Australian Refugee Situation

For the benefit of those who (a) Don't live in Australia, or (b) Live in Australia and still don't have much of an idea about what is going on with the refugee situation, I have written a brief summary of the current issue at hand and what has been going on for years.



Australia get a lot of people (officially referred to as 'asylum seekers', colloquially referred to as 'boat people') come to the Australian shore on rickety old boats after having crossed various seas to get here. Most of the time these people are refugees fleeing their own war torn, poverty stricken, or politically unstable home lands. However sometimes these people are not fleeing from risky areas and are merely attempting to 'jump the queue' and bypass Australian visa/border controls.


 For the most part, the Australian border security intercept these boats, apprehend the asylum seekers and detain them in detention centres either on islands off the coast of Australia, or in remote areas on the mainland. While other countries have mandatory detention for a certain period of time, Australia is the only country that will not release the asylum seekers until they are fully processed. It is what is known in Australia as Mandatory Detention and the system has been active since 1992.

Processing times can take anywhere from a few months to years (7 years in one particular case). Occasionally there are reports of the asylum seekers protesting with hunger strikes, rioting and starting fires within the detention centres.  Short video clips and photos of these protests consistently make it onto the evening news and into the newspapers. These short clips and small highlights provide the general public with just enough information to form an opinion that goes along the lines of "Why are we even helping these people when they just burn things and riot?" (see: Critical Thinking)

The small 5 minute news reports sell a dramatic story under the guise of providing reliable information to the public. A direct effect of this is a lot of very emotionally charged, impulsive and uninformed opinions which only leads to fuel the racism that exists in Australia today. We don't often hear the full story behind the riots, or the people who are involved, the kind of treatment they receive, or how long they have been waiting to be 'processed.' All we are shown is 5 second clips of some foreigners shouting in revolt behind a wire fence and occasionally fire and smoke nearby. It's little wonder why there is a strong resent of refugees in Australia. It's half the reason we have clowns like Pauline Hanson running for upper council.

(For those outside Australia, Pauline Hanson is a racist joke of woman who once worked in a fish'n'chip shop then decided one day to run for Prime Minister, and when asked on how to address national debt, fix the Australian economy and fund her proposed policies, she simply said that she would print more money.. LLOOOOLL)





The well-cultivated critical thinker:
Richard Linden and Linda Elder, 2008

• raises vital questions and problems,formulating them clearly and precisely;
• gathers and assesses relevant information;
• carefully interprets information to form well-reasoned conclusions;
• tests conclusions,evaluating against relevant criteria;
• thinks open-mindedly,avoiding the influence of untested or irrational concepts and beliefs;and
• communicates effectively with others,particularly in the development and testing of conclusions or solutions.

References:

Richard Linden and Linda Elder, 2008
http://www.criticalthinking.org/store-page.cfm?P=products&ItemID=156&catalogID=224&cateID=132