Essay On Refugees In Australia

Australia has signed the 1951 convention relating to the status of refugees and its subsequent protocol is the key legal document that defines who is a refugee, their rights and the legal obligations of nation states. The 1951 convention and its 1967 protocol are signed and ratified by the Australian government in 22 January 1954 and the 13 of December 1973. This means that Australian must follow and develop new policy’s to help refugees. The 1967 protocol removed geographical temporal restrictions from the convention.

Asylum seekers are usually forced to flee their homeland due to poverty, war, terrorism and general inequality where they live and it should be in the interest of everyone to better their lives instead of mainly focusing on the criminalisation of people smugglers and asylum seekers alike. Policies and detention centres are created to increase border protection methods and decrease the illegal arrival of refugees into Australia, with little to no consideration for the refugees themselves or where they’re coming from. Instead of focusing time, energy and money into jailing people smugglers and detaining people from Australia, politicians and everyone alike should focus time into equalising all of the people of the world. If Australia and other countries focused more time on the legal migration of refugees then there would be less people smuggling occurring and legitimate methods could be used to transport people away from terrorism, war and inequality. The detainment of refugees has proven to also be surrounded by much inequality. Australia’s solution to the ‘problem’ of asylum seekers has been to send them offshore, keeping them detained in a facility until better solutions can be devised. Previous Commission reports have noted the prison-like nature of refugee facilities developed by the Australian government in particular, the Christmas Island IDC and have proposed concern, stating that it should not even be used for accommodating asylum seekers. The Commission has reported “particular concerns about some security measures, including high wire fences, walkways enclosed in cage-like structures, CCTV surveillance, metal reinforced officer booths with Perspex security screens, and metal grills on bedroom windows” (Australian Human Rights Commission, 2012). Even Australia’s solution to the problem is surrounded by

Migrants in Australia include refugees. 13,178 visas were granted under the Australia’s Humanitarian Program in 2005, and 64% of them were under 25 years of age (Brown, 2008, pp 110-111). Formal Resettlement Program is operated by Australia for the refugees accepted into the country providing housing assistance, welfare payments and access to free English language courses (Brown, 2008, pp 110- 111). Some of the difficulties faced by the children include transition from home country fleeing war and living in refugee camps, difficulties in learning English and mainstream subjects due to language barrier and to adjust to a new educational system (Brown, 2008, p111). They also need to adjust to social conditions, physical disability, missing family

Across the world, innocent people are living in dangerous towns because they are being denied access by countries that should openly accept them. Australia should accept more refugees because they have rights to, Australia is Multicultural Country and Australia has boundless plains to share. The world’s population of refugees have human rights to safe asylum and freedom from torture and degrading treatment. Currently, Australia is disobliging these rights, which is against our countries multiculturalism. As a multicultural nation, it is our duty to care for these innocent refugees and this can be done by giving them permanent homes. At present, Australia only accepts 0.3% of the worlds refugee population, that’s

Many refugees are not safe in bordering countries, and they must look further afield for protection. Sometimes they will need to take complex and dangerous routes in order to reach a country where they believe they will be safe and can start a new life. Australia has agreed to take in 13 500 refugees and other humanitarian entrants in

For most of us a refugee is not only a boat person but might also be referred to as a ‘queue jumper’. But a real refugee is a person who has been forced to leave their country in order to escape war, persecution, or natural disaster. Thousands of these refugees attempt to cross the Australian borders and to gain permanent residency in the place we all call home.

Australia’s policies in regard to asylum seekers and refugee processing, are viewed as very controversial, and often inhumane by the international community (Lock, Quenault & Tomlinson 2002, p.37). To discuss this policy, I will apply an external analysis. In order to decide whether this policy is seen as good or bad, through a social, economic and human rights perspective.

The importance of the subject lays on the fact that, today more than ever, the current humanitarian crisis caused by children and families fleeing the war zone in Syria worries the whole world. And lately, the Australia's policy towards asylum seekers arriving by boat has attracted the most attention. The former Australian Prime Minister, Tony Abbott, said “Australia’s strong stance on asylum seekers, which includes a policy of turning back boats and offshore processing of refugee claimants, had stopped the people smuggling trade to Australia and opened up more places for those in genuine need” . Internationally, Australia has always been considered as a model in terms of immigration. Indeed, its broad immigration program, its discretionary offshore humanitarian resettlement program and the respect of its international legal obligations made mark in history. However, this ideology seems to belong to the past given the recent affairs. Asylum policies implemented by the Howard Government (1996-2007), and more recently the Coalition Government known as Operation Sovereign Borders, have tremendously reduced the flow of asylum seekers reaching Australia by boat. It is described as "inhumane, of dubious legality and

Nearly sixty million individuals are displaced from their homes. That’s one in every 122 people on our planet. The world we live in has never been richer, healthier or any more advanced. Yet, never before has there been such a large amount of individuals that have been expelled and stripped of their basic human rights. It’s time to own up to what it really is; it is no longer simply a "refugee crisis.” However, it is a crisis of global security and governance, that’s manifesting itself as the worst refugee crisis ever recorded – and a time of mass displacement. Australia must enable asylum seekers to enter the country, to permit them the possibility to start a new life, free from the horrors of war. Asylum seekers arrive in our country, seeking

Since 2000, both the refugee rights political movement in Australia as a whole as well as the Australian National Committee on Refugee Women (ANCORW) have primarily been focused on key issues such as the differential treatment of asylum seekers based on how they arrived in Australia or apply for protection, the Pacific and Malaysian solution, the detention of asylum seekers and combating the view that boat arrivals are not ‘genuine refugees’. Although there are many other concerns, the issues listed above are the major ones.

When enacting policies toward asylum seekers and refugees, countries always examine the impact of the economic burden that an influx of vulnerable people is going to have on the country. Accepting refuges requires to government of the asylum country to provide access to housing, welfare, healthcare and education to the new immigrants. Access to career services is also required in order for the new immigrants to receive training and certification needed for them to get employed. However, all these services cause an economic strain in the lives of citizens of asylum countries that is reflected in their taxes. In order to minimize the burden, many countries enact laws that decrease the access to social rights and educational institutions.

How many refugees can take refuge in Australia has become a matter of debate since there are rumours that some of the UNHCR (UN High Commissioner for Refugees) officials are choosing migrants based on the religion and not protection needs.

Asylum seekers and refugees have been left and deserted on Nauru and Manus Island following the act to shut down detentions centres by the government. These refugees are unable to contact the Australian public and they lack legal support as well as medical services. And although Australians are protesting the unjust and unfair treatment of these people who are in need, the Australian government has refused to help these people out of what the Government placed them in the first place, despite their knowledge of their terrible living conditions and treatment.

situations that Australia face in relation to refugees today include: There are more refugees/asylum seekers coming to Australia than they can hold. Under the Humanitarian Program, Australia accepts a certain number of people every year who are refugees or have special humanitarian needs. The Australian Government has indicated that in the 2014-15 financial year, it intends to provide 13,750 places in the Humanitarian Program. This 13,750 is made up of 10,500 people who come as refugees, special humanitarian entrants and people granted onshore protection visas; 2,500 who apply for refugee protection after reaching Australia, and 500

Every year, Australia receives approximately 70 000 applications for humanitarian visas (1). Those who apply have often experienced persecution and discrimination in their home countries. The government’s policies to address these applications have remained controversial for decades due to claims that they violate Australia’s human rights’ obligations. These policies have undergone frequent revisions from year to year, each sparking fierce public debate.