Categories: australia, immigration
Date: 01 July 2012 00:37:29
I really have not kept up with the news since I have been up here. I do feel kind of lost at times as I like to know what is going on, but upon checking some recent news on asylum seekers who arrive in Australia by boat I feel frustration, anger, confusion, helplessness -- and much else.
From the very little reading I have done, a number of boats have sunk resulting in many deaths. These boats are overcrowded and often unseaworthy so potential tragedy can never be far from their thoughts, but given the alternative of an unsafe life, persecution or torture back home I can only guess at how desperate they must be. We also have a policy of mandatory detention here which means asylum seekers are locked up in processing centres scattered around Australia, often in remote locations, while their claims are reviewed. People are often locked up for years which results in many psychological issues among much else. Attempts have been made in the past to "stop the boats" by transferring processing offshore [to the island of Nauru] or advertising in countries and other attempts, to try and stop the process of coming by unseaworthy boats, but still people come by boat seeking asylum and a better life in a country that is what is the great place it is -- in my view -- due to migration and refugees.
I think it is clear where I stand on the issue, but I am aware that the issues are complex and there is no easy answer. Many of my friends came as refugees or migrants. Many people well-known in Australian life came as refugees or migrants, and I think Australia is a better place for their coming, as well as the coming of people from all over the world by other means. But, as people, children, mothers, fathers, die as they attempt to reach our shores, there surely has to be a better way. May the Lord guide our leaders to a response that is compassionate, caring and stops the horrific deaths of those seeking asylum in Australia, as well as treating them as human beings once they do arrive; and may we as the Australian public stop buying into trite and divisive political statements made by our political parties which serve only to try and get their approval ratings up or belittle the other parties.