Asylum Seekers and the Refugees in Australia - Report Example

Asylum Seekers and Refugees in Australia Name Institution Course Lecturer Date Asylum Seekers and the Refugees in Australia Introduction The topic on the asylum seekers and the refugees can only best be described by looking at the roles and functions carried out by the United Nations (UN) organisation. The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organisation that was established after the World War II to prevent the occurrence of such a conflict in the future. The organisation started to operate in 1945 and has continuously been evolving though its objectives still remain unchanged. Initially the organisation consisted of countries that were involved in the World War II which were mainly the European nations, Americas and the common wealth countries. It was considered an organisation of peace-loving nations that were fighting against any future conflict, aggression and other humanitarian prevention functions. (Yokotsuka, 2013) The main objective that the UN endeavours to accomplish is the refugees’ protection which it does through the help of an agency called Refugee Convention. The Australian Government is obligated by the various international treaties to safeguard the human rights of refugees and asylum seekers in Australia’s jurisdiction. Australia as a party to the Refugee Convention, has agreed to host asylum seekers and refugees who meet the accepted definition of a refugee and does not deport them to their home country where their life would be in danger or there would be gross violation of their human rights. (Every & Augoustinos, 2007) Requirements for one to be considered as a refugee under the Refugee Convection In order for one to be accepted as a refugee according to the convention has to satisfy the following standards;- One has to be outside his or her country of origin The reason for their running away has to be the fear of persecution The fear has to be well founded; it must be true that if the person goes back will suffer the persecution The persecution should be as a result of more than one of the following grounds; race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion. The person has to unable or unwilling to look for help from his or her own country. Moreover the convention disqualifies anyone who has committed a crime that is against the humanity, peace, serious non-political crime within or outside their country or any other crime or act that is not in line with the principles and purposes of the United Nations. How Australia deals with the refugees and the asylum seekers As part of the convention Australia follows the above standards and accepts a certain number of refugees and asylum seekers into its territory every year. The country has a humanitarian program under which it categorises the refugees and the asylum seekers into two wide groups; the offshore resettlement and the onshore protection. Offshore resettlement is those persons whose need protection is certain and has fully been acknowledged according to the convention’s definition for refugees and asylum seekers in other countries. On the other hand the onshore protection refers to the persons who make a convincing claim to the Australian government about their need for protection till they are accepted. Another group of people that is accepted into the country is those who arrive at the shores on boats as they flee from their violent countries. (Pace, 2012) Process followed The refugees or asylum who arrives into the country with a valid visa and seeks to be offered the protection under the onshore program, their claims are assessed via the refugee status determination and the complementary system of protection that is used under the Migration Act. The office of Immigration and Border Protection makes the initial assessment to determine whether the person is a refugee or not as per the criteria set out in the Refugee convention. If a person is not a refugee he or she is subjected to considerable human rights abuses such as torture upon his or her return to country of origin. However if the person is found to be a refugee and fulfils the complementary protection criteria he or she moves to the next step. The complementary protection requires that one should be owed protection under ICCPR, CAT or CRC so that they may not suffer any risk if they go to another country. (Mathew, 2002) If the individual is found to be an asylum seeker or a refugee and or is owed complementary protection and also satisfies security requirements, identity and health he or she is given the protection visa. Nevertheless, a person who is denied protection by the DIAC at the initial stage is allowed to seek for independent merits review from the Refugee Review Tribunal (RRT), or the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT). Moreover in some exceptional occasions, ministerial intervention may be sought so that they may be allowed to remain in Australia on other humanitarian or compassionate grounds. (Hyndman & Mountz, 2008) The current policy for asylum seekers in Australia In 1977, Australia adopted a complete policy on asylum seekers and refugees that set out the goals and instruments for a continuing program. Malcolm Fraser and the Minister for Immigration and Ethnic Affairs, Michael Mackellar, steered the Coalition government in establishing that program (Kazmi, 2012). Mackellar outlined the fundamental principles central to the novel policy on 24 May 1977 that forms the basis for the current policy for refugees in Australia. These principles include: Australia completely recognises its humanitarian obligation and responsibility to admit refugees and asylum seekers for resettlement. However for this to be accepted into the country various factors have to be looked at and fulfilled so that the country does not land into troubles herself. The final word to accept or not to accept the refugees and the asylum seekers has to remain with the Australian government. This helps the immigration department in the country to make the decision depending on the set standards as far as refugees are concerned. (Correa, Gifford & Bice, 2005) Special help is offered to the refugees so as to move them to certain areas for their resettlement in the country. This is because Australian government before fully admitting the refugees into the country they have to be placed in a designated place so as to determine their sincerity as refugees or the asylum seekers. The Austrian government makes a connection to the UNHCR, the main body responsible for the refugees’ resettlement. Therefore those refugees whose interest is not staying in Australia they are transferred to the UNHCR body so that it can resettle them according to their preferences. Migration Act 1958; asylum seekers and refugees who arrive in Australia without a valid visa or other important identity documentation must be held in immigration detention until they are given the visa or taken out of the country. According to the UN Refugees Convention every nation’s obligation commences when an asylum seeker enter into that particular country. The obligation of the convention requires that the refugee or the asylum seeker should not be sent back into the persecution ground or back to the unsafe place where the person is running away from. Another important requirement of the convention to the asylum seeker is that he or she should not be penalised for getting into a foreign country without any permission or authority. The government of Australia ratified this convention by forming its own policies and process in dealing with the refugees. This Australian process and refugee policy is a precise indication of how significant changes in policy are developed by those in power in our democracy. This is mainly facilitated by two main parties the cabinet and the committee system. Another party that could be involved is the public opinion of which it is rarely considered. (Germov & Motta, 2003) Refugees’ rights According to article 31 of the refugee convention it disallows the state parties from placing any kind of a penalty to a refugee who enters into the country without permission as they flew from their country due to threats or fear of the persecution. This article acknowledges that asylum seekers and refugees have the right to get into a country without permission in bid to look for safety to their lives. This therefore means that what the country considers as illegal to other citizens such as entering into a foreign country without a visa is looked down when it comes to refugees and asylum seekers. Asylum seekers should not be sent away due to lack of visa or any other legal document to support their originality provided they explain a good cause that supports their illegal entry or presence. (McMaster, 2001) In addition the article provides that the freedom of movement of the refugees should not be prohibited. This means that the refugees and asylum seekers should not be restricted from moving into a particular country except where the country has regulations against the status of such persons. For instance, if a person has committed any crime that is contrary to the principles and purposes of the United Nations, may be restricted from entering into that particular country. Views/critiques by other stakeholders on the refugees and asylum seekers human rights Australian Greens The Greens wants the removal of policies that are associated with discriminations, such as detention by force. They also seek for community placement while awaiting processing, increased places for humanitarian as well as offshore refugees. Another very important issue that the Greens advocate for is increased funding so as to ensure adequate, timely and effective support for immigrants. In addition the Greens sought for the restoration of the Australian migration Zone and removing excised offshore areas. (Steel & Silove et al., 2006) Australian labour party The Australian labour party (ALP) initiated the amendment to the migration Act 1958 that required asylum seekers to Australia to be transferred to a third country which can even be a non-Refugee Convention Signatory. ALP advocated for boats to only stop at the Australian shore when bringing asylum seekers into the country. (Crock, Saul & Dastyari, 2006) The party also supports that there should be urgent restarting of the offshore processing on Nauru and Manus island thus abolishing the family reunion concessions for boat arrivals and increase humanitarian intake to 20,000 people. Australian human rights commission The AHRC posits that asylum seekers should only be held in detention for justifiable period of time as a last resort. This is because the detentions results to mental and physical impacts on the refugees, anxiety, hopelessness, suicide and other trauma-based self-harm. (Pickering, 2001) The body also highly discourages the subjection of the refugees to irreparable harm that may result to the refugees staying unnecessarily longer in detention whereas they would have been allowed into the country so as they can be of importance to the society. Conclusion This paper sought to find out the evolution of Human Rights Instruments among the United Nations organization as well as the generations of human rights. Furthermore the report aimed at building up a critique of the current asylum seekers and refugees’ policies and practices in Australia. These features have been discussed in details bringing out the notion that Australia has changed the policies and practices as far as the UN Refugees Convention standards are concerned. In the introduction section the report discussed the origin and the generations of human rights as they have been portrayed under the United Nations evolving policies and practices. It has been shown that since 1945 when UN an intergovernmental organization was established it has been faced by various humanitarian issues, key among them being the issue of refugees’ protection. The UN Refugees Convention in Australia has undergone some changes depending on the country’s democratic and rule of law that governs it. The changes mainly affect the policies and practices that are put in place as far as refugees and asylum seekers are concerned. For instance there is a process that individuals are supposed to follow before they are accepted as refugees who genuinely deserve protection from the country. Various stakeholders take varying stands on the issue of policies and practices of the Australian government as the protection of refugees and asylum seekers is concerned. Recommendations The fact that the country is a member state of the United Nations organisations, it ought to owner the rules and regulations that govern the organisation. For instance article 31 of the UN Refugee Convention that requires the country’s not to restrict the refugees from entering into foreign countries, Australian government should fully abide by that. Australian government should also ease the process through which the asylum seekers and refugees are needed to go through before they are accepted as refugees in the country and offered the protection. This is because to some extent it may create a sense of traumatization to the victims leading to their death or unnecessary mental suffering. References Correa-Velez, I., Gifford, S. M., & Bice, S. J. (2005). Australian health policy on access to medical care for refugees and asylum seekers. Australia and New Zealand health policy, 2(1), 23. Crock, M., Saul, B., & Dastyari, A. (2006). Future seekers II: Refugees and irregular migration in Australia (Vol. 2). Federation Press. Every, D., & Augoustinos, M. (2007). Constructions of racism in the Australian parliamentary debates on asylum seekers. Discourse & Society, 18(4), 411-436. Germov, R., & Motta, F. (2003). Refugee Law in Australia. Oxford University Press, USA. Hyndman, J., & Mountz, A. (2008). Another Brick in the Wall? Neo‐Refoulement and the Externalization of Asylum by Australia and Europe1. Government and Opposition, 43(2), 249-269. Kazmi, S. (2012). Climate Change: Human Rights in the Times of Climate Displacement. Mathew, P. (2002). Australian refugee protection in the wake of the Tampa. American Journal of International Law, 661-676. McMaster, D. (2001). Asylum seekers: Australia's response to refugees. Melbourne University Publish. Pace, M. T. C. (2012). What You Are Depends on Where You're Standing: How Expanding Refuge Protections to the Internally Displaced through the Refugee Act of 1980 Violates International Law. U. Pitt. L. Rev., 74, 107. Pickering, S. (2001). Common sense and original deviancy: News discourses and asylum seekers in Australia. Journal of Refugee Studies, 14(2), 169-186. Steel, Z., Silove, D., Brooks, R., Momartin, S., Alzuhairi, B., & Susljik, I. N. A. (2006). Impact of immigration detention and temporary protection on the mental health of refugees. The british journal of psychiatry, 188(1), 58-64. Yokotsuka, S. (2013). Internalizing the Norm of Burden Sharing: The UNHCR, Social Movements, and Empathetic Social Activists as a Solution (Doctoral dissertation, Ohio University). Read More

Another group of people that is accepted into the country is those who arrive at the shores on boats as they flee from their violent countries. (Pace, 2012) Process followed The refugees or asylum who arrives into the country with a valid visa and seeks to be offered the protection under the onshore program, their claims are assessed via the refugee status determination and the complementary system of protection that is used under the Migration Act. The office of Immigration and Border Protection makes the initial assessment to determine whether the person is a refugee or not as per the criteria set out in the Refugee convention.

If a person is not a refugee he or she is subjected to considerable human rights abuses such as torture upon his or her return to country of origin. However if the person is found to be a refugee and fulfils the complementary protection criteria he or she moves to the next step. The complementary protection requires that one should be owed protection under ICCPR, CAT or CRC so that they may not suffer any risk if they go to another country. (Mathew, 2002) If the individual is found to be an asylum seeker or a refugee and or is owed complementary protection and also satisfies security requirements, identity and health he or she is given the protection visa.

Nevertheless, a person who is denied protection by the DIAC at the initial stage is allowed to seek for independent merits review from the Refugee Review Tribunal (RRT), or the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT). Moreover in some exceptional occasions, ministerial intervention may be sought so that they may be allowed to remain in Australia on other humanitarian or compassionate grounds. (Hyndman & Mountz, 2008) The current policy for asylum seekers in Australia In 1977, Australia adopted a complete policy on asylum seekers and refugees that set out the goals and instruments for a continuing program.

Malcolm Fraser and the Minister for Immigration and Ethnic Affairs, Michael Mackellar, steered the Coalition government in establishing that program (Kazmi, 2012). Mackellar outlined the fundamental principles central to the novel policy on 24 May 1977 that forms the basis for the current policy for refugees in Australia. These principles include: Australia completely recognises its humanitarian obligation and responsibility to admit refugees and asylum seekers for resettlement. However for this to be accepted into the country various factors have to be looked at and fulfilled so that the country does not land into troubles herself.

The final word to accept or not to accept the refugees and the asylum seekers has to remain with the Australian government. This helps the immigration department in the country to make the decision depending on the set standards as far as refugees are concerned. (Correa, Gifford & Bice, 2005) Special help is offered to the refugees so as to move them to certain areas for their resettlement in the country. This is because Australian government before fully admitting the refugees into the country they have to be placed in a designated place so as to determine their sincerity as refugees or the asylum seekers.

The Austrian government makes a connection to the UNHCR, the main body responsible for the refugees’ resettlement. Therefore those refugees whose interest is not staying in Australia they are transferred to the UNHCR body so that it can resettle them according to their preferences. Migration Act 1958; asylum seekers and refugees who arrive in Australia without a valid visa or other important identity documentation must be held in immigration detention until they are given the visa or taken out of the country.

According to the UN Refugees Convention every nation’s obligation commences when an asylum seeker enter into that particular country. The obligation of the convention requires that the refugee or the asylum seeker should not be sent back into the persecution ground or back to the unsafe place where the person is running away from.

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