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We are a Sunshine Coast group that advocates for just and compassionate treatment of refugees, consistent with the human rights standards which Australia has developed and endorsed.

We support policies towards refugees and asylum seekers that reflect respect, decency and traditional Australian generosity to those in need, while advancing Australia’s international standing and national interests.

HOSPITALITY AND SUPPORT

We make friends with refugees and asylum seekers living in south east Queensland, exchanging visits and phone calls, offering practical support as needed.

COMMUNITY EDUCATION

We seek the truth about refugees and asylum seekers in Australia, and we make this public in different ways including offering talks to schools and community groups.

LOBBYING AND ADVOCACY

We lobby our politicians, and use media publicity to advocate for just and compassionate treatment of refugees and asylum seekers.

Meetings: FOURTH Sunday of each month, In Buderim.

11.00 am to 12:30 pm, followed by finger food lunch.

Email: buddies1@westnet.com.au

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  Myths and Facts

1. Boat people are illegal.

 Asylum seekers who enter Australia by sea (or plane) without a valid visa are not illegal. The right to enter without prior authorisation is protected by Article 31 of the 1951 Refugee Convention, which recognises that there is good cause for their unauthorised entry.

 Like a speeding ambulance, asylum seekers are exempt from the usual application of the law because they’re in an emergency situation. Consequently, no Australian law criminalises the act of arriving in Australia without a valid visa for the purposes of seeking asylum.

 2. Boat people are queue jumpers.

 There is no orderly queue for asylum seekers to join.

 Only 2% of the world’s refugees are in a queue. If all the millions of refugees worldwide were to join a queue, the wait for resettlement would be 135 years.

 Australia is the only country where the term ‘queue-jumper’ is used.

 3. Boat arrivals are not genuine asylum seekers.

 For obvious reasons, those who risk their lives in attempting the perilous journey by boat are more likely to be genuinely in need of protection.

 While only around 40% of plane arrivals are found to be genuine refugees, the proportion for boat arrivals is 85-90%.

 4. Boat arrivals present a security risk.

 No boat arrival who could have been a potential threat to national security has ever gained entry into Australia.

 A potential terrorist is more likely to arrive by plane because boat arrivals are subject to the most scrutinised security checks. The very act of arriving without documentation alerts authorities to undertake rigorous screening.

 It is much easier and safer for a terrorist to arrive undetected in Australia by plane, either with a valid visa or false documentation.

 5. Asylum seekers who can afford to come by boat are economic migrants.

 You can be wealthy and still be tortured. In some countries authorities are more likely to target the well educated and wealthy as they are the greatest threat to an authoritarian regime.

 Furthermore, an expensive boat or plane trip is not necessarily an indication of wealth. Most asylum seekers will sell everything they own, and/or turn to family or friends for help to pay for the trip and still not have enough money.

 Many asylum seekers will not be able to afford to bring the whole family and so send only one member with the responsibility of finding protection for the family.

 Alternatively, families at risk of persecution with only enough money to save one life may decide to make the excruciating decision to send their child away in the hope that they will make it to safety.

 6. Australia is losing control of its borders.

 No country in the world has greater control over its borders than Australia. While most countries share at least one border with another country and usually many more, Australia is an island continent with vast surrounding seas. These natural barriers make irregular migration extremely difficult.

 In the United States, it is estimated that there are between 7 and 20 million illegal migrants living inside the country. In the European Union, the number is between 3 and 8 million. The numbers are even greater in parts of the developing world.

 In comparison, Australia has only around 50 000 people unlawfully in the country at any one time, mostly tourists and temporary migrants who have overstayed their visa.

 In 2010, there were 6,502 unauthorized boat arrivals to Australia. So far in 2011, there have been around 2500. These are small numbers.

 Australia has around 4 million authorized arrivals each year. The largest number of unauthorized arrivals in any one year was 7,100. 

 7. Mandatory detention is necessary for border security.

 Australia is one of few nations in the world which imposes mandatory detention on asylum seekers who arrive without visas.

 Furthermore, not only is the detention mandatory, it is indefinite as well. The detention lasts as long as the process takes - 6 months, 12 months, a year, 2 years, 3 years - no one can say.

 Australian practice has shown that asylum seekers allowed to live in the community while their asylum claims are processed are highly unlikely to abscond. This is because they have a vested interest in cooperating in order to gain full protection rights. Treating people with dignity and presuming innocence rather than guilt helps to reinforce their trust in the system. 

 In 2005, Australia introduced a community-based detention system which allowed a small number of asylum seekers to live unsupervised in the community, supported by the Red Cross. Of the 244 people placed in this program between July 2005 and May 2009, the Department of Immigration and Citizenship reports that only two (less than1%) had absconded.

 8. We no longer have children in detention.

 Whilst there are no children in high security detention centres today, as at the end of July 2011, there were still however 872 children (aged under 18 years) in immigration detention of some kind.

 446 were detained in the community under residence determinations.

 329 were in alternative places of detention. People in this form of detention are still locked in secure facilities, kept under guard and have no freedom of movement. Many 5-15 year olds go to school, but not all of them, and for under 5s they do not go to pre-school and have very little recreation.

 45 were in immigration residential housing and 52 were in immigration transit accommodation.

 9. Australia has one of the most generous refugee intakes in the world.

 Australia is the world’s 14th largest economy, yet in 2010, we accepted 0.03% of the world’s refugees. From over 40 million refugees globally, we took just 13 750.

 In 2009, twenty industrialised countries accepted more asylum seekers per capita than Australia.

 The overwhelming majority of the world’s refugees are situated in the developing world in countries neighbouring their own. Pakistan, Syria and Iran each host more than a million refugees and asylum seekers.

  10. Asylum seekers coming to Australia could stop in another country along the way.

 Asylum seekers who arrive from Africa, the Middle East and South Asia often travel through intermediary countries before arriving in Australia. However, there is nothing unjust or deceptive about this.

 These countries are either not signatories to the Refugee Convention or do not have the capacity or will to deal humanely with the large numbers of refugees they receive.

 Asylum seekers in Indonesia are detained indefinitely in hugely overcrowded detention centres.  They’re detained until their claim is finalised by UNHCR, a process which on average takes 10 years. 

 Even when registered by UNHCR as refugees, they are not permitted to seek employment or send their children to school.  Clearly, Indonesia is not yet at a stage where it can offer refugees their human rights.

 11. Stopping the boats will save lives.

 For people who are desperate, people smugglers are their only escape route. 

 Denying people the opportunity to risk their lives also means denying them the opportunity to improve them.

 Since there is no ‘queue’, refugees deterred from a boat trip are also effectively prevented from ever gaining resettlement in Australia. This is the real reason behind the ‘stop the boats’ mantra.

 It’s not about saving the lives of asylum seekers. It’s about keeping them out of Australia.

 12. Refugees do not contribute to society

 By definition, refugees are survivors. They have survived because they have the courage, ingenuity and creativity to have done so. These are exactly the qualities we value.

 Refugees, who have fought for survival and overcome great traumas, have risked everything to make it to Australia. They express immense gratitude and dedication to their adoptive nations.

 The challenge for Australia is to assist newly arrived refugees to process the experiences of their past and rebuild their lives. If we do this, we will reap the benefits of the qualities and experiences they bring to Australia.

 There are so many refugees in this country who have gone on to do great things and have served us well in the fields of medicine, science, the arts, politics and much more.

 Sources:

Refugee Council of Australia - Myths about refugees and asylum seekers

Asylum Seeker Resource Centre - Myths, facts and solutions

Uniting Justice Australia – Asylum seekers and refugees: myths and facts

Chilout (Children out of detention)

Department of Immigration and Citizenship

 October 2011