, asylum seekers are inhumanely treated and virtually stripped of their basic human rights. Cartoonist Mark Knight, in his cartoon “Manus Is. Detention Centre”, published in The Herald Sun, strongly conveys his point of view on the issue and shows that people in detention are at risk of suffering serious long term damage. His message is achieved through the use of symbolism, visual metaphor, irony, idiom and negative language.

The resettlement of refugees in Australia is a controversial topic; many people believe that they come here to commit crime, change our culture and steal our jobs. ‘The Happiest Refugee’ has enhanced my belief that refugees should be allowed to live in Australia. I believe that refugees are here to escape war and persecution; they are not criminals, nor do they want to change our culture or steal our jobs. Refugees are generally grateful for their new lives in Australia and they embrace our culture. ‘The Happiest Refugee’ is a source of evidence that supports this.

Another technique used in the documentary to challenge the viewers’ assumptions was the use of narration to present facts about the refugee situation. These facts and figures give the viewers a truthful and realistic picture of the situation. Some beliefs that exist in Australian society are that we are taking in too many refugees; they are criminals, they are taking over Australia, using Australian tax payers’ money and changing our culture. However, we are presented with facts and figures that change our assumptions. For example, more than 30 million people have fled their homes with nothing but the clothes they wear, boat smugglers charge up to and over $10, 000 US dollars, 13, 000 refugees are accepted annually only 2,000 of those refugees arrive by boat. Despite what many people think, like Raye who believed refugees in Australia are “handed everything on a gold platter,” life in detention centres is hard. In Villawood Detention Centre, over 9 months, three detainees committed suicide and 18 caused self-harm.

The debate about asylum seekers in Australia is contentious and politically charged, but research commissioned by Amnesty International has found that anti-asylum seekers sentiments are not actually fuelled by racism.

Political unrest and local war happens around the world all the time. Many people live in a dangerous situation and suffered from violence. Hence, large amount of asylum seeker undertakes a huge perilous, try to cross the ocean and arrive Australia. To deal with this issue, Australian government enacted mandatory detention policy and offshore processing policy, these policies become highly contentious in the community with many arguments and criticisms. This report will focus on the nature and purpose of these immigration policies and the impact towards the asylum seeker as well as the criticism form international. To propose some advice about how the future policies should be framed.

On the refugee council website, there are many truly stories by migrants and refugees about their experience of contact with Australian culture. They need to be classified and made the subject of academic research. Nevertheless, the area of interest to the present research project because of their testimony to the input of migrants’ culture into Australian

The immigration minister at the time viewed the actions of the refugees as a strategy to ensure entry to Australia. Despite being advised that there was no evidence that children had been thrown overboard many government officials and the media continued to spread this misinformation. The media's representation of asylum seekers and its power the influence the public’s opinion can become a tool for the systematic oppression of immigrants.

Innes (2010) argues that the negative discourse of asylum seekers as a threat to British society is portrayed in government literature

“The thing to remember is that we are all the same inside,” said a young man he spoke to. This is a very important statement because it could actually be the key to preventing further racism. If all Australians could believe this way, we would live in a more peaceful society. Many would argue that Australia, with its large population of overseas born people is a non racist nation. We have suburbs in Sydney which delight all cultures and signify multiculturalism at its best. The Italian’s in Leichardt, Lebanese in Auburn/Bankstown, and Chinese in Cabramatta and Chinatown in the city. Governments and local councils might encourage festivals and awareness through entertainment and local media e.g. Chinese New Year festivals. This is a display which shows that Australian’s are indeed quite accepting of other races. Governing policies such as the Commonwealth Racial Discrimination Act (1975) aim to ensure that “everyone is treated equally, regardless of their race, colour, descent or nationality or ethnic origin”. According to the Australian Department of Immigration and Citizenship we are processing applications for asylum seekers from war torn countries such as Iraq and Afghanistan. The Asylum Seeker Assistance Program is a scheme that has been set up by the government to assist these people with income support, and advice as they wait to gain refugee status. This

These words made it clear to the Australian people the government’s view on asylum seekers. However, this view was one sided. Other government officials made comments on asylum seekers

People who come by boats should be allowed to live in Australia but some say that we should not accept boat people because we are unaware of these people really are and misjudge their character when they may be terrorists. Let just stop at this moment and think about this sensibly; the possibility that these boat people, who land on Australia by boats, are terrorists is highly unlikely. The distance to Australia is an extremely long way to go by boat. If terrorists decided to go to Australia, wouldn’t it take more risks for them to die any time at the sea before they accomplish their task? It is quite a bothersome to see some Australians are considering boat people as terrorists because many of them are genuine people who come to Australia

Mungo MacCallum Quarterly Essay 5- ‘Girt by sea: Australia, the refugees and the politics of fear’ published in 2002. Within the realms of this essay, MacCallum unlocks the truth behind the political agenda to turn the public image against refugees. He breaks down the events that follow the Liberal-National coalition and indicates that ‘refugees’ have always been hitherto. I discovered the callousness of our key people and found it led all the way to the top, Mr John Winston Howard.

Good morning delegates of the youth parliament and observing members. Today I stand before you to discuss an issue that continues to evoke high emotions and create deep divisions within Australian society. I refer to the matter of refugees and Australia's immigration policy. Not since the second world war has the world faced such an upheaval with so many people displaced. In 2015 there were 65.3 million people forcibly displaced from their homes because of conflict and persecution. Developing countries hold 84% of refugees while wealthier countries like Australia prioritise the need to reduce asylum seekers within their borders. The current policy contravenes the proper treatment of refugees and asylum seekers; because regardless of their mode of entry, once here Australia has a duty to provide protection.

Asylum seekers in Australia always been the focal point of negative political concern for a long time. To stop asylum seekers continue arriving in Australia by boat, Australia enforces the policy of obligatory detention of asylum seekers, unauthorised asylum seekers arriving by boat will be sent to Papua New Guinea camp where operated by the Australian government (‘Asylum seekers: Australia’s shame’ 2017). However, this policy was reported as disgraceful because of the deficient living condition, indefinite and arbitrary of detention and lack of health care (United Nations 2017). Cohen (2011 p. 242) stated that moral panic could be more likely to develop in anything associated with 'immigration, migrants, multicultural absorption, refugees, border controls and asylum seekers’. Is Australia's response to asylum seekers an example of moral panic? By analysing the five criteria from the moral panic theory by looking at the Australian public reaction to asylum seekers with references support, it could be found that the reaction to asylum seekers in Australia is an example of moral panic.