Refugee Week
The SCEGGS Amnesty Club have been reviewing Refugee Week. Here is a reflection from Zara Perkins.
Refugee Week is from Sunday 18 to Saturday 24 June this year, and Amnesty has been looking at several ways that we can help asylum seekers in Australia and educate people on the humanitarian refugee crisis.
A refugee is someone who’s been forced to leave their country to escape anything from war to natural disaster. They have a well-founded fear of persecution, for reasons including race, religion and/or political opinion. Refugees are people who leave their country not because they want to (like an immigrant), but rather because, if they remained, they’d face serious harms and are scared to do so. Every day, thousands of people make the difficult decision to leave their homes in search of a safer life in an unknown country. Over 100 million people have been forcibly displaced worldwide as of May 2022, and 70% of these people come from just five countries – Syria, Venezuela, Afghanistan, Myanmar and South Sudan. Although refugees should be protected under international law, there are tens of millions of people who are unable to find a better life in a new place due to countries creating barriers that leave today’s asylum seekers in drawn-out limbo.
The number of refugees today are reaching historic highs. The international refugee regime, guided by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, provides life-saving assistance to emergency situations. However, it has been challenging to give long-term, meaningful support to people seeking asylum. People who’ve been displaced and the communities that support them face challenges as many governments create anti-refugee policies. There are several reasons that finding asylum has become so challenging for refugees. Firstly, there is a public perception that refugees are dangerous and are foreigners that would compete with residents for jobs. There is also a perception that refugees draw too much on the welfare state at the expense of residents of the country. Politicians have capitalised on these sentiments by conflating refugees and migrants and advocating for sealed borders for all. Also, refugees can also be misclassified as an economic migrant, dismissing their claims of seeking asylum. In any case, the outlook is similar – countries have made it difficult for refugees they host, have prevented refugees from entering and have retreated from their obligations to protect asylum seekers.
Offshore processing or detention centres hold thousands of refugees seeking asylum in Australia. Conditions in refugee detention centres are very poor – extreme temperatures, inadequate medical care and frequent preventable deaths are common. The emergence of disturbing reports and images from the centres add another troubling layer to countries’ anti-immigration policies. In Australia, immigration detention is indefinite – no laws restrict how long someone can be detained for. This leads to the average refugee spending over two years in a detention centre. Organisations such as the Royal Australasian College of Physicians have recommended that the government close all detention centres, abolish mandatory detention and ensure people receive flexible casework that allows access to healthcare, family welfare and education.
There are several ways that you can help refugees. For Refugee Week at SCEGGS, we will be supporting the charity House of Welcome. It aims to shelter and empower people seeking asylum, regardless of their age, gender, sexuality, nationality or religion. By advocating for justice and promoting independence, they foster a holistic approach to nurture hope and dignity. We’re asking each year group to bring in a specific item that House of Welcome can distribute to refugees. Other ways you can help include sponsoring a refugee, volunteering at places such as the Australian Red Cross, connectin with refugees and helping them to have a greater sense of belonging in the community.
Thank you for supporting asylum seekers this Refugee Week!
Zara Perkins
Year 9 Student
