Wow, I've had more discussions in the past week about refugees than I have had for many years. For those of you who don't know, this has been due to the documentary series recently broadcast on SBS Go Back To Where You Came From - it was fascinating, moving and very well made! You can read a lot more about it on the SBS website, but basically the documentary showed 6 Australian with strident (mainly anti) refugee views, tracing the steps taken by real refugees who now live in Australia. The twist is that they do the journey in reverse, starting at the homes of where the refugees now live, going to the detention centres, then overseas to Malaysia where refugees wait before they journey to Australia, and finally to the home-regions, from where the refugees originate.
If you missed seeing it a few weeks ago, you can watch it on the
website - as I did. I highly recommend it because, without giving any detail away, you witness a significant shift in the views of many of the participants, as they stand in the shoes of refugees, hear about the experiences that lead them to flee their home countries, and observe the trying conditions on their journey for asylum.
I enjoyed watching the program so much for three main reasons. First, I learnt a lot more about the reality of the experiences of refugees. For example, when the participants go to the UN refugee camp in Kenya, it is clear that refugees there are not safe, as local people threaten the refugees with weapons for their food - leaving the refugees hungry and scared. Also, the experience of refugees waiting in intermediate countries, such as Malaysia, is anything but stable. Though they've managed to flee their home countries, they are usually not entitled to reside in Malaysia, and therefore cannot earn money, access healthcare, and their children are virtual prisoners within their over-crowded apartments.
Second, I understood better the reasons why the participants in the program were hostile or unsympathetic to refugees, and what factors can open people's hearts and minds. Attitudes changed primarily after the participants heard the refugees describe their traumatic refugee journeys, as well as when the participants experienced the refugees' generosity, who despite having very little materially, opened up their hearts and homes. This openness and humanity touched many of the participants and ultimately lead them to express a more compassionate view of refugees.
Third and finally, I enjoyed the program because despite the fact that the majority of the participants initially had such strident anti-refugee views, they were willing to place themselves in a situation in which they were exposed and educated to the realities of the refugee experience, demonstrating an admirable open-mindedness. It exemplifies how Australian society should approach the refugee issue, guided by the facts and realities of the refugee experience. It also makes plain the fact that despite the existence of the limited Refugee system available to those who can actually access it, the system is slow, unsafe and ultimately, inadequate for processing the millions of people seeking asylum. As Roderick stated (the Young Liberal Vice-president during the filming of the Go Back To Where You Came From - the Response, that I attended the SBS studios for), Australia needs to increase the official number of refugees it accepts. If Australia and other countries who could afford to, accepted more refugees, along with better-resourcing and safer processing of refugee applications, there would be much reduced incentive for people seeking asylum to risk their lives taking unsafe journeys across oceans. This approach addressing the overall picture, rather than blaming the asylum-seekers with statement like 'Turn Back the Boats', is the way the Australian refugee debate should proceed.
