What is the difference between Australian public representations of ‘displaced people’ before 1960 and ‘boat people’ after 1975?
Thesis statement: The refugee influx has been a major concern in Australia and the immigration policies have caused a number of debates and controversy since World War II. The change of these policies revealed society 's attitudes toward race, cultural factors, labor needs. During the post World War 2, the White Australia Policy was a significant factor influenced the immigration policies ; the Act prevented the non-Europe and non-White immigrating to Australia. In the 1970s, the Whitlam government abolished the "White Australia Policy and launched the Racial Discrimination Act, which made racial discrimination illegal
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They joined a fishing boat named KG4435, and then became the first group of boat people arrived in Darwin and later settled in Australia in late 1977 . In addition to, the Major of Darwin, Ella Stack, also worried about the coming of South East Asians may increase the spread of infectious germs and other tropical diseases in the country . She mentioned, although Australia will remain its intake quota for the Vietnamese refugees due to humanitarian and compassionate grounds, it should be a progress carried out in order to test for medical, criminal as well as political backgrounds against these refugees . This article illustrated a real story of a refugee family and Darwin law enforcement agencies’ arguments against the boat people. The Minster for Immigration and Ethic Affairs- Mr. McKellar emphasized the responsibilities for the Australian public of refugees’ identities; he also expressed the intolerance of any political motivation of these refugees. Rachel Stevens in Political Debates on Asylum Seekers during the Fraser Government, 1977-1982 goes into extensive inclusion and exclusion of the Australia politicians about the refugee crisis . The political debates towards this issue last from the mid 1970s to the early 1980s . Three phases of these debates reflected the major changes in the opinions and arguments of Australian authorities about the Vietnamese
Watching the documentary “Go Back To Where You Came From” regarding the issues of Asylum Seekers and Refugees, I am disgusted about the way that Australia has been treating Asylum Seekers and Refugees. That is why I am writing you this letter to promote and voice my view on the treatment to refugees, the Stop the Boats Policy and ways to minimise this Issue.
One of Australia’s biggest moral wrongdoings that has been continued to be overlooked is the providing of safety for refugees. Under the article 14, in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, it states that everyone has the right to seek and enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution. It is not in anyway, shape or form illegal to seek asylum from maltreatment. Australia is obliged under international law to: offer protection, give support, ensure that any individual is not sent back unwillingly to the country of their origin. A report made by
Westoby, P., & Ingamells, A. (2010), ‘A critically informed perspective of working with resettling refugee groups in Australia’, British journal of social work, vol. 40, no. 6, pp. 1759-1776.
Controversy has surrounded Australia’s boat arrivals since 2001, when the Howard government took office. Howard instituted Operation Relex, a policy directing the Royal Australian Navy to intercept and board suspected illegal entry vessels, or SIEV’s (Turning Back Boats). Initially widely accepted, this policy was designed to discourage people from arriving illegally by boat. However, turning back small, overcrowded boats, and returning them just inside Indonesian waters, quickly became a safety issue (Turning Back Boats). According to the “Senate Select Committee’s Inquiry into a Certain Maritime Incident,” of the 12 boats intercepted from September 2002 to March 2003, four were turned back and three sank, killing two people (Turning Back Boats). Although Australia has a right to protect its borders from illegal aliens, over 90% of these asylum-seekers qualify as refugees (Turning Back Boats). Such a low success rate is reason enough to end the hazardous practice, but even more concerning are the detention centers where the remaining 10% are held. In 2001, the Howard government passed the Pacific Solution, authorizing the transport of asylum-seekers to island nations and offshore detention centers (Turning Back Boats). Since then, countless human rights violations have occurred at the Christmas Island, Manus Island, and Nauru detention centers (Murray). The asylum-seekers, some children, are often detained in poor conditions for indefinite periods of time, subjected to enhanced screenings, and refused legal representation or the right to appeal (Australia). After Howard left office in 2006 the refugee policies stopped, and the Australian government worked to heal the damage done to the islanders and its international reputation (Turning Back Boats). However, under PM Tony Abbott, the asylum seeker policies returned in 2014 through Operation Sovereign
Since the first fleet arrived on the rugged, yet beautiful shores of Australia, Indigenous australians have been treated appallingly and have even be recognised as ‘flora and fauna’ by the invading Europeans. They have been discriminated against by unequal pay and citizenship rights, no recognition of land rights and racial prejudice. However, after the 1930’s certain people have achieved change through fighting for aboriginal rights which has had a huge impact on Australia. One of these people was a woman, Faith Bandler a South Sea Islander Australian.
As a part of my English communications study I have chosen to explore the various social and political issues regarding asylum seekers in Australia. Firstly I would like to clarify the term asylum seekers, or as they are more commonly referred to: ‘boat people’.
Struggles by Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander people for recognition of their rights and interests have been long and arduous (Choo & Hollobach 2003:5). The ‘watershed’ decision made by the High Court of Australia in 1992 (Mabo v Queensland) paved the way for Indigenous Australians to obtain what was ‘stolen’ from them in 1788 when the British ‘invaded’ (ATSIC:1988). The focus of legislation in the past w...
In this essay, I will be talking about social work problems faced in the UK and how they are addressed. I will be focusing on asylum seekers particularly Unaccompanied asylum seeking children (UASC). These are children who are under 18yrs of age and applying for asylum in their own rights. I aim to highlight key areas in understanding the needs of these children while recognising that these are by no means homogenous, and therefore explain how these needs are addressed by social policies, legislature and social workers.
The assimilation policy was a policy that existed between the 1940’s and the 1970’s, and replaced that of protectionism. Its purpose was to have all persons of aboriginal blood and mixed blood living like ‘white’ Australians, this established practice of removing Aboriginal children (generally half-bloods) from their homes was to bring them up without their culture, and they were encouraged to forget their aboriginal heritage. Children were placed in institutions where they could be 'trained' to take their place in white society. During the time of assimilation Aboriginal people were to be educated for full citizenship, and have access to public education, housing and services. However, most commonly aboriginal people did not receive equal rights and opportunities, for example, their wages were usually less than that paid to the white workers and they often did not receive recognition for the roles they played in the defence of Australia and their contribution to the cattle industry. It wasn’t until the early 1960’s that expendi...
Asylum seeker issue is a complex and continuing struggle between the heart and the head. It will continue to haunt us as long as Australia shines to be an oasis of space, peace and prosperity in a global sea of overcrowding and escalating suffering.
It is clear that many steps were taken to achieve the same rights and freedoms as the rest of Australia for the Aborigines especially since 1945. Major steps forward and setbacks included the Day of Mourning, the Aboriginal Protection Act, the Child Welfare Act, the ‘Freedom Ride’, the 1962 Electoral Act and the 1967 Referendum, the tent ‘Aboriginal Embassy’, the protest at Wave Hill, Frank Hardy’s project to find the ‘real Australia’, Prime Minister Gough Whitlam giving back 300 000 square kilometers of land, the Mabo decision in 1982, the Native Title Act, John Howard’s plan in 1996, and Kevin Rudd’s apology speech. Overall, there has been a long struggle for reconciliation. Indigenous Australians now have the same rights as other Australians, but social and economic equality are still to be improved.
Immigration is an important feature of Australian society. Since 1945, over six million people from 200 countries have come to Australia as new settlers. Migrants have made a major contribution to shaping modern Australia. People born overseas make up almost one quarter of the total population. About its ethics distribution, aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people totaled 410 003 at the last census, nearly 2.2 per cent of the population. Two thirds of the indigenous people live in towns and cities. Many others live in rural and remote areas, and some still have a broadly traditional way of life.(Ning)
Before the change of migration policies in Australia, it was very difficult to get into Australia unless you were a white European. Even skilled migrants from Asia had dilemmas migrating to Australia. Eventually, these policies changed due to the aftermath of the Vietnam War. Before, there were less than 2000 Vietnamese in Australia, but these figures significantly changed after ten years. During the 1970s, more than half of the Vietnam population relocated due to fear and desperation from the war. Over 90,000 of these refugees came to Australia after the Vietnam War, looking for hope for a new beginning. Most of them stayed in Australia, leaving a permanent impression on Australian and making a great contribution to society. They have brought over their culture, food, new knowledge and their will to do hard work.
Asylum seekers may lie because they feel that if they tell the truth they will not be given asylum, even though they may have real reasons to fear being returned to their country of origin. There is also the belief that the lies are of no harm to anyone and are therefore - not considered as serious as lies that have victims. On some levels the Home Office may be viewed as the enemy, one that stands in the way of their obtaining the sanctuary that they seek, (sanctuary to which they may feel they have a moral, if not necessarily, a legal right) their attitude then may be that `all is fair in love and war`. One kind of lying arises out of the need to feel in control or to gain some certainty in an uncertain time. Lemma speaks of the need to create some certainty when faced with doubt; we as humans need to
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have been the first nations, which represented the whole Australian population, for centuries. However, the continuous European colonization has severely affected these peoples and, over the decades, their unique values and cultures, which enriched the life of Australian nation and communities, were not respected and discriminated by numerous restrictive policies. As a result, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have turned into the voiceless minority of the Australian population. Fortunately, in recent years, these issues became the concern of the Australian government, promoting a slight improvement in the well being of native Australians. Nowadays, there are numerous social work