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.
The introduction of the quarterly essay is written by Peter Craven and introduces “The intrinsic interest of Mungo MacCallum’s account of the so-called Refugee Crisis which dominated the last election” (III). Peter Craven anatomized Mungo MacCallum’s interpretation of events, and depicts MacCallum’s “larrikin and cold eyed” style and “brings all his wit and dryness and power of mind” (III).
The first boat people to arrive in Australia seeking permanent residence probably did so some 40,000 years ago; we say probably because some authorities believe that the aborigines walked across a land bridge.(1)
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“The boat people of 1881” (1). Although the narrator establishes a timeline and history, he uses clear and precise facts to mark the definition of refugees back then. In current economic times, the refugees would be forenamed “making a lifestyle choice”; thus we turn our thoughts to the French nobleman (people smuggler), Marquis de Rays. “His family had lost everything in the revolution; Marquis was seeking to restore his fortunes through a series of scams”(2), these scams involved smuggling people and taking advantage of the lower class by offering them a better
‘The Happiest Refugee’ discusses various concepts including the effects of war, the trauma that refugees experience, their desire to contribute to society and our negative attitudes towards them. After the war, South Vietnamese soldiers and their families were captured by the North Vietnamese Communists and held in labour camps. Some of these prisoners were eventually released (after 1976), however, they had no right to education, employment or government supplied food rations. If Ahn had not left this oppressive environment, he would have grown up in extreme poverty and would be a very different person due to the trauma that
In contrast to Raye’s discourse of violence, Darren’s disgust for asylum seeking boat people is expressed as moral opprobrium, expressed from the comfort of his own living room, with his family watching TV;
There are many different views about refugees in Australian society, where illegal boat people and over flowing detention centres are a controversial problem today. Go Back To Where You Came From is a documentary directed by Ivan O’Mahoney about a social experiment that challenges the dominant views of six Australians about refugees and asylum seekers. These six Australians are taken on a 25 day journey where they are placed into the troubled “worlds” of refugees. For a few of the Australians it is their first time overseas but, for all of them it is the most challenging and confronting experience of their lives. This essay will discuss
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 piece written by Michael Gordon in The Age on October 19 2011, argues that ten years after the Australian federal election that sparked the asylum seeker controversy, asylum seekers are still being demonised and alienated by both of Australia’s major political parties. Gordon writes in an assertive, controlled and a somewhat concerned tone throughout the article with his target audience aimed at ‘The Age’ readers who have considerable knowledge and understanding of the ongoing debate. Current parliament members from both federal parties could also be his target audience as Gordon provides a solution to the crisis, in that the failure of the Malaysia
Quotes are used to provide insight from a refugees point of view and invoke emotions in the reader. These insights strengthens Mogelson’s message that refugees are desperate, they are willing to take any chance that leads them to freedom. They are willing to hire smugglers to smuggle them into foreign countries. “Whatever hardship he endures, he endures because it beats the hardship he escaped. Every story of exile implies the sadder story of a homeland.” (Mogelson 53). Mogelson provides an insight into the mind of a refugee by using a quote that accurately sums up the situation of the refugee. This quote leads the reader to understand why the refugees are willing to risk so much. This understanding of the refugee’s point of view, lets the reader view the problem of human smuggling from the eyes of the “smuggled” not the eyes of the governments that criticizes and bars the refugees from receiving asylum. “That people are willing to hazard death at sea despite Australia's vow to send them to places like Papua New Guinea and the Republic of Nauru would seem illogical- or just plain crazy” (Mogelson 53). Mogelson uses this quote to invoke pity for the refugees in the reader. The pity enforces the desperation that refugees face. This bolsters Mogelson’s opinion that refugees are desperate enough to hire people
I ask all of this because I believe that the fear of the unknown, the xenophobia is what pervades the global refugee crisis debate in Australia[f]. Because Australia must do mor[g]e to alleviate the global refugee catastrophe.
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.
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.
This example, although only one of many, shows what the struggles of war can do to a person. Whether it be through the loss of family or home, refugees run the risk of losing themselves in the thick fog of confusion and struggles as they deal with war and fleeing their homes. However, war is not the only factor that can cause refugees to lose themselves. Even once they find home, they struggle to find themselves in the overwhelming tide of a new culture and people. “Both refugee and immigrant children may encounter society’s discrimination and racism, and both have to
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
1. By keeping up with the organising of refugee protection activities such as “Refugee Right Protest” at Sydney Central and anti-racism rallies in Redfern Block, the ritual of demonstrations with specific issues helps people to relate and recognise Peter as a “refugee protector” and “anti-racism” over time. This “publicity” may also attract and gathers many refugee and aboriginal voters of Peter’s electorate.
The first settlers arrived in Australia 35,000 years ago during the great ice age. The sea levels lowered between Indonesia and New Guinea and created a land bridge that would allow nomadic tribes to cross from Southeast Asia. Like many other humans of that epoch, they were hunters and gatherers and traveled from place to place in search of young creatures. Thousands of years after these drifters arrived; the glaciers thawed and brought up the seas once again, which kept the citizenry of Australia permanently in that esteem.
It is thought by archaeologists that the first people to settle on the Australian continent came from South-East Asia between 40,000 and 60,000 years ago (45). Over time these settlers occupied the continent with approximately 600 tribes and shared the belief of the Ancestral Beings, created the law during the Dreaming (45). Each tribe had their own identity and language and regularly moved in small nomadic groups within their tribal territory, living off the land to survive (45).
Australian South Sea Islanders’ experience during the 19th and early 20th centuries in Queensland. Captured through the lens of time, we see the cultural diversity and contribution to heritage made by Islanders who were brought to Queensland as indentured labourers from 1863 through 1904.