Refugees and Asylum Seekers – Page 5

Advance Australia Fair? (part 2)

April 11, 2013July 19, 2017 by Ben Clapton, posted in Refugees

In the little sung second verse of the Australian National Anthem, we find the words, For those who come across the seas, we’ve boundless plains to share. However, despite this being part of our national anthem, part of the words that we claim to aspire towards, there is significant evidence that as a nation we are not willing to share the boundless plains that we have. Thankfully, there are also significant programs that are helping to share what we have with those that are new to our nation. Today we’re looking at some of the issues that Asylum Seekers and Refugees face in the area of Employment.

Employment

Employment is one of the major issues and concerns of Asylum Seekers and Refugees, because they do not want to feel like they are a burden on the community. Those who are not permitted to work (because of Temporary Protection Visa’s or conditions placed on their community based detention) find themselves feeling demoralised or despaired at their inability to contribute to Australian Society. Those who are able to seek employment often find discrimination either in the application process, or within the job itself. One Sudanese woman said “At work, the white Australian nurses give me the heaviest and messiest duties to do. Some talk down to me and others just don’t take notice of me and ignore me.”

The Australian Human Rights Commission visited those who were living in community detention. During those visits, they found that “opportunities for self-reliance and meaningful activities are critical to rebuilding resilience amongst asylum seekers, refugees and stateless persons.” Providing meaningful employment can be a very strong way of enabling refugees and asylum seekers to feel a part of their new community.

With this in mind, the Australian Government’s new “No Benefit” policy is incredibly worrying. Basically, what the government can do is give some asylum seekers a temporary protection visa, which does not allow them to work, volunteer, or even take part in ESL classes. This effectively removes them from society, and adds shocking results for their mental health, because not only are they sitting around doing nothing, but they feel bad about having to rely on people and agencies for their survival.

Advance Australia Fair? (part 1)

April 8, 2013July 19, 2017 by Ben Clapton, posted in Refugees

In the little sung second verse of the Australian National Anthem, we find the words, For those who come across the seas, we’ve boundless plains to share. However, despite this being part of our national anthem, part of the words that we claim to aspire towards, there is significant evidence that as a nation we are not willing to share the boundless plains that we have. Thankfully, there are also significant programs that are helping to share what we have with those that are new to our nation. Over the next few posts, we’ll look at some of the issues that those coming to our country faces in the areas of housing, employment, language and health. We’ll then look at what’s currently happening, particularly in regional areas, and what possible future approaches we can make to share our boundless plains.

Housing

There are a number of issues relating to housing in the resettlement of asylum seekers and refugees. The Brotherhood of St Laurence found that in Shepparton, cheap housing was initially plentiful, it since has become scarce. Housing that was available is often of poor quality, and within a system that is difficult for asylum seekers and refugees to understand. This makes exploitation by real estate agents a common occurrence. There are multiple stories of families with many children being placed in houses with only two or three bedrooms. In a Sudanese community in Colac, the Brotherhood of St Laurence again found a lack of public housing, and difficulties in getting private rentals. Initial settlement costs are another concern, with essential items such as a fridge, beds or blankets being difficult to source from a local Migrant Resource Centre. Where public housing was available, it was often shared amongst a number of families. One woman said “the way we live now, we don’t have plans because we are living together, three families in the one house.” Stress in the area of housing makes it difficult for asylum seekers to feel settled within a community.

Stay tuned for the next post, where we discuss some of the issues that asylum seekers and refugees face in the area of Employment. In the mean time, I’d love to hear any stories that you have about housing difficulties for asylum seekers and refugees, and any thoughts about how we can be more open to sharing the boundless plains of our nation.

References: Taylor, Stanovic and Brotherhood of St Laurence, Refugees and Regional Settlement: Balancing Priorities, 2005

Who is my neighbour?

May 14, 2012July 19, 2017 by Ben Clapton, posted in Archive, faith

In Luke 10, we find the “Parable of the Good Samaritan”, where an expert in the law comes to Jesus and asks, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus responds by asking him what is written in the law, to which the expert answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” These two laws are also found in Matthew 22 and Mark 12 in the context of the Two Great Commandments. There’s a general rule in biblical literature. If it’s said once, it’s important. If it’s said twice, it’s really important. If it’s said three times, you better listen, because this is so very important. EG: Holy is the Lord – important. Holy of Holies – really important. Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty – so very important. We’ve got these two great commandments repeated in three of the Gospels – there’s something rather important about what is said here.

The expert goes on to ask a really good question: “Who is my neighbour?” which Jesus then launches into this parable.

³⁰In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. ³¹A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. ³²So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. ³³But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. ³⁴He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. ³⁵The next day he took out two denarii^[c] and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’

Luke 10:30-35 (NIV – Bible Gateway)

As with many bible stories, the modern listener loses a lot of the intricacies that are involved here. It seems like a rather nice story, but instead, it would have provoked his audience, it would have shocked them. Continue reading “Who is my neighbour?” →

5 Things I don’t love about Australia

August 15, 2011July 19, 2017 by Ben Clapton, posted in Life

Following up on Yesterday’s post on the things I love about Australia, there are a few things I don’t like about Australia. It would be remiss of me to say the things I love without the things I don’t like.

Racist. As much as I hate to admit it, Australia is a little bit racist. This has come across more in the last few years, with fears about Refugees and Middle Eastern immigrants. It’s such a shame, as Australia has such a rich multi-cultural heritage, stretching back to the Chinese in the Gold Rush. I think this issue is mostly pushed by my second point.
Sensationalist Media. From our “Current Affairs” shows such as Today Tonight and A Current Affair, to our tabloid-esque newspapers, Australia’s media has a love of the blow-out story. From stories about Australia introducing sharia law (which the Federal Attorney General stated clearly that there was no place for in Australia), to scare campaigns about the number of “boat people” it is Australia’s media which effectively scares the population into submission.
“Un-Australian” and Australian Values. One of the arguments that is used to shoot down anything that the population (read: Media) doesn’t like is the idea that it is un-Australian. A Carbon Tax? Un-Australian. Having Daylight Savings? Un-Australian. Not having Daylight Savings? Un-Australian. Participating in the Cronulla Riots? Un-Australian. Not participating in the Cronulla… I think you get the point. The thing is that this idea that something is Un-Australian is just used when people think the whole nation should get behind the idea, but have no real reason why.
“She’ll be right” mentality. This is something that I suffer from as well, and I think it’s a good thing as well as a bad thing. The good thing about this is that we’re not worried about what happens, and whatever happens we’ll make a way through. That’s great. However, it sometimes means that we fail to plan for the inevitable. For example, Australia is currently living in the midst of a resources boom, where mining companies are reaping rich profits, and the Australian Government is reaping rich taxes from these companies. However, there doesn’t appear to be the planning for what happens once we’ve mined all the minerals out of the ground. Yes, we’re in a good position now, but what next?
Homelessness and Poverty. I’ve currently started reading “In Darkest England” by William Booth, where he highlights the poverty and homelessness situation in England in the late 1800’s. It absolutely broke my heart reading the stories of these people, and knowing that nothing has changed, over 100 years later and in a different continent. Australia is a rich country, yet we still have excessive homelessness and poverty.

So that’s what I don’t like about Australia. Areas for Improvement I guess you could call them. I hope that some of these things will change over time.

What don’t you like about your culture?

Malaysia deal amounts to “arbitary and unlawful detention”

July 12, 2011July 19, 2017 by Ben Clapton, posted in Archive, Life, Refugees

The ABC is reporting that the United Nation High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) has warned the Australian Government that the Malaysian refugee swap deal may result to “arbitrary and unlawful detention under international law.”

Australia is saying they will go ahead with the deal anyway, and are currently looking for a third country to take refugees. I’m very disappointed with this news, as we are very clearly saying “we don’t care about international law.” Considering that its international law that governs human rights, and how we treat asylum seekers I’m worried that we may set a precedent for us to do worse things to asylum seekers. Continue reading “Malaysia deal amounts to “arbitary and unlawful detention”” →

My platform as prime minister

July 3, 2011July 19, 2017 by Ben Clapton, posted in Archive, Life

This topic suggestion, Do you think you’d make a good president?, is from The Daily Post as part of the Post-a-day writing challenge.

If I was elected Prime Minister, there would be a few big issues that I would be working towards.

NBN

A government is responsible for infrastructure. Not only the building of new infrastructure, but the maintenance and regular upgrading of old infrastructure to suit the needs of the population. A national broadband network, such as the one the government is currently building, is essential to cater for the needs of the population now and into the future. A fiber network has already been proven to be significantly upgradeable with minimal change to the existing infrastructure once the fiber is in place. This is why if I was prime minister, I would continue this process.

Refugees

Refugees is a hot topic at the moment. It is one that requires clear thought, and compassion on both sides of the debate. Personally, I believe that off-shore detention centres are a violation of human rights, as we are detaining these people when they have not committed any breeches of the law.

However, I can also see the need for there to be some kind of fact checking process to ensure that those we let into society are indeed refugees. This process needs to be completed as quickly as possible.

If we are to detain asylum seekers, we need to have a deadline by which time a decision must be made. The main thing that has caused so much mental health issues within detained asylum seekers is often not the detention itself, but the uncertainty in how long they will be detained for a crime that doesn’t exist. We need to ensure that all claims are processed quickly – say, within six months – and if that is not possible, then we recruit more staff to ensure that it is possible.

Also, I would promote as Prime Minister a scheme where once an initial assessment is made, every asylum seeker is sent into community detention. Community detention is not only far better for the asylum seeker, as it also helps them settle into the community, but it is also far cheaper for the Australian government than off-shore detention.

Investing in renewable energy

Renewable energy sources such as wind, water, solar and others are not at the stage where they could replace coal completely. However, we would be foolish to assume that coal and gas will remain a viable source of power into the future. Eventually, we will mine all of the coal, oil and gas, and need to find another source.

It is therefore a smart idea to develop existing and potential renewable energy technologies to not only prolong the amount of time we have until coal runs out, but also to eventually replace coal when it does run out.

Is there a lot of work to do to get it to this stage? Absolutely. However it would be foolish not to act on this now.

So that’s three things I would focus on if I was Prime Minister. What would your three things be?

Postaday2011 links

President, Again? (myfairladyb.wordpress.com)
Do you think you’d make a good president? (thebloggingpath.com)
Blue Bloods (purplelocket.wordpress.com)
Do you think you’d make a good president? (laurieanichols.wordpress.com)
Do you think you’d make a good president? (clairewade.wordpress.com)

A call for a humane Asylum Seeker Policy

July 8, 2010July 19, 2017 by Ben Clapton, posted in Archive, Life, Refugees

There’s lots of talk at the moment about Asylum Seekers, as both political parties released policies to “stop the boats” of asylum seekers, and how they are treated. Both of the policies include mandatory detention, locking up asylum seekers while their claims are processed.

While I can understand why this is necessary to ensure security, the method in which this is done has drawn criticism. Currently, refugees are sent to Christmas Island, to be held in a detention centre which is, in all senses of the word, a high security prison. The asylum seekers are kept here until their claim is approved, in which they get moved to the main land, or declined, in which case they are deported back to their homeland.
Where this plan is currently failing is that asylum seekers can be held in detention for months on end, in a high security prison, on an island where there is no fresh food available, with no guarantee upon when they will know whether they will get out of the centre – either into Australia or back home. Without that guarantee, they run into mental breakdowns, mental scarring that will affect the rest of their lives.

The craziest aspect of all of this is that the politicians believe this policy change will deter asylum seekers from coming to Australia via boat. However, our policy changes make absolutely no difference on what asylum seekers think, mainly because the news doesn’t get through to them, and conditions in their home country are so bad that anything – even detention in a high security prison are much more preferable.

The solution to this situation is to remove the politics from this issue, for the two major parties to sit down and develop a humane policy for asylum seekers that will treat them like human beings, while still being secure about who enters Australia.
The way I think this will look like is establishing a deadline by which a decision must be made on the status of an asylum seeker. While I would prefer that to be along the lines of 3 months, more likely it will be 6 months. If there are too many claims to be processed, then more workers should be employed to process these claims in the time required. Setting this time period will give asylum seekers the knowledge of when their claim will be processed by, and also ensure that detention centers do not get overcrowded.

Remove the politics. Insert humanity.

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