The Refugee And Asylum Seekers

A refugee is defined as a person who has been forced to leave their country in order to escape war or persecution. Since the communist victory in Vietnam in 1975, Australia has become a desirable location for hundreds of thousands of refugees as a result of the pleasant lifestyle and an abundance of employment opportunities. The experiences of Indochinese refugees in the 1970’s and present day refugees contain both similar and contrasting elements. Refugees no longer flee from countries such as Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos instead they arrive to Australia from war-ravaged nations in the Middle East such as Iraq and Syria. Nevertheless, these countries are all victims of war and people continue to seek refuge as a consequence of conflict and fear

Although there were inhumane policies in the asylum seeking system, the Australian government had also attempted to rectify the issue of overcrowding and indefinite periods in detention facilities by introducing bridging visas. They are temporary visas which allow asylum seekers to legally reside within the Australian community while their appeals in seeking protection as refugees are being assessed and can be released from detention centres upon medical, identification and security checks. (Australian Human Rights Commission 2013, p.1-2) However, there are several restrictions and conditions regarding the bridging visa, the most significant one being the prohibition on working and medicare for most of the visa holders. This results in low income that leads to malnutrition, medical issues, and dependence on the Australian government for survival. These conditions could impact their ability to enjoy basic human rights and Australia may again have breached its obligations under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) that ‘the right of access to employment, especially for disadvantaged and marginalized individuals and groups’ be ensured as supported by Taylor (2000, p.2).

This report examines that the impacts of immigration detention and violating of human rights with the mental health care of asylum seekers. In the recent years, increased number of illegal immigrants arriving by boat in Australia. This raises key issues concerning about mental health of asylum-seekers, especially for detained immigrants. Research shows that Australia currently own around 13,000 refugees per annum, under the Refugee Convention (1951), Australia has obligation to evaluate refugee claims, but it processes only 2.2% of them made to 44 industrialised countries (p.315).

The prominence in relation to Asylum Seekers and Refugees has become a contemporary issue within Australian society and has amounted vast controversy in the media. A Refugee can be defined as a person who has been forced to leave their country in order to escape war, persecution, or natural disaster as found in the 1951 convention relating to the status of refugees, in which Australia is a signatory to. Every refugee has or will be an asylum seeker. An Asylum Seeker is a person who has left their home country as a political refugee seeking asylum in another but has not had their claim assessed. Asylum seekers have experienced serious breaches of their rights, religious freedom and justice to reach safety. If asylum seekers are found to be

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.

Political unrest and local war happens around the world all the time. Many people live in a dangerous situation and suffered from violence. Hence, large amount of asylum seeker undertakes a huge perilous, try to cross the ocean and arrive Australia. To deal with this issue, Australian government enacted mandatory detention policy and offshore processing policy, these policies become highly contentious in the community with many arguments and criticisms. This report will focus on the nature and purpose of these immigration policies and the impact towards the asylum seeker as well as the criticism form international. To propose some advice about how the future policies should be framed.

Recently, concerns have been raised by political figures and the people of Australia regarding the ‘abysmal treatment’ of asylum seekers (Claire Mallinson, 2015). The violations of their human rights in regards to the conditions they are forced to live in inside detention centers show that these centres do not operate within the humanitarian requirements Australia has agreed to abide by. The current process that handles the arrival and subsequent treatment of asylum seekers does not allow the migratory system to properly address the complications that the present circumstances impose. The Universal Declaration Human Rights (1948) (UDHR) and the United Nations 1951 Refugee Convention were signed by Australia to recognize its support of these

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.

Introduction The social determinants of health have a great impact of ones quality of life and tend to influence certain health issues that are prevalentable in today’s society. The article ‘Immigration department releases Phillip Moss review of how asylum seekers are treated on Nauru’ (News corp Australia network 2015) expresses the asylum seekers accusations of harassment. The trading of sexual favors for drugs outlines the social determinant, addiction. The people left in the detentions centers are completely shunned from the rest of the word, which leaves the asylum seekers faced with social exclusion.

The issue of asylum seekers recently was reignited, with the dramatic increase in the number of illegal boats arriving in Australia. From the 30th of September 2013, there were a reported 6,403 people in closed detention, this number including 1,078 children. It is not surprising from these high detention rates and poor living standards that between January 2011 and February 2013 that there were 4,313 reported incidents of actual, threatened or attempted serious self-harm in these immigration detention facilities. From 12 deaths that occurred between the 1st of July 2010 and the 20th of June 2013 6 of these have been found by coroners to be suicides (Triggs, 2013). These statistics are incredibly alarming, especially when not much action is being taken to prevent not only mental illness but also the consequences of prolonged mental illness - suicide. The purpose of this report is to analyse and scrutinize the reason why mental health issues for asylum seekers are becoming an issue in Australia, and find out what exactly is being done to combat this ever-growing issue in Australia.

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.

In the article, Daynes discusses the health impacts that the refugees may encounter when making the journey from the Middle East to Europe. Daynes brings up the increase in psychological health issues that the refugees may go through as they face traumatic experiences. She brings up the issues of pregnancies and how dangerous the route becomes as they face an increased risk of premature delivery. Daynes discusses the health impacts of the refugee camps as well and how the poor living conditions may cause serious harm to the refugees. Daynes argues the dangers of the journey and how everyone, regardless if they are migrants, should have appropriate medical

The Australian government should increase the number of permanent refugee visas available. Since the nation’s humanitarian program began, the number of total visas allocated has changed only minutely (44). It is argued here that since the number currently provided is only a small proportion of Australia’s migration program, and a negligible proportion of the total population a greater number of asylum seekers could be resettled. In fact, the resources saved by abolishing some of the deterrent policies, such as offshore detention, could be utilised in resettling more refugees. As part of this increase, TPVs should be converted to permanent visas with the full range of resettlement services and family member sponsorship permitted. This aligns with the US and Canadian policies which do not grant temporary visas to refugees (14). The sense of certainty and ability to plan around permanent visas are likely to improve the mental health outcomes of current TPV

In Australia, research involving the participation of humans must be conducted in accordance with agreed ethical considerations as set out in the National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Research Involving Humans (NHMRC 1999). Research on asylum seekers and refugees has not always been morally neutral. Policies current for Australia’s immigration are passionately debated in today’s society. Defining ethical responsibilities for our research is complex when working with exposed populations and different cultures with idiosyncratic and sometimes conflicting definitions of what is ethical (Willis & Gonzalez, 1998). Researchers have the obligation to respect all participants for autonomy of individuals, to maximize potential benefits and minimse possible harms, and the obligation to act fairly reflecting on the cultural and social implications of the research (Mares & Jureidini, 2004). Throughout the study our team made a conscious effort to maintain the confidentiality of each participant. All information provided by participants will be used solely for the proposed research and will be securely stored in James Cook University department of Social Science.

A person who has been placed outside of their country and is unable, to return due to fear of being persecuted based on race, culture or other factors, is a refugee (Woster, 2012, p. 95). Due to this persecution and fear, refugees often resort to fleeing to other countries for asylum. In light of recent events, the rise of refugees has increased, reaching to a rough estimate of 26, 166 new refugees in Canada alone (Hansen, Maidment, & Ahmad, 2016, p. S9). With the numbers escalating and with the nature of refugee experiences, it is no surprise that the health care system will be severely impacted. In this paper we will analyze the impact refugees can have on our system, and the impact that society and the system has on the refugees. By utilizing Ray’s (1989) Bureaucratic Caring concepts of education and social-cultural factors, we can develop a better understanding of refugee health and therefore work in advance nursing care and the healthcare system to better suite their needs.