KWH Chart
My Problem: Treatment of Asylum Seekers
| What do I already KNOW about the topic? | WHAT do I want to know? | HOW do I find out? |
| I know that asylum seekers in Australia are facing many hardships and problems and are being rejected by the Australian government from seeking asylum in Australia. I know that there are also many people out there hoping for a place to live. Asylum seekers travel away from their countries in many different types of transportation. Some of the many push factors to make people fled their homes include: – Unsafe Conditions – Lack of Resources – Land/Job Scarcity – Famines or Droughts – Political or Religions Persecution – Pollution – Natural Disasters – Temperature All of the above are push factors that force people to leave their homes and countries to live somewhere else in a new country. I also know that Asylum seekers are being treated very badly around the world, especially for Pakistan and Afghanistan Asylum seekers as they are confronted for terrorism and if they are allowed into the country, then they will probably attack the country from the inside. An ongoing controversial topic and vote is given to the Australian citizens for whether or not we should allow the Asylum Seekers and refugees. | Something that I might what to find out would be why the Asylum Seekers are being rejected in Australia and what threats that the Australian officials think that the refugees/asylum seekers might bring to the country as they are also just normal human beings that are leaving their country for many different push factors. I also want to learn how many asylum seeker are accepted and rejected each year and find a graph that provides the information for all of the different asylum seekers from different countries and which countries’ asylum seekers Australia accepts. I also want to know the difference between the different terms such as an asylum seeker, a refugee an immigrant and a migrant. I also want to know where most of the refugees/ asylum seekers that come to Australia to seek asylum come from and the main reasons for why they leave their country in the first place. | Some of the ways that I find out what I want to know is by doing research and making different discoveries and learning something new to write and include in my letter to Mr Ben Morton to support my statements with evidence. I will research for a wide variety of information through many different sources to make my letter sound as professional as it can be. I will look for the most reliable resources to make sure that all my information is correct. I will also add some images to make sure that I understand the issue well and make sure. Something else that can give me an understanding and information would be reading books, listening to podcasts as well as listening to people andr learning things from class to improve my understanding. |
Research:
What are the key points of the issue? Are there two or more sides to the issue?
Some of the critical points about mistreating Asylum Seekers include the hardships that the Asylum Seekers face both mentally and physically. They have to face mental issues as they have to get over leaving their home country and travel over the world to seek Asylum in another safe country. Authorities are forcing Asylum Seekers onto a detention island, and Asylum Seekers are not allowed to have a trial in court. They are not allowed to challenge their detention on the isolated island. People held in detention are particularly vulnerable to violations of their human rights caused by the guards and Australian authorities. On the Australian detention island, mental stress levels are high. They range from depression, anxiety and sleep disorders to post-traumatic stress disorders, suicidal ideation and self-harm. On the other hand, the officials think that the Asylum Seekers should not be let into Australia because of the harm that they could create and they could hurt Australian civilians and plan more terrorist attacks. Although this may sound ____, the people in parliament do have a good point. Recently, terrorist attacks have been spiking a lot and other countries need to take care when admitting Asylum Seekers because they could be harmful.
This chart shows the amounts of injuries, deaths and the number of incidents in the past years. As you can see, the numbers have spiked over the last 6 years in comparison to the numbers in 1970 to 1998.
Who is involved? Groups of people? Communities? Individuals?
The main person involved in Asylum and in charge of the Asylum Seekers in Australia is the secretary of homeland security. He may grant Asylum to people who have applied for acceptance into the country. The leading officials of the parliament of Australia decide the number of Asylum Seekers to let into the country each year and what to do with the other people. When an individual claims asylum, the assessment process, is called Refugee Status Determination (RSD). A government officer interviews the asylum seeker and researches the situation in their country of origin to assess whether their circumstances fit the requirements of any applicable refugee convention. Since the Australian officials have more power over the Asylum Seekers, the Australian government force them to follow their commands until they admit into the country. Some of the involved sides would include the Australian parliament and the Asylum seekers seeking Asylum in other countries looking for a place to live after fleeing their home country. In this case, the Australian parliament is more assertive as they have more power than the Asylum Seekers.
General Process of a RSD (Refugee Status Determination):
Why is this issue important? What impact does it have?
This issue is critical because our country needs to stop mistreating asylum seekers and refugees and start to show them some respect. Some of the impacts of this ongoing problem in Australia and the entire world would be how we treat asylum seekers. These acts have a powerful impact because it violates the act and freedom of movement. Some of the freedoms include that everyone has the right to liberty of movement within a country and freedom to choose where they live that everyone has the right to leave any country, and lastly has the right to enter their own country. Therefore, rules and regulations should not be different for asylum seekers, and they should be treated with equal respect to regular Australian citizens and feel welcome. We can ensure them a safe place to live and any average Australian citizen’s fundamental human rights and rights by welcoming safe asylum seekers.
This bar graph shows us the amount of refugee applications that the main countries receive and as you can see, Australia is one of them meaning that we get a lot o Asylum seeking applicants. But, when you see the second chart, the number of refugees the country is hosting, Australia is not up there. From this we can conclude that Australia rejects a lot of refugees/Asylum Seekers.
When did this issue begin? How long has it been happening for?
This issue began on July 19th, 2012 and has been an ongoing problem for eight consecutive years. Many call this the eight years of Abusive Offshore Asylum Processing. “Australia’s abusive offshore processing policy has caused immeasurable suffering for thousands of vulnerable asylum seekers,” said Sophie McNeill. Many Asylum Seekers have suffered enough after all these years on a detention island with many others who hope to seek asylum in Australia.
What could be done to help solve this issue?
We as citizens could get straight through to the government and hope that the government would consider our matter. The community suggests that Australia will strive to provide equal human rights for Asylum Seekers, just like average Australian citizens. The parliament could also start letting more Asylum Seekers and refugees into our country as they are regular, considerate human beings like us. Although they might bring a threat to the country, it is kind and generous to offer a better lifestyle for anyone unsafe. Our society will also benefit as we can call ourselves a multi-cultured society with many cultures. Australia could be a more diverse community if we were to let in the Asylum Seekers. Something else that could benefit from letting people into the country would be stronger bonds and ties with other countries as they see that we are helping out Asylum Seekers and allowing them to enter.
My Bibliography:
Armstrong, M. (2022, March 3). The Countries Hosting the Most Refugees. Statista Infographics. https://www.statista.com/chart/22047/countries-hosting-most-refugees/
Australia: 8 Years of Abusive Offshore Asylum Processing. (2021, October 26). Human Rights Watch. https://www.hrw.org/news/2021/07/15/australia-8-years-abusive-offshore-asylum-processing
House, C. P. A. (2013, April 14). CHAPTER 6. Commonwealth Canberra Parliament. https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Joint/Former_Committees/immigrationdetention/report/c06
House, C. P. A. (2015, June 10). Asylum seekers and refugees: what are the facts? Commonwealth Canberra Parliament. https://www.aph.gov.au/about_parliament/parliamentary_departments/parliamentary_library/pubs/rp/rp1415/asylumfacts
Refugee and asylum seeker facts. (n.d.). Australian Red Cross. https://www.redcross.org.au/act/help-refugees/refugee-facts/#:%7E:text=An%20asylum%20seeker%20is%20a,or%20be%20waiting%20for%20resettlement.
Seeking Protection: refugees and asylum seekers | Australian Human Rights Commission. (n.d.). Australian Human Rights Commision. https://humanrights.gov.au/our-work/education/seeking-protection-refugees-and-asylum-seekers