So what is a refugee exactly? A black person on a rickety boat? That band that Wyclef was in? (no thats the Fugees) A refugee, as defined by the UN Convention is "a person who is outisde his or her country of nationality or habitual residence; has a well-founded fear of persecution because of his or her race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion; and is unable to avail themselves to the protection of that country, or to return there, for fear of persecution"
I'm sure that doesn't really need too much explaining. It's pretty straightforward. If you live in a country where you're being persecuted, you get the hell out, it's as simple as that. Now, on to Australia. A couple of years ago (2001) a man named John Howard put in effect the Pacific Solution, which involved the excising of our migration zone (literally changing our borders so that people could be stopped without having entered our territory) and using third countries to detain refugees. While it may have been dubbed racist, immoral and such there is NO DOUBT that it worked, significantly reducing the number of boat arrivals post-2001.
Now remember Kevin Rudd, that guy that you all elected on the back of populist rhetoric and who was fired by his own party. One of his election platforms was to dissolve the Pacific Solution. Essentially a noble idea I guess but what was the plan? Just hope the boats wouldn't start coming again? Because they did, and having shut off our previous options the onus was now on Kev to come up with something new. It wasn't new, but what Kev brought us was a focus Christmas Island. Since then the Island has burned, been overcrowded, witnessed hunger strikes, death, suicide attempts, violence towards children and the boat crash in December last year that killed 30 people on the rocks on the islands coast. And the boats are still coming.
I'm sure that doesn't really need too much explaining. It's pretty straightforward. If you live in a country where you're being persecuted, you get the hell out, it's as simple as that. Now, on to Australia. A couple of years ago (2001) a man named John Howard put in effect the Pacific Solution, which involved the excising of our migration zone (literally changing our borders so that people could be stopped without having entered our territory) and using third countries to detain refugees. While it may have been dubbed racist, immoral and such there is NO DOUBT that it worked, significantly reducing the number of boat arrivals post-2001.
Now remember Kevin Rudd, that guy that you all elected on the back of populist rhetoric and who was fired by his own party. One of his election platforms was to dissolve the Pacific Solution. Essentially a noble idea I guess but what was the plan? Just hope the boats wouldn't start coming again? Because they did, and having shut off our previous options the onus was now on Kev to come up with something new. It wasn't new, but what Kev brought us was a focus Christmas Island. Since then the Island has burned, been overcrowded, witnessed hunger strikes, death, suicide attempts, violence towards children and the boat crash in December last year that killed 30 people on the rocks on the islands coast. And the boats are still coming.
Christmas Island, burnt by the people it was built to accomodate
Then came Julia Gillard. Our current PM. The only person in the world it is possible for me to hate more than Kevin Rudd (next to Rob Oakshott). Our ONLY Prime Minister to have held office twice and NEVER with the majority support of we, the Australian people. In the lead up to last years election, sensing the Refugee issue would be of concern, Julia offered the services of our good friend East Timor. The only problem was, East Timor hadn't really been consulted and to be honest, they didn't think it was a good option for themselves, having far too many internal issues of importance to deal with. Fail.
So now we reach the current situation - MALAYSIA. The government is intending to put in place a deal that means we send 800 Christmas Island refugees to Malaysia and in return get 4,000 processed applicants ready to be settled. Pro-Refugee activists probably see this as a great deal but there are a few things to consider -
Malaysia is NOT a signatory of the UN Refugee Convention. This means they aren't obligated to treat the refugees the same way that other signatories are. When the Howard government used Nauru to process refugee claims, the ALP opposition at the time lambasted the arrangement for a similar reason (and funnily enough, Nauru is now a signatory to the convention). Malaysia also employs the use of caning and other forms of punishment. These factors and more led to David Manne, our prominent refugee lawyer, taking the deal between the two nations to the High Court. He won overwhelmingly and now we're back in purgatory waiting for something to happen.
Yesterday the Gillard government came out and said that they plan to push through legislation making the offshore processing of refugees legal. That way the courts cannot get involved and the Malaysia deal can go through. Now much of the attention is diverted to opposition leader Tony Abbott, and he's in an awkward position. If he joins the Greens and says no to the legislation, Gillard can then put the responsibility for the boats back on him, and it may well hurt his own, and strengthen Gillards, election prospects. So now is a tough situation.
Ultimately, Howards policy was not the friendliest, but it got the job done in the eyes of most Australians. It stopped them coming and hence we weren't in the quandary we are now. How do I feel? I'm from Western Sydney. Personally I don't see the point in these people coming here and then burning down the places we put them in while we process them. It seems awfully ungrateful to me. And if these people really ARE fleeing persecution and shocking conditions then wouldn't they look at a detention centre as freedom and somewhere to stay while they wait for the inevitable relocation? We're on the UN convention so we can't send them back to their homelands, why are they worried? Unless they're not genuine refugees.. but how do you tell? Thats my double-sided and confused view of the mess we're in. If you asked me what we should do now, i'd say SCRAP the Malaysia idea. Sure Nauru has the stigma of the Pacific Solution all over it but it has recently signed the convention, is a local nation and already HAS established facilities. It's legal and more morally just to send them there than to send them to Malaysia. But not everyone will agree with me on that.
Ultimately, Howards policy was not the friendliest, but it got the job done in the eyes of most Australians. It stopped them coming and hence we weren't in the quandary we are now. How do I feel? I'm from Western Sydney. Personally I don't see the point in these people coming here and then burning down the places we put them in while we process them. It seems awfully ungrateful to me. And if these people really ARE fleeing persecution and shocking conditions then wouldn't they look at a detention centre as freedom and somewhere to stay while they wait for the inevitable relocation? We're on the UN convention so we can't send them back to their homelands, why are they worried? Unless they're not genuine refugees.. but how do you tell? Thats my double-sided and confused view of the mess we're in. If you asked me what we should do now, i'd say SCRAP the Malaysia idea. Sure Nauru has the stigma of the Pacific Solution all over it but it has recently signed the convention, is a local nation and already HAS established facilities. It's legal and more morally just to send them there than to send them to Malaysia. But not everyone will agree with me on that.
But ultimately, the two major parties at the moment are using these refugees as nothing more than chips in the eternal poker game that is vote-getting, and thats the biggest disappointment for me around this issue. Regardless of how you feel, these people are human beings. If Australians don't want them here, shouldn't we at least give a shit where they end up?
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