The Aim of this Blog.

Hi - back again! :c) I want to delve into the claggy
mess that is the legal process surrounding australia's
immigration law, particularly pertaining to the
refugee bit. i don't want to make it too complicated,
because when divided into bite-sized morcels it's very
understandable, and i think it's important for as many
people as possible to have a basic handle on it. i am
also VERY keen to debunk some common myths about the
whole shebang.

any and all of the following choice phrases represent
myths:
- "..well they shouldn't have jumped the queue!
flamin' queue jumpers..."
- "they just want to come to australia because it's
nice here, so they paid a people smuggler and now they
want a free ride on the gravy train"
- "if you're in jail you must have done *something*
wrong!"
- "they just want to bring their weird foreign
customs, funny smelling food and wacky beliefs to
australia and take over!"
- "if we let one in, they'll come in floods!"
- "they are trying to trick us by coming in a leaky
boat without the right papers... saucy bastards..."
- "we have to protect our national security, and we
can't do that if we're accepting refugees willy-nilly"
- ... and any reference to asylum seekers as 'illegal
immigrants' is not only wrong in my opinion, it's
actually wrong under international law.

each of those statements / assertions / ideas
represents a different misconception about the issue,
and i think it's exactly these kinds of
misunderstandings which are really harmful not only to
the hopes and lives of asylum seekers, but also to
australia's integrity as a nation. We're a country
built on immigration - and lots of that immigration
has been during times of hardship, following the world
wars, and the vietnam war, and let's face it, if all
of us buggered back off where we originally came from,
australia would be a fairly empty place.

So, i want to address the following issues, one by
one, over a period of time, and telling it with a
mixture of understanding of the law / policy, the
reality of the situation, and the impacts that all of
it has on the asylum seekers themselves. this list is
subject to amendment:

- what does international law say about refugees, and
what does that mean for australia?
- why do people leave their countries?
- are there queues to come to australia?
- how do people get here / get in?
- what happens when they arrive and aren't allowed in?
- what is immigration detention like? (this is a big
one and will probably come in dribs and drabs...
you'll get a sense of it from the answers to the other
questions...)
- how long do people stay in immigration detention?
- why do people have to stay in detention for so long?
(this will also be a corker, as it will encompass a
look at the mildly ridiculous and convoluted legal
minefield surrounding this system... and there will be
diagrams, if i can figure out how to do it... :c) )

i will also share the stories of a number of people i
have met in detention over the past few years. i'm
really looking forward to doing that - that is the
part where it really starts to *matter*.

in going over all of the topics above, i'll refer to
some important documents, such as the universal
declaration of human rights, and the UN conventions on
refugees, on civil and political rights, and on the
rights of the child. we'll put up these documents,
and some other links, for your perusal! they are the
fundamental documents upon which international law in
this area is based. basically, they're the measuring
stick. have a look.

one other thing - i think the issue of refugees has
been treated pretty badly by alot of refugee advocates
in some situations. there have been so many pictures
of protests and violence and smoke bombs and tear gas
and scary, aggressive reaction to the issue. while i
think that it is VITAL to stay passionate and keep
fanning the fire in our bellies, i really believe that
aggression and rash, ill-considered behaviour can be
counter productive. i hope that while you read my blog
you will have a sense of how angry i am about this
system, and how i hate its injustice, but that i ain't
going to be throwing no bricks at no cops outside no
detention centre. i would rather tell people like
your good selves about the badness, so that the whole
culture of australia's approach to refugees can change
from the inside out. so please, tell you friends.
cheers!