subject: The Issue Of Boat People In Australia [print this page] Being an island continent, most of the ancestors of the current inhabitants of Australia came by ship or boat. Nowadays, the term boat people refers to foreigners coming to the shores of Australia to escape persecution in their home country or even seeking a better life in Australia.
Now, boat people are refugees from other countries. Their travel to Australia has created a whole host of issues for the receiving country. Aside from the legal issues regarding immigration, their eventual acceptance into the country has placed greater pressure on the infrastructure and economy of Australia. It is even noted that in the last elections, how government should manage these refugees has become a major political issue that decided the prime ministership of Australia.
Currently, the Australia government has taken a two-fold policy to determine the propriety of accepting this kind of immigrants into the country. Firstly, in due recognition of its compliance with accepted international laws, the Australian government, particularly the Department of Immigration and Citizenship, has instituted a process of determining if the individual falls within the definition of a refugee. The second response is to create further stopgaps to further inflows of refugees from reaching Australia.
This policy though is not without its critics. Many cause-oriented groups have highlighted that the process of determining refugee status creates more human rights violations upon the boat people. The boat people have been placed indefinitely in detention centers, where they fall victim to violence, abuse and isolation. In the past year alone, a number of riots have occurred in many of these detention centers, where inmates protest the slow process of determining refugee status and the grant of temporary visas. Critics also highlight that these people undertake the dangerous journey only to find themselves locked in a cell with no determination as to their eventual status.
The second policy has also been roundly criticized as a means of Australia transferring this issue upon another country. The current government has opened talks with the East Timorese government to create an immigration-processing center specifically for these boat people. Many critics say that Australia is bullying other countries with promises of aid and support for them to shoulder the issues brought about by boat people.
Australia is walking a tight rope regarding its policies on managing boat people. The good aim of the Australian government to police and protect its borders must be balanced with the rights of immigrants and refugees. This is still an ongoing debate and the future of this policy still has to be written.
by: Bobby Castro
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