Australia has a rich migration history starting with the first migrants being convicts transported from Britain between 1788 and 1840. Free immigrants began arriving in the 1790’s (Walsh: 2001) The Industrial revolution which caused wide spread poverty and unemployment in Britain, as well as the demand for workers in the wool industry in Australia enticed more free settlers to Australia, followed by the Gold rush in the 1850’s of which the largest group of immigrants were the Chinese. The bringing in of Polynesian labourers to work in the sugar plantations of Queensland also contributed to the population numbers swell. From 1851 to 1861 just over 600,000 people had migrated to Australia from many varied backgrounds and culture. By the …show more content…
(Dept of Immigration and Citizenship, 2009).
Australia today has two programs of immigration one the migration policy which is seen as ‘economically” motivated which has two main components family and skill. The second is the humanitarian program which has three parts refugees, special humanitarian and special assistance. (Holmes et al 2007) As part of the humanitarian program refugees constitute a specific component of Australia’s humanitarian program.
Article 1A of the Refugees Convention defines a refugee as:
“A person who has well founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a certain group or political opinion, is outside the country of their nationality and is unable or owing to such fear is unwilling to avail themselves of the protection of that country or who not having a nationality and being outside the country of their former habitual residence as a result of such events, is unable or owing to such fear, is unwilling to return to it.” (United Nations High Commission for Refugees(UNCHR) 1951)
Under Australian and international law, a person is permitted to enter Australia for the purpose of seeking asylum regardless of whether they arrive by boat or plane and thus it is entirely incorrect to say that
This report will discuss the history of asylum seekers coming to Australia’s coast line along with discover most recent rules regarding the issues adjoining completely new arrivals of asylum searchers. It will provide a review for the behaviour towards of asylum searchers within Australia as part of stimulating integration of individuals through diverse nationalities. This document will intend to deal with the problems of asylum searchers along with refugees are usually going through inside Australia. This coverage on Asylum Hunters as well as Refugees remains probably the most argumentative issues inside today’s Australia. Australians have got seen quite a few alterations of this type in excess of recent several weeks. These are going
Asylum Seeker policy has become key political battleground in recent times. This stems from the end of Australia’s ‘White Australia’ policy in the 1970s; a policy which saw restrictions placed on non-European migration for over 70 years (Crock & Berg, 2011). Following the conclusion of the Vietnam war, a myriad of boats arrived in Australia, carrying asylum seekers from south east Asia. This lead to a stark increase in public concern over the arrivals and consequently, the term ‘boat people’ was born and spread through the media and public/political discourses alike (Grewcock, 2009).
Ask yourself this, if we were on a plane and it broke down with everyone being stuck on an island. Would the government not try to find us? To save our lives and bring us back to a better place where there is food, shelter and an overall better living environment. Then why not look for asylums seekers out there? An asylum's seekers life here in Australia is another life saved from war, conflict and other disasters. Asylum seekers should be able to come into Australia through boat and by any means necessary as something that is an act of humanity and not an act of the law, rules and regulations. Because they don’t have time to wait around and be saved by someone. We do not get to decide whether or not their life can be here but we do get a say about it! So let's all make a difference. The main reasons for me bearing this opinion is one of three. For one, Asylum seekers should be able to enter Australia on a boat because they are trying to get away from war and conflict,
Or is it? Action must be taken to ensure that Asylum seekers travelling to Australia are welcomed with open arms and provided with the necessary resources to be able to live in our beautiful country. To solve the epidemic that is the neglect of asylum seekers, it is crucial that awareness is raised and facts and statistics are shown, in order to convince Australians of their struggles and show them that there are things we can do to solve this as a nation.
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.
When asylum seekers are found trying to find residency in Australia by boat or not having any valid travel documents they are not committing any crimes. The Refugee Convention is a series of article that state how to treat and help refugees. Article 31 of this
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
Every year, thousands of people seek refuge in Australia after being forced to flee their homes. Under the UN 1951 Refugee convention, countries are obliged to protect refugees and basic human rights must be upheld. However, Australia is violating these laws. As of August 2013, a report by the Australian Human Rights
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
The person must also feel unable to return to their country of origin due to the experienced or anticipated persecution.
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
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.
Australia in terms of immigration, has had a poor history of dealing with people travelling into the country, shown in the beginning of hand picking the majority of Australia 's population. However as the decades have rolled on, whether it be forced or by choice, Australia has become looser and more free in access and treatment within the country and importantly, less discriminatory. In order to see these improvements, the start must be shown, in which is generally summarised by the White Australia Policy.
as New South Wales. “On the 13th May 1787 a fleet of eleven ships left Britain with two
Over the last few years there have been major changes in the polices against immigrant that have sparked chaos all over the world. Same people believe that asylum seekers and refugees should be welcomed into Australia with or without a visa, I think different. I think asylum seekers that come to Australia without a visa expecting asylum, should be taken back to where they came from. At the moment hundreds of people are kept in detention centres because they don’t belong in our community. This is ok, but the government still pays a lot of money to run the centres. Asylum seekers and refugees should not be allowed into Australia without a visa.