Collaborative Unit #1 Issue of the Day Asylum Seekers

1. Collaborative Unit #1Issue of the DayAsylum Seekers By Jayde McCluskey 8.1

2. “ At this rate, of two boats arriving every week, we will see over 100 boats arrive in 2010 and more than 500 people” said the Opposition's Immigration spokesmen Scott Morrison.

3. Contents Page • Myth 1 • My Opinion • People’s Opinion • Myth 2 • My Opinion • People’s Opinion • Myth 3 • My Opinion • People’s Opinion • Permanent Protection Visas • Temporary Protection Visas • Bridging Visas • Somalia Refugees • Story about a Somalia Refugee • My Opinion on Somalia Refugees • How Asylum Seekers are coming into Australia • Story About A Refugee

4. Myth 1- Australia takes in more than it’s fair share From January to August 2009, Australia took in below average numbers of asylum seekers compared to previous years and global intakes. The UN High Commision for Refugees have calculated the correct amount of refugees we should be taking and average of 197 per million of population. On this basis Australia’s fair share of intake for 6 months should be 4,197 rather than 3,666. In comparison to Canada, which has a population of just over 33 million compared to Australia’s 22 million, which has received 6 times the number of lodged applications. According to the global context Australia ranks 20th out of 44 in the population intake of asylum seekers world wide. Chart On Asylum applications in 2009

5. My Opinion • I think it fair enough that we are letting them in but if we are excepting more than our fair share, it is uneven.

6. People’s Opinion • Most people are saying boat people have a right to be in Australia. • Do you think it is fair to let boat people in Australia? • Yes • 12 • 60% • No • 8 • 40%

7. Myth 2- Asylum’s are ‘swamping’ our shores • Most people think that most of the refugees coming in are by boat but in actual fact they are most by air. In 2008, of the 13,500 people granted asylum in Australia only 206 of those arriving without visas came by boat. 2,291 came by plane- well over 90% • Of asylum claims made by people who arrive by air craft, 55% are rejected. Only 2-12% of claims made by people arriving by boat are denied. • This number is small compared to the number of people who over-stay their visa in Australia each year, especially those on travelling visas, the majority of whom are English tourists. • Most estimates suggest that on average 50,000 people stay in Australia with out the proper documentation each year.

8. My Opinion • I would have thought that most boat people would have been coming in by boats instead of plane. It is hard to believe that over 90% are by air.

9. People’s Opinion • A lot of people think it is fair to have boat people coming into Australia. • Do boat people have rights? • Yes • 11 • 55% • No • 9 • 45%

10. Myth 3- Asylum seekers are ‘illegal immigrants’ • Under the Refugee Convention, which in Australia has signed, all people have the right to seek asylum in Australia. They may be found to be genuine refugees, and they may not- but seeking asylum is not illegal under Australian law or international law. The term ‘illegal immigrants’, just like the term ‘ queue jumper’, is designed to make asylum seekers seem alien and unworthy of sympathy.

11. My Opinion • I don’t think Asylum Seekers are illegal immigrants because they have come from a horrible country and deserve to have a good life.

12. People’s Opinion • Out of the people I interviewed most people think there isn’t many people fleeing from their countries into Australia. • How many people do you think are coming in per year? • 8,000-9,000 • 2 • 10% • 9,000-10,000 • 7 • 35% • 10,000-12,000 • 8 • 40% • 12,000-13,000 • 1 • 5% • 13,000-15,000 • 2 • 10%

13. Permanent Protection Visa • Asylum seekers who arrive in Australia with a valid visa, and are recognised as refugees, may be granted a Permanent Protection Visa. • If you have applied for a permanent Visa it means you have your confirmed your stay in Australia for as long as you desire.

14. Temporary Protection Visa • Temporary Protection Visas are granted to people who are recognized as a refugee but who have travelled to Australia without valid documentation. • The visa is granted for a period of 36 months. A refugee with a temporary Protection Visa has reduced access to government social services and is not allowed to leave Australia within the next three years.

15. Bridging Visa • Asylum seekers who arrive with a valid visa and lodge a claim for protection are granted a Bridging Visa, allowing them to remain lawfully in the community until their applications are finalised.

16. Somali refugees • Tens of thousands of Somali refugees have sought asylum in neighbouring countries but have long been overlooked by humanitarian actors Somalia is without a doubt the most neglected crisis in the world today. Over the past seventeen years, Somalia has been subject to on going civil wars, droughts and floods. That is why so many people a trying to leave their country and come to Australia. Most observers agree that the crisis has never been as acute as it has today. The immense gap between the level of need and the corresponding humanitarian response is striking. Agencies struggle to provide food, water health care and other basic assistance to one million internally displaced people because of the worsening security crisis.

17. Story about a Somalian • “This is the worst I have ever seen it,” said 74-year-old Abdullahi Mohammed Salah, who lost three sons in the past five months to a mortar round and gunfire. “Before it was just bullets. Now they are launching mortars everywhere.” • Despite nearly 20 years of warfare, Salah had never fled Mogadishu. But after losing his sons he bought bus tickets for himself, six grandchildren and a daughter-in-law. He couldn’t afford to take all his relatives. • “We had to leave more than 20 behind,” Salah said as he stroked his red hennaed beard. “I just brought the most vulnerable.” • On Thursday, Mogadishu’s airport was attacked. Suicide bombers set off a car bomb at the airport gates, allowing a second explosive-packed vehicle to speed toward the terminal in the chaos. At least 14 people were killed in the attack, claimed by the Islamist al-Shabab militia

18. Somalis who reached the swollen refugee camp at Dadaab this week say bodies are rotting in Mogadishu’s streets and hospitals are overflowing, with wounded covering the floors and lying outside. • Salah and his family, who arrived at the camp Wednesday night after a three-day journey, spent the night sleeping in the open on the sand. • “The children were crying because of the hunger and the bombs. And we didn’t even have water to give them. Imagine,” said Musa, whose children range in age from 1 to 20 years old. “When we had something, we started with the youngest and worked up until we ran out.” • “The children were getting thinner and thinner,” said Rashid. At Dadaab, she will get a monthly ration of vegetable oil, cereals and corn-soya blend. She hopes to earn enough money so that her children can join her. http://www.wral.com/news/national_world/world/story/8266632/

19. In my own opinion, listening to Salah’s story I think we should be letting Somalia's into Australia. It is not fair to be treated this way and they shouldn’t be going through it. If we imagined we were going through what they were we would be trying to escape our country and come to Australia

20. How asylum Seekers come into Australia • Most people think that most of the refugees coming in are by boat but in actual fact they are most by air. In 2008, of the 13,500 people granted asylum in Australia only 206 of those arriving without visas came by boat. 2,291 came by plane- well over 90% • 28% of people boarding the plane are Sri Lankan and every day at least 13 asylum seekers enter Australia through airports. • They say that plane people are more likely to be genuine refugees than boat people.

21. A Story about A Refugee \\Nw1\data\users\student\mcc0019\Asylum Seekers\A story about a refugee.docx

22. THE END!BY JAYDE MCCLUSKEY8.1