War has broken out in
Australia. The government has fallen apart and the economy has sunk. Goods and
supplies are scarce and the majority of your time is spent wondering how your
family is going to make it and who is going to die first. You grab all your
money and you give it to a man you’ve never met before who promises he’ll take
you to a better land, one not torn by war and where a new beginning will enrich
the lives of your loved ones. You travel for weeks on a beat down boat with
sick people and you give up proper nutrition and hygiene until you get to safe
land. After all of this you are labelled a criminal in the eyes of the
government who’s land you arrive at and then you are sent back.
“There has been no
compensating commitment to refugee resettlement or even a ‘refugee visa’ that
would provide a legal migratory option for those in need of protection. Instead
refugees have had to run the gauntlet of illegal migration” (Morrison 2003, p475).
So many people who we treat like this we don’t understand the sacrifice that it
is they are making. We label them as selfish and evil. Not to mention the loss
of their culture that they will suffer trying to fit into a new foreign land in
which they don’t speak the language and they have left their friends and
relatives and will struggle to find work. This isn’t a selfish choice that
these people are making but rather a desperate last resort.
References:
Morrison, J 2003, “The
dark side of globalisation”: the criminalisation of refugees’, in R Robertson &
KE White (eds), Globalization: critical concepts in sociology, Routledge,
London, pp.474-7
This was a fascinating post. I think that often Australians (me too) take our lifestyle for granted, particularly those who've never travelled to other countries. The drive from Manila's airport to my uncle's house was one of the more depressing and shocking experiences of my life. Manila has barely any street lights (it's so dark!), guards with shotguns stand outside Starbucks and there are so many squatters...
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed how you used the second person perspective to entice the reader into imagining themselves as a refugee or asylum seeker; perhaps a little more empathy is needed by Australia and our politicians?
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