Child Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Australia
As mentioned in the About-section, this website has been created by students of the University of Potsdam in conjunction with a seminar called Narrating Children's Migration. The issues discussed on this website have been selected by the creators of this website and represent only a section of the aspects that comes with a topic as broad as this. The migration of children to the continent of Australia is a process which has been current for many years in different contexts. After providing a brief historical outline on child migration to Australia, different aspects will be discussed in relation to the subject-matter.
Current Situation![]() Australia is a very multicultural country, which is also “often described as a country of immigrants” (Crock, Saul, and Dastyari 3). After the Second World War, more than 700,000 people immigrated to Australia and in 2003, 23% of its population was estimated to have been born overseas.
But these people mostly came to settle permanently, whereas a huge amount of individuals is coming every year from countries, mostly located in the Middle East, fleeing their homes for reasons of war, persecution or natural catastrophes in order to find protection in Australia until the situation has improved. It has been estimated by the Refugee Council, that there have been 45.2 million people globally, who had been displaced by persecution or conflict in 2012 (Refugee Week). Australia has been ranked 49th of the countries worldwide accommodating refugees, with 30,083 refugees in 2012, from which at least 700 are children. Even though, it seems to host a huge amount of migrants and is also offering one of the largest resettlement programs worldwide, Australia’s attitude towards immigrants is mostly very negative, as well as its treatment of illegal migrants. For exploring the origin of these hostile responses, one should take a closer look at the meaning of the terms ‘refugee’ and ‘asylum seeker’. A refugee is defined by the UN Refugee Convention as someone who owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality, and is unable to, or owing to such a fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country ("About Refugees"). In contrast to that, an asylum seeker is someone who seeks legal admission to the country he has travelled to, in order to receive protection and recognition as a refugee. So in other words, an asylum seeker, whose application for a visa is successfully accepted, becomes in legal terms a refugee. ![]() The Federal Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs (DIMA) governs the laws of migration and is in charge of deciding who will be granted permission to stay. The conflict with child migrants is that they are most often arriving without a visa or any papers and documents, such as a passport. Therefore, authorities have not only difficulty in determining where the child comes from, but also how old it is. Child migrants are mostly shipped abroad as an act of their parents’ will, for living in better circumstances and earn money to send home to their families. They are often assisted by intermediaries, who help them prepare, organise falsified passports and transportation for huge sums of money.
These migrants are not always travelling to an adjacent country, but sometimes even beyond continental borders for reaching their dreams. Only to arrive at the Australian border with no visa, which means they have to be kept in immigration detention until their status is clear. Then, they are either granted permission to stay and receive a three-year visa, after which they have to apply again; or have to be deported as their application has been declined. As so many asylum seekers reach the borders of Australia every year, it can take many months until the application has been inspected. Until its status is resolved, all illegal immigrants, as well as children, have to be held in detention centres. These facilities do not only look like prisons, they also spread the idea of their inhabitants to be illegal intruders, who threaten Australia’s society and therefore have to be kept in supervision. Especially the move by the government to hold migrants in such a prison-like place, “link[s] refugees to criminals” (Rajaram and Grundy-Warr 43), which explains negative and fearful reactions from the Australian population.
Legal Situation
Australia's child migrants in the media
![]() "Although children adolescents are most affected by the impact of migration, they are absent from the migration and remittances debate. There is an urgent need to increase awareness of children and young people’s rights and to include their voices" (Rossi, Jesperson and Saab) This quote makes it very clear that still today, children are often regarded as not autonomous, but appendages of their parents, who are mostly not considered when talking about migration. However, the act of migration influences childrens’ lives all over the world to a high degree and therefore their individual experiences should be reviewed and included in the debate. In that respect, some individual experiences have been included here, for shedding light to the traumatising events these children have gone through. They have been taken from the book Dark Dreams by Eva Sallis, which has been mentioned in the section Australia’s child migrants in the media. The story of an Afghan boy, named Ali, who was sixteen years old when he had to leave his family behind in order to save his own life, is very emotional and shows us how ignorant and disastrous politics can be. Ali lived with his family in Altato, Afghanistan, a small idyllic village, until one day the Taliban started to invade for killing resisting people and searching their houses in hope of finding any goods they could take. As Ali was just 16, he had reached the age at which he could be recruited for military service and therefore had to leave. His father contacted a friend that took him across the border, where he was further smuggled to Indonesia. There he stayed for six days until he got shipped to an unknown island with various other refugees. He got then rescued by the Australian navy, who took him to the Australian mainland. After arriving there, Ali had to stay in detention for forty-five days and was promised to receive a permanent visa afterwards. However, when he was released, they told him that the law had been changed and so he received only a temporary protection visa, valid for the next three years. Even though, he had been living for two years in Australia already, he was still considered as “the other” and had a hard time integrating into Australia’s community. It is sad to see how noble people like Ali have to leave their family and friends as well as his home for living safely somewhere else only to be rejected in that country in a similar way he is rejected by his home country. Because he is different than the majority. Nevertheless, I hope that sharing real life stories like these will make people aware of cultural barriers and difficulties migrants experience, especially by being discriminated and excluded. Another story is about Zeinab, an Iraqi girl who tried to escape war in her home country with her family. Zeinab was part of a wealthy and happy family of seven in Iraq. When Saddam Hussein became president, many people disagreed with his dictatorial leadership and therefore war separated the country. So, her family decided to leave in hope of finding peace and freedom somewhere else. They went to the nearby Iran, where they lived for some time, trying to save money for going to Australia. However, they had no chance of legally migrating to Australia, which meant they had to try the illegal way. Zeinab’s father contacted a man who promised to arrange the journey for them, but it cost them a fortune. By borrowing the money from friends, they could start their dangerous journey to Australia. On their last trip from Indonesia to the shores of Australia, they were taken in a very small and derelict boat. One night the boat was sinking, because there were just too many people on it. Zeinab tried to save her siblings, but after some time all of them, as well as both her parents, drowned. The next morning, she was all by herself with only 25 out of 400 people left and was taken back to Indonesia. A newspaper printed her photo, which was seen by her uncle and he requested Zeinab’s acceptance to Australia. Today, she is living with her uncle in New South Wales. Perhaps, she is now attending school, trying to be the same as everyone else with "her beautiful fair skin, a lovely smile [and] her head covered in the hijab" (Sallis 104). Still, she will always be different, trying to find her own identity in a foreign country and forget the terrifying memories of "the loss [that] will haunt her forever" (Sallis 107). As well as Ali’s story, this one is very moving and one can not even imaging what these children must have gone through. These memories will always haunt them and determine their lives, but hopefully they can start over again and at some point feel happiness and safety. It is of special importance to review such individual cases, told by the children, who have experienced them, themselves in order to represent child migrants as individuals instead of one group, most people can not relate to. That way, light will be shed to the trauma and terror these children have experienced in their only so young lives and perhaps people might start helping and accepting these children in their society, instead of discriminating and excluding them. |
|
Works Cited
"A Child Migration Timeline." Goldonian. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 August 2014.
“About Refugees.” UNHCR: The UN Refugee Agency. Bewebbed Pty Ltd. 2002-2014. Web. 23 August 2014.
"Australia's forgotten child migrants." Australian Geographic. Julian Swallow, 1 December 2010. Web. 10 August 2014.
"Australia 'sorry' for Child Abuse." BBC News. N.p., 16 Nov. 2009. Web. 10 August 2014.
Bhaba, Jacqueline. "Independent Children, Inconsistent Adults: International Child Migration and the Legal Framework". IDP 2008.2 (2008): 1-8. Print.
British boys moments before their departure. Picture. N.d. Daily Mail. Web. 18 August 2014.
"Child Migration History." Child Migrants Trust. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 August 2014.
"Child Migration to Australia." National Archives of Australia. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 August 2014.
ChilOut Revived. “Free the Children.” Online video clip. Youtube. Youtube, 12 June 2014. Web. 25 August 2014.
Child in Detention. Picture. N.d. The University of Sydney. Web. 27 August 2014.
Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). Picture. N.d. UNICEF. Web. 11 August 2014.
Crock, Mary. Seeking Asylum Alone: A Study of Australian Law, Policy and Practice Regarding Unaccompanied and Separated Children. Annandale: Federation Press, 2006. Google Books. Web. 18 August 2014.
Crock, Mary Saul, Ben and Azadeh Dastyari. Future Seekers II: Refugees and Irregular Migration in Australia. Sydney: Federation Press, 2006. Print.
Crowded boat arriving near Christmas Island. Picture. Mamamia. Web. 27 August 2014.
Dark Dreams - Australian Refugee Stories. Picture. N.d. Wakefield Press. Web. 18 August 2014.
Dechian, Sonja, Heather Millar and Eva Sallis, eds. DARK DREAMS - Australian Refugee Stories. Kent Town: Wakefield Press, 2004. Print.
Four British children on their way to Australia. Picture. N.d. Australian Geographic. Web. 18 August 2014.
Group of children. Picture. N.d. Britain's Child Migrants. Web. 18 August 2014.
Metherell, Lexi. “Asylum seeker children describe Christmas Island detention centre as ‘hell’, Human Rights Commission says.” ABC News: The World Today. N.p. 24 March 2014. Web. 20 August 2014.
On Their Own - Britain's Child Migrants. Australian National Maritime Museum and National Museums Liverpool, 2010. Web. 18 August 2014.
On Their Own. Picture. N.d. National Archives of Autralia. Web. 18 August 2014.
People demonstrating against mandatory detention in Australia. Picture. N.d. Flickr. Web. 27 August 2014.
Picture 6. Picture. Daily Mail. Web. 27 August 2014.
Picture 7. Picture. Center for Gender & Refugee Studies. Web. 27 August 2014.
Rajaram, P.K. and C. Grundy-Warr. “The Irregular Migrant as Homo Sacer: Migration and Detention in Australia, Malaysia, and Thailand.” International Migration 42.1 (2004): 33-64. Print.
Refugee Week. Statistics at a glance. Refugee council, n.d. . Web. 20 August 2014.
Rossi, Andrea, Jesperson, Eva and Rhea Saab. “Children Youth and Migration.” United Nations. Unicef, n.d. PDF.
Seeking Asylum Alone. Picture. N.d. Amazon. Web. 18 August 2014.
Sherington, Geoffrey. "'Suffer Little Children': British Child Migration as a Study of Journeying between Centre and Periphery." History of Education 32.5 (2003): 461-76. Print.
Vietnamese boat people arriving in Australia in 1977. Picture. N.d. Immigration Museum Victoria. Web. 27 August 2014.