I think about the life this man was fleeing. I imagine what he was fleeing from. I think about the hiding, the terror, the fear, the desperation that drove him from his home. I think about the journey he would have taken to Indonesia.
Spencer Zifcak explains why Australia’s asylum seeker policy misses the scale of the global refugee tragedy, disregarding both the humanity of asylum seekers and Australia’s international responsibility.
Sarah George, co-ordinator of the national education program “Five Facts You Didn’t Know About ‘Boat People’”, tackles social media, online protesting and planning a popular campaign.
Laura O’Neill describes the situation on the ground for asylum seekers in Indonesia now that Australia is “deterring” boat arrivals – work rights, UNHCR processing, access to education and the threat of deportation or detention once refugee claims are rejected.
Besmellah Rezaee on the ins and outs of Australia’s ever-changing refugee laws. Where are we now? Where are we headed?
In the wake of recent revelations that Australia has turned at least two boats of asylum seekers back to Indonesia, Clarrie Burke looks at both the history and the current unfolding of the Coalition promise to “stop the boats”.
Amy Barry-Macaulay explains government policy based on engagement, and the need for it now more than ever.
Melissa Reid looks at media coverage of Kony and asylum seekers to ask, does our fast-paced media culture need to change?
Poetry from Pip Smith.
With arbitrary detention repeatedly used despite being repeatedly condemned by the international community on human rights grounds, Alexander Reilly and Justine Stefanelli suggest a different approach.
Pia White looks into the media’s role in cultural shift, through the recent coverage of two pertinent human rights issues: asylum seekers and gender equality.
“What’s your name?”
He told them.
“Where does that name come from?”
“From? My mother.”