The
Global Refugee
Georgia Rose SACE no. 466508T Photograph: The Guardian ; Result of the tragic plight for refugees.
Is Australia’s response the most compassionate?
The Anguish, the disillusion, the self-harm, the
attempted suicides and despair all speak of the
disregard for refugees and their basic human rights.
Despite the use of dehumanising language to
distinguish “queue jumpers” from “genuine”
refugees, everyone is entitled to the protection of
their human rights, including the right to seek
asylum from persecution under the united nations
refugee convention. Fleeing from countries which
are persecuting them, it is estimated that 1,287
refugees are then further stripped of their basic
human rights, being imprisoned in immigration
detention facilities.
Australia is in a position to help and should be doing
so for the benefit of these desperate people. This
does not mean that Australia alone must bear the
weight of protecting the persecuted. It however,
does mean that we must play a part in a worldwide
response that includes a range of strategies from
addressing root causes to providing asylum to
people whose human rights have been violated.
Instead of doing this and being the generous
country we are said to be, we are installing
deterrent measures and mandatory detention
centres that hold asylum seekers in conditions
harsher than those felt by convicted criminals. Is this
really how Australia treats asylum seekers with
decency and humanity? By virtually stripping them
of their basic human rights? Are we really prepared
to allow the government to treat refugees in such a
horrible way that the terror they feel from their
treatment is worse than terror in their home
countries in which they fled? After all, said and
done, the question still lingers; is Australia’s
response the most compassionate?
No. The Sydney morning herald reported a
statement that William Deane made in parliament
house asking Australians to have more
understanding and compassion for asylum seekers
Crisis
who risk their lives to come to Australia. He
reminded Australian’s that other countries have it a
lot tougher taking in refugees than we do.
Mentioning a report made by the UN refugee
commission that slammed Australia’s off shore
detention system, William asserts “One cannot but
fear that at least some of the findings are justified”.
Talking about the criticism in the report “they give
rise to questions relating to our decency, sense of
fairness and justice.” William argues that Australia as
a nation, are capable of dealing with the issue
through justice and compassion, it’s the empathy for
plight of asylum seekers that Australians lack.
Along with William, Greens National Senator, Sarah
Hanson young has been a consistent voice calling for
compassion and fairness in Australia. In an article
piece for The Guardian, Hanson young claims that
she will “continue the fight to restore our nations
generous heart”. In suggesting this, the link between
Australia’s long history of once providing refugees a
safe haven and our recently increasingly negative
and somewhat hostile attitudes towards asylum
seekers and deterring them can be made. In another
opinion based piece for ABC’s The drum, Hanson
young further goes on to argue that our polices
punish and demonise people who are asking for our
help. She then states, “In punishing them for
reaching Australia It will lead them to death and
misery, just in someone else’s ocean”.
But just where does the public stand on the question
of turning back asylum boats? Well, in an article for
The Guardian: is Australia losing its empathy, the
topic of Australia’s lost compassion is brought to
discussion. It states that ‘majority of Australians
have the ability to empathise, but the sad reality is,
we lead busy stressful lives and often feel we don’t
have the time or energy to step into other people’s
shoes, look at the world from their perspective and
provide them with support’. There is increasingly
more and more evidence that Australia, the lucky
country, is losing its empathy. A report based on a
survey by the Scanlon Foundation highlights the
growing anti-asylum seeker attitudes amongst
Australians. In 2011, 23% of Australians surveyed
wanted the boats pushed back, a figure that has now
risen to a shocking 71%. So, what do statistics like
this really mean? Well, findings concluded a
devastating trend in religious and race
discrimination; without noticing, each day, more
and more Australians are being caught up in a world
of individualism, lacking compassion and turning our
backs on alienated groups such as asylum seekers
and refugees.
Regardless of those working towards a long term
and compassionate approach to helping refugees
and asylum seekers, Australia’s inhumane polices
remain along with individuals who stand by them.
Failing to see the real individuals behind labels
imposed on them, Cory Benardi and Andrew Bolt are
few political figures promoting anti-asylum
sentiments.
Government senator Cory Benardi’s views on the
issue are fairly obvious. During an interview for abc
news 24’s Capital Hill, Benardi refers to the issue of
refugees and asylum seekers as a “financial and
social burden”. He then claims Syrian refugees have
caused terrorism to escalate and stated that too
many people were now avoiding Muslims because
they “feared being attacked”. Not only does Benardi
link rising terrorism to all Syrian refugees, but then
goes on to call for a ban in Syrian immigration
stating, “we should seriously consider cancelling the
intake, I think we’ve got to put a stop to it”. Benardi
is yet another example of those whose views portray
these people as unworthy of our compassion and
forget that the definition of a human being is not
situated on place of origin, race, religion or colour.
Another prominent propagandist intent on
prompting fear is political commentator Andrew
Bolt. Bolts extremist views argue that asylum
seekers are not refugees, not a responsibility, but a
threat. After attacking Muslim immigration and
multiculturalism, he goes on to argue that Islamic
culture is synonymous with terrorism. “No more
multiculturalism and no more mass immigration
from the Muslim world”. After associating acts of
violence to an entire ethnic and religious group, he
claims that “racism” against Muslims in Australia
comes about because of terrorism; asserting that
we should be “scared of Muslims”. Views as
dangerous as these demand extremist opinions
and views whilst only contributing to the lack of
Australia’s empathy, fuelling racist thinking and set
one society against another.
The conclusion I draw from the above analysis is
that Australia’s response is certainly not the most
compassionate one. Our countries failure to respect
basic human rights is costing people their freedom,
sanity and is resulting in suicides, self-harm and
other violent behaviour. If we as a nation, want to
be the generous and multicultural nation we are
said to be, then It’s about time Australia live up to
its labels and show compassion by treating our
neighbours with the respect and dignity that all
humans are entitled to.
Word count: 1115
Reference list:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-07-05/hanson-
young-compassion-saves-lives-not-
politics/4112022
https://www.theguardian.com/culture/australia-
culture-blog/2014/feb/26/is-australia-losing-its-
empathy
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-11-
23/terrorists-could-be-among-syrian-refugees-
bernardi-says/6963608
https://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/2016/08/25/
sarah-hanson-young-loses-immigration-portfolio-
and-shes-disappo_a_21458508/
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-
news/2016/aug/25/sarah-hanson-young-will-keep-
fighting-for-refugees-despite-losing-portfolio
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/former-
governor-general-calls-for-more-compassion-for-