 Displacement |
Issue 114 |
The Idea of Home
Home has many aspects and facets. Home is a secure base from which to explore the world. Home is that feeling of security. Home is the certainty that you have a place to return to. Home is a safe haven. We all need a home, a place to identify with. Home is part of our identity. Who we are and where we come from cannot be separated. This is why being forced to leave your home is so traumatic. Part of yourself seems to be torn away. There is no certainty that you will be able to return. You may be permanently separated from part of who you are so you need to be able to rebuild that home, that part of yourself somewhere else.
According to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), there are some 9.2 million people who have been forced to leave their homes and flee to another country. Another 5.6 million have had to leave their homes but have not left their country of origin. Many of these people will eventually return home once the situation is settled and it is safe to do so. In the mean time they usually live in temporary camps with limited facilities. This is a time of great stress and uncertainty as these people have been uprooted from what they know, often separated from their families and communities. During this time they will not know whether it will ever be safe enough for them to return home. Some will never be able to return. Some 7 million people have spent 10 years or more in these "temporary" camps. Some Afghans and Burmese have spent over 20 years in "temporary" camps. Some Palestinians have spent over 50 years in camps.
There are four options for people who have fled to neighbouring countries as refugees:
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Most refugees wish to return home. The UNHCR has a responsibility to find permanent solutions for refugees. They will provide support and will continue to support refugees after they return home.
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When it is too dangerous to return home, the UNHCR helps people to try and start a new life in the country that they have fled to. This is not easy as the host countries are poor and cannot absorb all these people living in the camps. There are not enough jobs and not enough land to provide for the thousands of people wanting to make a new home so they often just remain in the camps for lengthy periods.
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A small number of refugees are accepted by third countries for resettlement. Australia for example has accepted around 6 000 refugees in the last year mostly from African countries like Sudan. Unfortunately only about 1% of refugees are lucky enough to be resettled in third countries by the UNHCR.
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Some refugees are desperate enough to seek asylum in countries further away. Many Afghan and Iraqi people fled the repressive regimes of the Taliban and Saddam Hussein and used people smugglers to get them to richer countries in Europe and beyond, even as far away as Australia.
In Australia, unlike in other countries, UNHCR refugees were treated differently to refugees who arrived "unofficially". One type of refugee was welcomed. The other "unofficial" refugee was put into prison like conditions. The unofficial refugee may have to spend years in a detention centre before earning the right to be an official refugee. The unofficial refugee was called a non-citizen, which meant that they were deprived of their rights under international law. It was as though an "unlawful non-citizen" was thought of as a non-human. There was then a justification for the removal of their human rights, like the right not to be deprived of liberty without a fair trial. Children were not (until very recently) immune from this treatment. They became non-children so that their right not to be put in prison except as a last resort could be removed. Thankfully, after many years where the mental health of children was being systematically eroded, there was a change of policy.
People who have been forced to leave their homes to try and start a new life need support. Even with that support it can take years to get over the trauma and loss suffered by those who must escape to protect themselves and their families. Imagine then what it is like to look for that support and to have it denied, to be treated as not deserving of human rights, as somehow less than human, of not having a right to a home.
It will be a long time before refugees, whether official or unofficial, will be able to truly call Australia home.
August 28 th is Refugee and Migrant Sunday.
English
1) Read the article at www.theage.com.au/text/
articles/2005/07/31/1122748527192.html and answer the questions:
- Why were the asylum seekers so upset?
- What rights did they have removed by their treatment?
- The asylum seeker feels as though he had been treated "like a dog". Why do you think he was treated so badly?
- Write a letter to the editor of the newspaper expressing how you feel about the treatment of the asylum seekers.
2) Go to www.abc.net.au/triplej/realappeal/
refugeestories/ibtihal.htm and answer the following:
- What country did Ibtihal come from originally?
- What was Ibtihal's home like?
- How old was she when she was forced to leave Iraq?
- Why did she have to leave?
- What happened to Ibtihal's father?
- Where did her family flee to first?
- Why did they decide to go to Syria?
- What did they take with them when they left?
- Why did Ibtihal's mother decide to leave Syria?
- How was Australia different to Syria?
- Do you think it would have been hard for Ibtihal to adjust to Australian life?
- Why do you think that she doesn't want to travel at the moment?
3) Create a mind map on the theme of Home and what it means to us.
Use the mind map as the basis for a piece of writing on the meaning of home for each person.
4) Go to www.ncca.org.au/__data/page/51/s_Letter.doc and answer the following:
- Who receives the letter?
- Who is Ahmet?
- What does the caged bird represent?
- What happened in Iran for Ahmet and his family to leave?
- Explain the line "death in our eye".
- Why is Ahmet's heart being "strangled"?
- How has Ahmet's situation made him feel?
- List the clues that tell you that Ahmet is in immigration detention.
English/Visual Arts/Computer Studies
1) Be creative and win! Enter the competition by writing a poem, designing a poster or creating a powerpoint presentation on the theme of: Refugees: part of our family too. Go to www.ncca.org.au/__data/page/51/
RMS05_School_Edu_Kit_-
_2_How_to_Enter_the_
Media_Competion.pdf for more details.
Social Sciences
Play a refugee simulation game. There are several scenarios at www.ncca.org.au/cws/rdp/
refugee_and_migrant_sunday/
refugee_simulation_game
Go to www.ozspirit.info/archives.html and scroll down to find more teaching and learning activities about refugees and migration.
Another refugee activity focusing on Human Rights can be accessed at www.amnestyusa.org/education/
plans/The%20Refugee%20Rights.doc
Go to www.ncca.org.au/__data/
page/51/RMS05_School_Edu_Kit
_-_1_How_to_Use_This_Kit.pdf and scroll down to page 2.
Answer the following:
- How many refugees are there in the world?
- How many internally displaced persons are there?
- How many have been stuck in camps, unable to return home or be resettled for 10 years or more?
- What is the longest time that a group of refugees has been "warehoused"? Which group is it?
- By how much has the number of new asylum applications reduced worldwide?
- How many refugees does Australia accept for resettlement each year?
- What percentage of the total number of refugees is this?
- What proportion of refugees are resettled in western countries like Australia?
- Could Australia increase its intake of refugees? Outline the arguments for and against. Remember that Australia accepts around 130 000 immigrants in total each year.
- What percentage of Australia's immigration program is refugees? Go to www.ncca.org.au/__data/page/51/
RMS05_School_Edu_Kit_-_4_
Refugee_Solutions.pdf for more activities
Religion
Act out the skit about refugees with a Christmas flavour. Access the script at www.ncca.org.au/cws/rdp/refugee_and_
migrant_sunday/refugee_skit_mary_and_joseph
What Christian values are on display when we welcome refugees and migrants?
Can you think of some biblical quotes or stories that support a welcome to refugees and asylum seekers?
Read the story at www.ncca.org.au/__data/
page/51/What_If_-_a_biblical_
story_with_a_modern_twist.doc to get a modern biblical perspective on the issue of refugees .
Go to www.mercysisters.org.au/
action/refugee/work.html to see what this service offers to support refugees and asylum seekers. How do they put Christian values into practical action for refugees in Australia (Go to www.mercysisters.org.au/
action/refugee/w_australia.html to find out)
Go to www.mercysisters.org.au/
action/refugee/w_overseas.html to find out how this service assists refugees overseas.
Go to www.mercysisters.org.au/
action/refugee/volunteers/
become.html to see how you could put your Christianity into action by volunteering to work with refugees.
Go to www.ncca.org.au/__data/
page/51/RMS05_Parish_Kit_-_6_Liturgy.pdf for liturgy ideas for Refugee and Migrant Sunday .
Go to www.ncca.org.au/__data/page/
51/Web_extra_liturgy_resources_2005.doc for liturgical resources that can be used in class during the lead up to Refugee and Migrant Sunday. This includes Prayers of intercession and a variation on the Lord's Prayer.
Lord, no one is a stranger to you
and no one is ever far from your loving care.
In your kindness watch over refugees and asylum seekers,
those separated from their loved ones,
those who are lost,
and those who have been exiled from their homes.
Bring them safely to the place where they long to be,
and help us always to show your kindness to strangers and those in need.
- ACSJC Prayer Card
Go to www.acmro.catholic.org.au/news/
2005_ref_sunday.htm to access liturgical notes, prayers for Refugee and Migrant Sunday.
There is a poster to advertise Refugee and Migrant Sunday available for download at www.acmro.catholic.org.au/news/
docs/2005_migrant_poster.pdf
August 26 - Tampa rescues asylum seekers: In 2001, the MV Tampa rescued 433
asylum seekers from a sinking vessel. The Australian Government banned
these people from entering Australian shores and sent troops on to the ship
to prevent people, the vast majority of whom were refugees, from entering Australia.
Go to www.safecom.org.au/tampa.htm to read a story of the actual Tampa incident by a person who experienced it first hand .
Go to www.smh.com.au/news/Immigration/
Lost-on-land-reborn-at-sea/2004/08/26/
1093518006690.html to read about last year's Tampa Day.
August 28 - "Day of Courage": Australians for Refugees and Asylum Seekers
On August 28, 2005 and coinciding with the National Council of Churches' Refugee and Migrant Sunday, religious communities from across the country will be invited to screen the documentary program PUNISHED NOT PROTECTED. In key locations, powerful guest speaker s will introduce the film and call the audience to on-going action to support refugees and asylum seekers in Australia.
PUNISHED NOT PROTECTED is a one-hour documentary featuring the views of leading Australians and concerned citizens on the effects of Government policy on asylum seekers and temporary protection visa holders.
For more information visit: nsw.uca.org.au/news/2005/
punished-not-protected_06-07-05.htm
Study guide can be downloaded from: www.roninfilms.com.au/related/2391222462-0.pdf
For a first hand account of life in immigration detention obtain a copy of ANOTHER COUNTRY- Writers in detention, edited by Thomas KeneaIly & Rosie Scott. Go to www.safecom.org.au/another-country.htm for more details.
Write to the Immigration Minister Amanda Vanstone to express your support for the freeing of children from immigration detention centres. Ask her to consider freeing those still in detention. Ask her why the numbers of people asking for refugee status has dramatically fallen all around the world even in countries (all other countries) where a policy of mandatory detention does not exist.
Write to her at:
Senator The Hon. Amanda Vanstone
Minister for Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600
Follow up - if you don't get a reply
Ring John Nation, Vanstone's Chief of Staff, tel: (02) 6277 7860.
Go to: www.amnesty.org.au/whats_happening/
refugees/report_indefinitedetention?
MySourceSession=3e4d2254b91
fac3b4483ac68068a3193 to read the Amnesty International report on the Mandatory Detention system in Australia .