Geography - Migration - Advantages and Disadvantages - Push - Pull Factors

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.

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.

Every human being is created in the image and likeness of God and therefore should be treated accordingly. Equality and social justice are additional factors that contribute to the response of Australian society in welcoming refugees throughout history. The vietnamese refugees of the 1970’s were welcomed by society in an attempt to shift away from the ‘White Australia Policy’. Charities and church organisations such as the Australian Red Cross also provided assistance with clothing, housing and other required adjustments for example education. These positive elements created fairness and equal opportunities for the refugees. However, some individuals remained loyal to the White Australia policy and were racist and discriminatory towards the easily identifiable refugees. Even members of the Catholic church persisted to be intolerant of refugees. Nevertheless, in present day, the Church is significantly more accepting of refugees by supporting charities, increasing awareness, working alongside refugees and providing aid to asylum seekers. Within the general society, some groups and individuals are still unfortunately racially prejudiced because of their lack of knowledge. However, a large percentage of the population are accepting of refugees; often indulging in foreign cuisines and continually strengthening or creating international relationships. The fair treatment and equality for all human beings has a notable impact on both the Church's and Australia’s perspective regarding

The concept of being a ‘nation of immigrants’ is at the center of Australian identity.

Today 60 million refugees, and asylum seekers are internally displaced . This is almost double what it was 10 years ago. Mega conflicts in Syria and Iraq have displaced millions of people. These are conflicts that are pushing refugees and migrants into flight. The world is in the midst of an unprecedented humanitarian crisis. Yet Australia’s approach in recent years has been to punish people seeking asylum, while increasing the numbers of refugees it resettles. This contrasting approach threatens the long and proud history Australia has of successful integration of refugee communities. This report reflects what we have heard from refugees and people seeking asylum, and the people supporting them. We thank all of the people who contributed to this report. The past two years have been a dramatic and traumatic period for refugees, both at home and abroad. More people are seeking safety – from persecution, conflict, violence and violations of human rights – than at any time since World War II. In the past two years, we have seen lifeless children washing up on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. We have seen ordinary Europeans lining up to help refugees at train stations. We have seen Australians demanding successfully that their leaders let in an extra 12,000 people fleeing the crises in Syria and Iraq.

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.

The first boat with refugees to Australia in 1976, there are five men come to Australia in Darwin by boat (Phillips &Spinks 2013). Australia as a human immigrant country and it has policy receive refugees and asylum seekers. Since more and more refugees entered Australia from all over the world such as Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America, that the Australia is a multicultural country (UNHCR 2011). There is a small group of people are opposed to refugees, they have prejudice and bias against the refugees (Henderson & Uhlmann 2015). The refugee may face to poor living conditions, they have to leave their home and move to another place which can receive them. Australia is a good choice for refugees due to it can change their life. The small

Despite being granted a visa to enter Australia as a refugee visa (visa subclass 200) refugees must then satisfy other numerous criteria even more challenging. An example of this is apart from meeting national security requirements and health screening the minister of Australian immigration considers applicants must have a "compelling reason for giving special consideration to granting the visa”. Their connection with Australia, the capacity of the Australian community and the degree of severity of persecution they are faced with

Australians are growing more negative about high immigration and the arrival of asylum seekers. Multiculturalism strengthened the Australian way of life, a third answered weakened, while it is said migrants get more opportunities than those born in Australia. The threat to Australia by taking immigrants from war-torn countries without confirming their suitability could cause more disharmony within Australia. While governments such as PNG (Papua New Guinea) has rejected the solution Australia tries to find by placing refugees in

Asylum seekers have been escaping their hostile countries for decades now, but where are they fleeing to? Not to Australia. With the Australian government forcing asylum seekers to Thailand and other foreign countries, it is lessening the number we, as Australians, have to "deal with", at least that is the government’s plan. Many Australians believe that asylum seekers and refugees don't deserve to come here to Australia, however if those Australians were to be forced to flee Australia due to war, they would support them coming. The point being made is that asylum seekers deserve as much as any Australian. Australia is a free country, and we want the entire world to believe that, so why are we trying to relieve asylum seekers of the joy of

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

I enjoy the way that Ross organizes evidence from various resources to support his argument. At the very beginning of this article, Rose mentions that a great number of politicians are not very supportive of the idea that their country should take more refugees. Then he provided specific statistics to show how desperate the vast group of refugees may need safe shelters. Additionally, he also tries to explain the possible reasons that the United States has not permanently resettled many refugees so far. National security might be one of the biggest concerns according to him.

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

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.