Australia's Current Refugee Crisis

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.

They realized the purpose of this policy is to reduce the amount of asylum seeker and stop the influx. BBC have published an article about the interview of an asylum seeker Habib, he said “I chose Australia because I think it's a country that cares about human rights”, But after he have been told that they can’t settle in Australian mainland and they have to be detained on Christmas island, He says “it has left me feeling desperate, it is unfair.” This article focus on the fact that this policy caused many negative intense emotions and considerable mental harm to already vulnerable asylum seekers. A large number of detainees suffered a rank of mental health issue including depression, anxiety, anger, testiness, agitation and so on. (BBC,

Asylum seekers or refugees have fled their countries’ due to volatile circumstances such as war, or fear of prosecution. Upon arrival in Australia they are moved to detention centres. Detention centres hold people who have come without a visa, any non-national and all unauthorised boat arrivals (Australian Human Rights Commission, 2014). These centres hold refugees for indefinite periods and in poor conditions. They are used as a spectacle to represent illegality and a threat to Australian society (Marfleet, 2007, p672).

I'm an ambassador for amnesty international, campaigning for refugees rights. Amnesty works to protect the safety of millions of refugees who are forced to flee their homes to escape war, genocide and torture. The main debate of this issue is of national security vs human rights. Every Australian has their stance on this and for those that oppose it, often believe that “we are letting in terrorists”. This generalisation, based off ill-legitimate fear, is anything but true. In fact, it is just racist. According to the the Australian Parliamentary Library, between 70-100% of people who arrived by boat have been found to be refugees. This means, these individuals have been forced to leave their

My first point is about the Australian government and how they spend more money on giving refugees a place to live, than they do looking after Australians that are in need. In the last 2 years they have spent 1.2 billion dollars on offshore detention centres, Manus Island, Naura and Christmas Island. This money was spent on operating the centre, health care, welfare services, food supplies and the security around the facilities. The government is quick to spend all this money on asylum seekers, when there are tens of thousands of homeless, less fortunate and under-privileged people scattered all over Australia. These people struggle to pay bills, rent, get food on the table and even a roof to sleep under. Asylum seekers flee there county with very little, they arrive with clothes and few small items accompanying them, they expect the

The Australian government is reluctant to take in asylum seekers. Although Australia fully recognises responsibility to admit refugees for resettlement, the government feels that it is spending too much time and money on the issue. The government is already cutting costs towards health and education sectors because Australia is experiencing a downturn in the economic climate. The government is believes that it should not stop supporting its own country just to aid refugees from another country. The government feels as if it needs to look after its own country while still trying to aid asylum seekers. The government will always put above its own nation before trying to help other nations. The government realises that it may have to increase

Although there were inhumane policies in the asylum seeking system, the Australian government had also attempted to rectify the issue of overcrowding and indefinite periods in detention facilities by introducing bridging visas. They are temporary visas which allow asylum seekers to legally reside within the Australian community while their appeals in seeking protection as refugees are being assessed and can be released from detention centres upon medical, identification and security checks. (Australian Human Rights Commission 2013, p.1-2) However, there are several restrictions and conditions regarding the bridging visa, the most significant one being the prohibition on working and medicare for most of the visa holders. This results in low income that leads to malnutrition, medical issues, and dependence on the Australian government for survival. These conditions could impact their ability to enjoy basic human rights and Australia may again have breached its obligations under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) that ‘the right of access to employment, especially for disadvantaged and marginalized individuals and groups’ be ensured as supported by Taylor (2000, p.2).

Asylum seekers Asylum seekers are not illegal, it is a human right to seek asylum by boat in Australia, and this is shown by the UN refugee convention and Australian migration act 1958. Thousands of asylum seekers have asked to be protected over the past decade. The main reasons why so many asylum seekers are coming to Australia is because war, civil UN rest and persecution. 1000 asylum seekers have died trying to get to Australia over the past decade and 27 people have died in the Australian detention centres over the past 12 years.

These people prove that asylum seekers contribute to the Australian

Recently, concerns have been raised by political figures and the people of Australia regarding the ‘abysmal treatment’ of asylum seekers (Claire Mallinson, 2015). The violations of their human rights in regards to the conditions they are forced to live in inside detention centers show that these centres do not operate within the humanitarian requirements Australia has agreed to abide by. The current process that handles the arrival and subsequent treatment of asylum seekers does not allow the migratory system to properly address the complications that the present circumstances impose. The Universal Declaration Human Rights (1948) (UDHR) and the United Nations 1951 Refugee Convention were signed by Australia to recognize its support of these

67% of female and 24% of male adult refugees have never had a paid job. This tells us that refugees are commonly uneducated. Which would make it hard to live, find work or survive in Australia. As many refugees don’t have work experience or know the national language which could make it challenging for refugees to survive. Therefore the stop the boats policy is justified because not only do refugees struggle to find their own employment they also make it very hard for us to find jobs.

“In addition to being the most successful multicultural society in the world, Australia, as an island continent, has some natural advantages over Europe, which is currently facing the uncontrolled movement of hundreds of thousands of people. Unlike the Europeans we are in control of our borders. For example, people who successfully enter Greece are moving at will throughout much of the EU. We are an island nation. The people smugglers’ business model has been broken. The boats have been stopped.” (Turnbull

International law under the 1951 Refugee Convention, permits the right to seek asylum and allocates a responsibility to provide protection for those who lie under the definition of refugee. Since then policies have been modified and used to suit the interests of the government. In particular, the Border Protection Legislation Amendment Act 1999. Authorised the removal of undocumented ships in Australian territory and proclaimed that anyone aboard the ship can be forcibly returned and denied application of asylum. Other legislation, such as the Migration Legislation Amendment Act 1999 makes it illegal for a person to carry people who are not citizens without valid documentation. These policies allow the government to portray itself as strong on border protection and terrorism. This plays well to its core constituencies but is rightly lambasted by human rights organisations and civil liberty groups. Refugees are undocumented people fleeing from their country of origin, so there isn’t a variety of travel options to escape to safety. The policy disclaiming that ‘everyone who lands by boat doesn’t get to stay’ is ignorant to the concept of why people are forced to leave. It’s not a choice to be removed from your country, it's a matter of survival and safety. The core principle of the Refugee convention is that people are not forced to return to a country where they face the threat of persecution or danger.

Citizens often thought those people would bring terrorists, unemployment and infrastructure stress. However, refugees will be able to make out importance in affecting the potential social, cultural and economic contributionsupon their area of resettlement. Australia has a long history of accepting refugees for resettlement and over 700 000 refugees. As a consequence, Australia’s offshore humanitarian programme is heralded as one of the best in the world. Accepting more refugees and boat people into the country is one of the greatest contributions that can make to improving the world around us and enhancing our own living standards. In addition, by having more people in country there are more people to cooperate with, more people to trade with and more people to grow the market. They help supply the economy through participating in the labour market and bring with them diversity, new work approaches and funds. As our wealth and economy grows there is more money for the finer things in life.

Member’s Day at UN 8th Annual Mid-Atlantic Regional Conference was a very interesting conference. The Panel that I liked the most was the Refugee Crisis that is why I want to focus only in that Panel. I think is very important to see how the pressure increases to the US accept more Syrian Refugees. The International Red Cross and thousands of people want Syrian refugees to come to the US so far, the US has accepted only 2,000 Syrian refugees according to Sana Mustafa, European countries are grappling with the crisis: Germany has accepted 2,000,000 refugees. Of the four million Syrian refugees who