Hi all,
Great to have this discussion on refugees. Sorry to have missed this, but just wish to have an input on this dicussion as I had been involved in working with refugees.
I would have previously volunteered for home visit program to female refugees who had entered the country legally through UNHCR, as well as chatted with a few youths from a different NGO who had arrived to this country by boat.
With so much issues on boat people in this country, I just wish to share my piece of opinion.
Issue
Australian government: They preferred refugees to enter legally through the UN as the only option. Boat people are not safe nor legal. They did not have proper documentation and may pose a threat to national security.
UN: They criticised the Australian government for breaching human rights laws in their response to boat people and trapping them in offshore detention centre with poor condition despite the government spending more than a billion on offshore detention.
Boat people: Asylum seekers who are so desperate to seek safety that they paid large sum of money to traffickers who placed them in small boat and travelled illegally, against all odds despite safety issue and breaching human rights laws, to get these people to Australia. Those who managed to arrive safely will be sent to offshore detention centre and in best case scenario, will be given a temporary visa of up to 5 years with no possibility of transitioning to citizenship.
Refugees: Those who seek help through the UN from their home countries and offered visa to Australia are provided with free airline ticket and accommodation in Australia, full benefits of social services including centrelink and medicare, visa leading to citizenship, as well as further offers to have family members migrate into the country legally.
Possible Alternative Outcome
We have a number of protests here with many Australians supporting and welcoming boatpeople into the country. But placing people on small boats in the hands of illegal trafficker who extorts large amount of money and breach human rights laws by ignoring safety is not the answer.
The Australian government could have offered that billions of dollars currently spent on offshore detention centres to the UN for them to expand their resources in terms of staffs, number of offices in war torn countries, processing facilities, educating asylum seekers on the correct way for migration, etc. such that the UN will be able to accelerate the process of reviewing and granting visas to these asylum seekers. With this visa, refugees are able to enter the country legally with all the full benefits that the Australian government including free airline ticket, accommodation and easy transition to citizenship should they wish to.
It's just the government, UN and boat people are not seeing eye to eye, so it ends up in a big mess. If the government would have placed more trust and collaborated well with the UN, they would have succeeded in assisting these refugees in their migration process legally without the need for boatpeople. The government may also choose to offer an increase in refugee intake now that they are all legally processed by the UN.
Refugees are a big issue worldwide and hopefully all the world governments and international aid agencies are able to work well together in resolving war conflicts as well as taking a more humanely approach to asylum seekers and refugees.
