Essay On Asylum In Australia

According to the Australian government a refugee is a person who has been recognised under 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and is a person who:

An asylum seeker is someone who has applied for protection as a refugee but their claim has not yet been accepted, accessed or confirmed. While a refugee is someone who has been recognised under the 1951 Refugee convention as mentioned hose claim has been accepted and their status falls in line with the guidelines of The Refugee Convention. Despite this, the UNHCR explains that the definition of ‘refugee’ does not actually account for the individuals or groups of people that leave their country because of war, other civil disturbance, famine, natural disasters or to seek a better life. (UNHCR,

Australia, a country formed and shaped by migrants and world war two refugees refuses to take responsibility for ensuring the safe asylum of war refugees escaping torn countries such as Syria and Iraq. The act of negligence from the Australian Government in regards to Nauru is a clear breach of the United Nations Right To Asylum Declaration which evidently states that "1. Everyone has the right to seek asylum and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution." And "2. This right may not be invoked in the case of prosecutions genuinely arising from non-political arising or from acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations"

Australia has let Syrian refugees into their country and would allow only 12,000 refugees. Australia has immigrated around 13,750 Syrian refugees into our country and have provided help to them. As Syrian refugees have moved into the Australian country, some feel welcome and see a bright future. 5% of Syrian refugees feel unwelcome in Australia, 28% feel welcomed most of the time and 52% feel welcome in Australia. As far as safety goes, 74% of refugees felt safe in Australia, and 56% say their children are living happily in the country. Syrians who moved to Australia feel better to have settled here than staying in Syria. Some Syrians have dealt with discrimination but most of the Syrian population are treated fairly.

There a bit of confusion between refugee and an asylum seekers. An Asylum seeker is a person who left their home country in search of a better life but is yet to be accepted as a refugee. A refugee is a person who have been recognized under 1951 refugee convention . A refugee is define as a person who is outside their home country and is unable to return due to fear of being persecuted. The majority of asylum seekers that arrive in Australia are from war-torn counties like Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria whom fear violence and persecution in their homeland. Asylum seekers pay large amount to be smuggled in Australia which is very risky with hundred have died making the dangerous journey.

The Australian government has been allowing refugees to enter Australia for the last (SEARCH HOW MANY YEARS) The term refugee and asylum seeker definition often are confused to mean the same thing. The term asylum seeker refers to, “An asylum-seeker is someone who says he or she is a refugee, but whose claim has not yet been definitively evaluated.” – The UN refugee agency. However the term refugee refers to, ‘…a person who has fled persecution, has sought protection and has been granted refugee status.” – Red Cross. B0

In fact asylum seeker and refugee policies remain as one of the most controversial political debates in Australia. In the recent years the Austrian government has been adopting various strict measurements mainly as a political response to the increasing number of asylum seekers and refugees. Australian major political parties have been keen to adopt deterrence-based policies to discourage and prevent access to protection in Australia.

In the history Australia has been accepting refugees and other humanitarian entrants from all over the world, and assisting their settlement in the country. In 1945, after World War II, Australian government established the first federal immigration portfolio which leaded to more than 800,000 refugees and other humanitarian entrants’ settlement in Australia (Phillips, 2015). According to Australia’s refugee and humanitarian programme fact sheet, 13,750 places were set under the programme between 2014 and 2015 (Department of Immigration and Border Protection [DIBP], 2016). During that period 6,002 people in a total of 13,756 new migrants who granted visa under the Program were refugees (DIBP, 2016). The top ten countries of origin were Iraq,

Australia has a long history of involvement in the international response to the refugee situation, resettling over 700,000 refugees since 1945. Although, in a world where 42,500 people become refugees, asylum seekers, or internally displaced every day, this figure is simply embarrassing. Around the world, an unprecedented 65.3 million people have been forced from their homes. Among them are nearly 21.3 million refugees, over half of whom are children under the age of 18. Wars, conflict and persecution are the leading cause of displacement, with the Vietnam War and Syrian Civil War creating some of the largest amounts of refugees the world has ever seen.

Australia today has two programs of immigration one the migration policy which is seen as ‘economically” motivated which has two main components family and skill. The second is the humanitarian program which has three parts refugees, special humanitarian and special assistance. (Holmes et al 2007) As part of the humanitarian program refugees constitute a specific component of Australia’s humanitarian program.

It is fair to say that my rationale for selecting this area of research was of course my own interest and learning but in addition, that this may help to add greater depth of understanding, tolerance in an area that is often used to discredit and negatively label asylum seekers and refugees. It also appears from my preliminary searches that there is dearth of information on this subject.

Article 1 of the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugee, as amended by the 1967 Protocol, defines a refugee as:

As a former refugee who has 11 years in Australia, I am well aware of the needs of the refugees who have arrived Australia. I was resettled here as a refugee on 30/11/2004, and since then, I have been able to started my own family business (Smile Kids Family Day Care), providing and caring for the children of working parents currently with 60 registered educators and hundreds of children being look after. As a result, I believe that I can assist the applicants by providing them with necessary support activities given my background and experience. This application is being submitted to try to resettle my family members who have been affected by the war in South Sudan and I will do everything in my power to support their resettlement in Australia.

My presentation is about the Somalis refugees’ crisis, and I have chosen this issue because people do not by much attention to problems that happen in African countries.

Due to several reasons, such as to escape war, domestic persecution, conflict, natural disaster, climate change impact, poverty, or other serious threats for reasons of race, religion, or nationality, many people had been forced to leave their home country and move to another country for their own safety. These people are called asylum seekers (Amnesty International, n.d.). Given the fact that their rights are preferred and protected under international law, such as a protection from being sent back against their will to their country of origin where the chaos happening, an access to employment as well as education, and not to be discriminated, they enter certain country with the aim of getting international protection as a refugee. In order for their claim to be accepted and their status to be determined by the national government or the international agency such as United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), they need to meet certain requirements, such as they must have a valid visa, both types of tourist visa or student visa to apply for a refugee visa, as well as health standards (International Justice Resource Center, n.d.). Australia itself has an international obligation on refugees and asylum seekers that continued to arrive with total number that keeps growing from year to year. Australian Human Rights Commission (n.d.) states that under the Refugee Convention, Australia agreed to assist all the asylum seeker and refugee that come to it’s Department of