Refugees and Human Rights

1. Refugees and Human Rights Future Challenges For Australia - Australia In Its Regional And Global Contexts Stage 5 Geography Syllabus 5A4

2. What are Human Rights? • Human rights are those rights that all people have because they are human beings. • The recognition that all people should be treated in a decent, equal and just manner led to the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights on 10 December 1948.

3. Who is a Refugee? • The 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees (Article 1) defines a refugee as: • A person who is outside his/her country of nationality or habitual residence; has a well founded fear of persecution because of his/her race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group or political opinion; and is unable or unwilling to avail himself/herself of the protection of that country, or to return there, for fear of persecution.

4. Asylum-Seeker or Refugee? • An asylum-seeker is a person who has arrived in another country seeking safety and is waiting for recognition as a refugee. • For this reason there is no such thing as an illegal asylum-seeker. • Often these people arrive without documents because they have fled from regimes that would not provide them or they have not had the time nor means to acquire them.

5. Processing of asylum-seekers • Handled by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship • If they arrive in an authorised manner eg visa, they are generally allowed to remain in the community while their applications are processed • If they arrive in an unauthorised manner they are confined in detention centres until they are granted a visa to remain in Australia, or they leave the country, voluntarily or otherwise.

6. Temporary v Permanent Visas • Asylum-seekers entering the country without authority receive a 3 year temporary protection visa if their application for refugee status is successful • Humanitarian grounds – permanent protection visas can be granted to people on humanitarian grounds and enables family to be reunited.

7. (a) Activity • Find a website that deals with issues concerning refugees in Australia and: • Analyse the site in terms of reliability, accuracy, bias and ethics. • Demonstrate the site to the class giving an oral account of your analysis. • Find a newspaper article that relates to a concept in the slides.

8. The Pacific Solution • The Australian government no longer allows ships to proceed to Christmas Island for processing • After negotiations in 2012 the asylum seekers, particularly men currently, are transferred to the Pacific island of Nauru • Diverting asylum-seekers to Pacific islands is known as the ‘Pacific Solution’.

9. Detention Centres • For those spending a short time in detention, and regarded as a low-security risk, Immigration Transit Accommodation Centres have been set up in: • Brisbane, • Melbourne • Adelaide

10. Detention Centres - activities • INTERNET ACTIVITY • Research the treatment of refugees in one developed country and compare the treatment there with the treatment provided by Australia. • Develop an annotated map of Australia to illustrate the location of Australian detention centres. Describe the distribution of Australian detention centres. • Compose a letter to the editor of a national newspaper expressing your opinion on the detention of asylum-seekers.