There is no doubt that immigration and asylum seekers are one of biggest issues in Australia in the past decade. Either a new boatload of refugees has arrived or there is a protest at a detention centre. Some people saying that asylum seekers are not treated well, and others saying they are living in hotels getting everything for free. Australia has been built on immigration but times have changed. Is it still worth trying to become an Australian?
The book From All Corners (1993, Anne Henderson, Allen & Unwin) presents the stories of six people who migrated to Australia in the mid-20th century. The common thread between the people in the book was that they came to Australia with little. They had come from a place affected by war or political upheaval. They worked hard at their family business until they earned themselves a comfortable living.
A person to come to Australia in the 1969 was Cornelia Tuyau. She was born in Holland in 1956. She came by ship on what she describes as a six week “holiday” paid for by the Australian government. “We had the impression that when we came here kangaroos would be running around through the suburbs, koala bears would be climbing up the trees in front yard, it was a bit of a culture shock when we came here and it was nothing like that at all.”
Strikes in Perth and Melbourne delayed the journey. When they finally arrived on shore they were put on buses and sent to a hostel in Murrumbeena. The family stayed in the hostel for six weeks. Each person was given a spoon, fork and cup. The family were put in huts that looked like tin cans, they shared with another family. There were just beds in the room. No radio or TV. They used a communal toilet and showers. Not use to Australian food, they were hungry all the time. Milk and eggs were rationed.
Her father was sent to Yallourn to help build a power plant, but there was a strike and workers were sent back to the hostel. Her father then got a job with the post office. He wanted to work on the railways like in he did in Holland but the hostel rent cost more than the wage. Cornelia did not attended school during her stay in Hostel.
Stella Hennequin came to Australia from Mauritius in 1972. They had to pay for their journey by ship. Her mother and six children were entitled to government benefits and were given tutors to learn English. “The Australian mentality of giving everyone a fair go, that is what we were offered back then,” Stella says.
According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), there are about 9 million refugees worldwide. Of this there is an average of 3500 asylum seekers coming to Australia each year. According to QC Julian Burnside, it would take 20 years to fill the MCG. In contrast the amount of migrants each year is about 350,000.
QC Julian Burnside said there are three types of refugee. The first type is from refugee camps overseas. The Australian government selects a 13,500 each year to come to Australia. The second group is people who come to Australia on business, student or holiday visas and apply for protection when they get here. They are allowed to stay in community until a decision is made. About 20 per cent of these are accepted as refugees. The third group are boat people without visas and are detained until they receive a visa. About 90 per cent of these are found to be refugees.
According to QC Julian Burnside, the majority have not committed any offence and are seeking protection from the Taliban. He says refugees are keen to enter the workforce and rebuild their lives. They risked a lot to come here.
In the book From All Corners one of the stories has an eerie similarity to current boat people stories. Nhung and Phi fled communist Vietnam in 1979 by sharing a fishing boat with about 25 people on board. The facilities were inadequate and after a few days the boat began to sink. They were rescued and put on an island off the coast of Malaysia. Here they were processed before they were allowed to come to Australia.
The book From Nothing to Zero (2003, Julian Burnside QC, Lonely Planet) paints a different picture to From All Corners. The book is a collection of letters written by people being held in detention centres. The detainees liken the centre to a prison. The rooms are bare and crowded. Most people just watch television all day and late into the night. They are put to work by the prison and given coupons to spend on items such as cigarettes and lollies from the detention centre store. There was a newsletter published by the detainees but this was stopped after it was determined that the content was too depressing. Detainees are woken up a few times a night for counting.
“One night a kangaroo came near the fence …. Who is the animal?” wrote one detainee.
Many have constant headaches which the nurses give paracetamol for. On the rare occasion that they are allowed to receive treatment in a hospital, they are handcuffed throughout their visit. A patient wrote “I felt I had lost my dignity …. In the hospital they thought I was a criminal.”
QC Julian Burnside says when in detention, they have all the support services available to people in jails. When detainees are released, they are left to take care of themselves and their physiological issues.
Youth worker Les Twentyman says immigrants require social and youth workers. Children need school supplies, especially those that came here with no parents. “There needs to be more resources for these people,” he says.
QC Julian Burnside became involved with asylum seekers in 2001. A Norwegian ship called Tampa rescued a sinking boat of refugees. Australia refused to let ship enter Australian waters. A friend found a legal theory to help the asylum seekers and asked QC Julian Burnside to run case. “It immediately became apparent to me that Australia was mistreating asylum seekers in a way that was completely unjustifiable.”
Support groups would contact QC Julian Burnside for help. “Between 2001 and 2006, everyone in detention seemed to have my mobile number,” he jokes. He created a strategic set of test cases to see if they could get the law changed.
Australia is a part of the 1951 Refugee Convention. A country signed to the convention is obliged to protect the rights of all people regardless of how they came to the country. Under the convention, if a country is not able to accept a refugee, they must arrange for them to live in another country.
Australian migration policy says non-citizens without a visa must be detained until they receive a visa or are deported. They do not know when they will be let out. “Even criminals convicted of the worst offences know how long they will spend inside,” says QC Julian Burnside. To grant a visa could take six months or six years. The longest was nine years. “Why is it necessary to hold people indefinitely while they are being assessed?”
A panel determines if a person is a refugee. If they decide no, then the person can go to an independent group for review, 50per cent of these review show the person is a genuine refugee. The case could then go to the high court.
The uncertainty drives asylum seekers mad. When the stress gets too much they either harm property or themselves. Examples include cutting themselves with razors and glass, setting fires and sewing lips together.
An Afghani detainee wrote, “Taliban killed people suddenly but this regime is killing people slowly.”
One case involved a man who had no country. The High Court agreed with the Government that the man could be held forever. “Pretty horrible thought,” Julian says.
Some people in detention have been determined to be refugees, so they cannot be sent to their home country. Meanwhile ASIO said they should not be in Australia due to security concerns, meaning they must stay in detention. It is unclear what these security concerns are. ASIO says no terrorists have come to Australia by boat. Julian says, “We treat them as monsters from Mars.”
Stella was not only an immigrant; she was an investigation officer for the ombudsman for 6 years. Stella says that there are more issues now than when she came to Australia so there are more rules and regulations. “Every case has its own story,” she says. Every decision is done case by case based on evidence. According to Stella, if you meet the criteria for immigration it is a straight forward process.
Stella now runs a foundation that provides support and advice for people in Mauritius who do not have access to treatment for cancer. The foundation liaises with immigration to help the patient obtain a visa to come to Australia.
Julian believes that John Howard’s comments of Australia deciding who will come into the country are correct in terms of migration policy. He believes though that it would totally wrong to apply this to refugees. “You have to be careful about grouping immigrants and refugees together,” he says.
We have a small amount of asylum seekers when compared with other countries. Pakistan and Iran get about two million asylum seekers a year because they are near the troubled countries.
The refugee convention was created to reduce the strain on neighbouring countries by allowing people to seek asylum in any country that is part of the convention. Unfortunately all the countries between Afghanistan and Australia are not a part of the convention. In Indonesia it could take up to 15 years to have a process claimed. During this time the asylum seeker is not allowed to work.
There seems to be a history of suspicion of foreigners throughout Australian history, just a different nationality depending on the era. The book From All Corners tells how, as Australia was at war with Germany, Jews that came from Germany had to prove their loyalty to Australia. Italians were watched carefully by police because Italy was an ally of Germany. People from enemy nations were not allowed to have cars, radios, telephones or cameras. Neighbours kept their distance during this time.
According to Les Twentyman, Immigrants feel alienated. Some are racially discriminated against. In high unemployment areas the migrants are blamed for taking the jobs.
What can be improved with the immigration system?
Stella believes that “information and communication should be foremost”. People have misguided expectations on what to expect in Australia. For example, international students are given 20 hours a week to work. Some then ask for government support. “That is not what the Australian government is about. They provide visas to people who said they are genuinely coming to study in Australia,” Stella says.
Julian believes we need to end the idea of indefinite mandatory detention. After initial health and security checks are done the refugees should be released until a decision is made. Detention on Christmas Island costs $1600 per person per day. Releasing asylum seekers into the community with Centrelink benefits would cost only a couple hundred dollars a week. “It is an amazing amount of money that we spend on traumatising a small amount of people,” Julian said.
What advice is there for people wanting to come to Australia? Cornelia says “Do it the legal way”. She believes coming by boat will just make it harder to be accepted.
If there is family in Australia that will sponsor the immigrant it is fairly easy to migrate to Australia.
People need to know that they will need money to support themselves. They will need to buy a car and rent is high in Australia. They need to find a social network. “You are not going to have five cars in the driveway and big two story mansion,” Stella says. She believes the system in Australia is not always the best but still better than many countries. There is social security and a good health system.
Julian says asylum seekers need to be prepared to face brutal treatment when they first arrive.
If refugees need to face brutal treatment before becoming citizens, is it really worth coming to Australia? “By large Australia is a decent and compassionate country”, says Julian. “Living in Australia is a whole lot better than living in the fear of the Taliban.”
The man with no state was eventually released and became an Australian citizen.
On coming Australia, Stella reflects “It was indeed the lucky country …. We can have everything we want if we work hard for it.”
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