Refugees and Asylum Seekers

Michael Lowe

Refugees and Asylum Seekers

1 INTRODUCTION
The following report will discuss the impact of Refugees and Asylum Seekers on Australia
and the global factors that have caused these issues. A refugee is someone who is unable
or unwilling to return to their country of origin due to fear of being persecuted for
reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political
opinion.1 An Asylum seeker is someone who is seeking protection in fear of being
persecuted in their home country. 2 They mainly seek protection due to the current
government situation in their country but there are also many other reasons why people
flee their country. This report will also discuss possible solutions in handling refugees and
asylum seekers in the future.

2 GLOBAL FACTORS
Refugees and Asylum Seekers are created by many different reasons. Many global events
that occurred had a large impact on the number of refugees. The many little wars during
the Cold War left a lot of countries war torn and damaged. This had a large impact on the
number refugees. The Vietnam War caused a lot of Indochinese citizens to flee from their
house. They could not return due to the destruction of their homes or because the party
they fought for lost. 3 The war was fought by South Vietnam supported by United States
and other Capital/Socialist countries. They fought against North Vietnam supported by
Russia and other communists.4 After the war, almost all South Vietnamese citizens who
fought alongside United States and the capitalist counties feared they would be
persecuted which left millions of Indochinese citizens stranded in refugee camps waiting
for a country to take them in. 300,000 migrants in total from Indochina were brought over
to Australia after the Vietnam War.5
Many other events throughout the world had an impact of the refugee number. The
Lebanese Civil War that erupted in April 1975 left many citizens displaced. The civil war
1 The UN Refugee Agency, 1951 (1951 Convention)
2 Teichmann, 2002
3 VEA 2012 - <http://www.vea.com.au/primary-school/australian-migration-1945onwards.html>
4 Ibid
5 Retroactive 10, 2012

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lasted 15 years and was caused by political and social conflict. 6 It is estimated that more
than 76,000 Lebanese citizens were forced to leave their homes. 7 Around 20,000 refugees
from Lebanon were permitted to migrate to Australia. 8 A similar scenario occurred in South
America. The civil war in El Salvador brought around 53,000 migrants from Chile. 9
In the 21st century, there are still many refugees and asylum seekers that are caused due
to distress in countries. Somalia is still a country torn apart by war. People still flee the
country because there is no law, no government to keep everyone under control. There
are always suicide bombing threats. Food, Water and shelter are all in short supply and
many are left stranded on the street. Extremists groups hold up and block the supplies to
and from UN camps scattered around. Refugee camps in Somalia and surrounding
countries are full and has scarce resources and can barely look after the refugees. 10
Afghanistan is also a country torn apart by war which forces civilians out of their homes.
Suicide bombing threats and the war with America have led to the refugees fleeing the
country.11 The most common refugee is the ethnic group, Hazaras, who are the minority
group. It is estimated that around 500,000 people have been displaced in Afghanistan. 12

3 EXPERIENCE FOR THOSE WHO TRAVELLED

Refugees came from many different places of origin. After the Vietnam War, there were
thousands upon thousands of displaced Indochinese caused by the defeat of UnitedStates. Refugee camps were scattered around in Guam, Singapore and Malaysia.
Operation New Life was the name given for organizing and deporting the refugees out in
Guam.13 Around 96,000 Indochinese refugees passed through Guam. All these refugees
needed a country to take them as returning to their country of origin was not a choice.
6 The Lebanese Civil War, 2011 - <http://www.thefinertimes.com/War-in-The-Middle-East/thelebanese-civil-war.html>
7 Naboulsi Z, 2013 - <http://www.yourmiddleeast.com/features/the-lebanese-civil-war-is-farfrom-over_11312>
8 Retroactive 10, 2012
9 Ibid
10 Smith M, 2013 - <http://www.sbs.com.au/goback/>
11 Ibid
12 Ibid
13 Operation New Life, 2011 - <http://www.tendertale.com/ttonl/newlife.html>

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Australia, under the Whitman Government, only took in 1000 out of the 96,000. 14 Some
were flown by planes, in which they never had been on a plane before. Some were
transported by boat. Shortly after the Vietnam War, the first boat people coming to
Australia arrived. If people were to decide to come by boat to Australia they could be faced
with pirates stealing their valuables, being shot or being raped. 15 Boats were unseaworthy,
only 8 meters long and 3 meters wide but still held fifty people, which made them look like
sardines in a can.16 The people were misled into thinking that there was a much bigger
ship waiting out I the sea, when there was nothing. Engines would break down and would
just drift without control. Ships that passed did not stop to help. Out of the refugees who
became boat people from 1975 to 1990, only about 60% of the boat people actually made
it to a country they liked. The other 40% were killed by the sea or by Thailands pirates. 17
People in the 21st still attempt to reach Australia by boat despite the large risk involved.
They still go through the same risk and dangers that were present in the 1970s. Some
people are granted visa and temporally come to Australia but sometimes do not return. 18

4 AUSTRALIAS IMMIGRATION POLICIES

When the White Australia Policy was removed, the government believed it was over,
however this was not the case in the general public. Australians had some difficulty
accepting them into the country as they did not have the Australian culture and wasnt
used to the way of living. Australians wanted Asians living in Australia to be deported if
they are not or not trying to assimilate with other Australians. Australia slowly gained
more and more migrants and was later classed as a multicultural country, where different
cultures can live side by side.19 When Prime Minister Gough Whitlam was in charge, he
wanted to end racial discrimination in migration. He removed race as a factor when
selecting migrants and in 1974 he abolished the Department of Immigration. 20In 1982, the
Fraser Government introduced individual determination status procedures in order to
insure only genuine Indochinese refugees were admitted into Australia. 21 In 1989,
Australia, along with 77 other countries, all approved the Comprehensive Plan of Action for
14 VEA, 2012 - <http://www.vea.com.au/primary-school/australian-migration-1945onwards.html>
15 Clothier, S & Graham, C 2012 <http://www.sbs.com.au/programs/onceuponatimein/seasons/cabramatta >
16 Loc, V 2010 - <http://www.migrationheritage.nsw.gov.au/stories/from-there-to-here/fromthere-vietnam-to-here-australia/>
17 Ibid
18 Retroactive 10
19 Clothier, S & Graham, C 2012 <http://www.sbs.com.au/programs/onceuponatimein/seasons/cabramatta >

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Indochinese Refugees.22 This was made to achieve a durable solution to the continuing
high rate of refugees coming out of the Indochinese region.
The 21st century led to an increase in policies that were aimed at; deterring asylum
seekers from coming to Australia by boat, mandatory detention, offshore processing and
temporary visas. The John Howard Government in 2001 made a lot of hardline policies that
were damaging Australias reputation overseas. His policy was very tough on boat people,
but proved effective and reinforced the border security system. He sent the boat people
back, sent them to different islands for processing and introduced temporary protection
visas. In 2009, the government announced $654 million strategy to combat people
smuggling and help address the problem of unauthorized boat arrivals. This was followed
by a move by the Gillard government which had plans to build a regional processing
center in East Timor.

5 PUBLIC OPINION
The first wave of boat people during 1976 and 1981 were initially greeted with sympathy
by the Australian public. Soon after that, it became a concern on the continuing arrivals of
boats. The public started discussing the disadvantages that these boat people may bring
over such as higher unemployment and how they are jumping the immigration queue. 23
The number of people who despised refugees increased as the number of boat arrivals
increased. It was the dominant topic in the media and news during the 1977 federal
election. The press started referencing possible invasion or flood. 24 The public then
became concerned about the lack of control on Australias border. The issue was largely
forgotten after the arrival of the second wave of boats in 1989 to 1998. It was forgotten
due to the detention centers put up that held those attempting to arrive in Australia. 25 The
third wave of boat people led to a dramatic increase in numbers of asylum seekers. The
topic once again became highly discussed and was talked about on the news and media
regularly. In September 2001, about 77% of Australians supported the Howard
Government and the decision to refuse entry for asylum seekers and 71% believed that
20 Refugee Status Report, 2011 <http://www.education.vic.gov.au/Documents/about/research/refugeestatusinfo.pdf >
21 green
22 Ibid
23 Boat Arrivals in Australia since 1976, 2013
24 Viviani, N 1984
25 Ibid

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the asylum seekers should be detained during the process of application. 26 This was
followed by a dramatic decrease in boats between 2003 and 2007 which led to less media
coverage and the topic was discussed less. This once again increased late 2008, where the
pubic was concerned how the new Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd would handle the situation.
People also became more concerned at how the asylum seekers were received and
managed.27 And in 2010, a poll showed that 78% of Australians were either somewhat or
very concerned about asylum seekers coming to Australia. This continued with the
majority of Australians responding positively towards refugees arriving under Australias
Humanitarian Program, but still responded negatively towards asylum seekers arriving by
boat.28

6 DIFFICULTIES UPON ARRIVING

When the refugees finally arrived in Australia, their journey was not yet over. They had a
lot of issues just trying to be accepted into society. The Indochinese refugees were
struggling to put the war behind them and start a new life. They had a lack of clothing,
food and education and parents of children would work long hours on a low wage just to
supply food, shelter and pay for education expenses. 29 Children hardly saw their parents as
every hour was a working hour for the parents. 30The children were usually the ones to
help their parents in translating for them due to early education. The refugees had
difficulties interacting with ordinary Australians due to the language and decided to hang
out with those who speak the same language. They had no way of learning the Australian
culture if they solved problems their own traditional way, which for people who have fled
from war torn countries, it was usually solved with violence and beatings. 31 This set a bad
imagine of them and media told everyone to stay away from these gangs. Gangs were
also created by children who ran away from their parents, because the parents physical
harassed them. When they can find no work, this leads them into acting in criminal activity
such as drug dealing to pay for a sustainable life. This also set a very bad image on them.
Refugees coming over now still have the same difficulties. Many people from all areas
have trouble once arriving in Australias. People feel embarrassed to talk to people
because their English isnt the greatest. 32 They have a hard time interacting with other
Australians, they find it difficult to trust people. They feel scared when people act friendly
26 Boat Arrivals in Australia since 1976, 2013
27 Viviani, N 1984
28 Markus, A 2012
29 Clothier, S & Graham, C 2012 <http://www.sbs.com.au/programs/onceuponatimein/seasons/cabramatta >
30 Ibid
31 Ibid

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towards them as it is not a common thing from what they have experienced. 33 They tried
very hard to fit in, taking all their spare time into learning English, just because they knew
they wouldnt make any knew friends if they couldnt speak to them. The refugees also
feel as if they are more grown up, just because of what they have experienced and been
though.34

7 SOLUTION
Refugees will always be a problem, and it take a lot of time and effort for anyone to stop
creating refugees. From the research gathered here, it seems that most people flee due to
terrible and unlivable conditions in countries. If this were to be fixed and conditions in the
countries were better, people wouldnt feel desperate to leave the country. I believe that
finding the source of all the problems and fixing it from there would be the best thing to
do. If we invested money into the other countries infrastructure, they could have a higher
standard of living making everyone more satisfied. Building schools to promote education
would be the most important thing to build. If the new generation get good education and
are aware of things such as the conditions of their own country, they will soon understand
that it must change. Educating the new generation will make sure that they know what is
best for the country and will do something to change what is currently happening. This will
be a long investment and will have a larger impact in the long term.
In short term, we will still have boat coming to our shores. I possible solution would be to
place ships closer to countries such as Malaysia to see incoming boats quickly and turn
them around, but this may not be popular in the public. The Howard Governments plan
seemed to prove effective, even though it was harsh, but the majority of the population at
that time agreed with the government into sending them back. However the Australian
public has changed its view from when the Howard Government was in place and has now
been more lenient towards the asylum seekers. People get upset when pictures of asylum
seekers being forced to turn around or being shipped to a detention center appear on
media. It is important to regulate who comes in and out of the country. We cannot allow
boats arriving onshore and just finding a place to stay. We need to intercept them, mostlikely on sea and turn them around or send them off to be processed. Even though it may
not be popular, it is the most efficient way in making sure that boats dont come, as if
more a sent back, the idea will get to people that it is not worth it, creating less boats.

32 Elliot, H & Neustatter, A 2002

33 Ibid
34 Ibid

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