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October 4, 2007
Race and Immigration Down Under (Australia): Election-Year Politics
The N.Y. Times reports that Australia's Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews on Wednesday said refugees from Africa -- including many from Sudan's conflict-torn Darfur region -- were not integrating in Australia. Andrews, whose government faces re-election before December, said Sudanese gangs were causing criminal problems and Canberra would now accept refugees only from conflict areas nearer home, such as Iraq and Myanmar, until at least July 2008.
Australian Human Rights Commissioner Graham Innes said there was no evidence Sudanese were causing more problems than other refugees.
This is not the first time that Austrlaian election-year politics has triggered tough-on-immigrants policies. Prime Minister John Howard, 11 years in power, secured a come-from-behind victory in 2001 after ordering the military to block boats carrying asylum seekers and send them for refugee processing in nearby Pacific nations Nauru and Papua New Guinea. The hard-line policy became known as the Pacific Solution and critics accused Howard of using race-based politics to win the election.
KJ
October 4, 2007 | Permalink
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The recent announcement by PM John Howard that Australia will not be taking in any more refugees from Africa until at least the middle of next year, and the reason for it being that Australia’s refugee intake was being “rebalanced” from Africa to the Middle East and Asia where the need was more acute is rather misleading for several reasons. The situation in Sudan, and Darfur where many of the migrants in question come from is actually getting worse, going by the most recent reports of the town of Haskanita in Sudan's Darfur region being completely burned down in an attack last week of who’s perpetrator is not yet clear. The situation in Darfur is clearly one of the most acute and under resourced in terms of humanitarian aid in the globe. The millions of innocent human beings caught up in this disaster are living extremely desperate lives, and offering a minute portion them peace of mind as asylum seekers in Australia is the least one could do for them. When the Immigration Minister Mr Kevin Andrews explains the reasons given behind such a decision as being a failure to integrate into Australian society, he is simply compounding the problem for these migrants and polarising the general community.
The fact that one has been exposed to the trauma of continual violence for decades, especially for reasons well beyond their understanding and control does not make them any less of a human being, but instead should highlight the urgent need for rehabilitation, both physical and psychological. These people are in need of help and not further oppression and alienation from the rest of the world.
Where as concerns about crime may be very real, these very concerns are shared even amongst the members of the African community. It is rather preposterous and simply racist to attribute this to a particular race, and isolate the problem to one’s inability to assimilate. Why must African migrants as a whole have to suffer repeatedly for the actions of a very small minority who do not in the least represent the sentiments of Africans in any way whatsoever? Where these alleged African perpetrators of crime exist, they are considered as rebels even within their very own communities. The second issue of concern behind such statements is that of what factual information they are actually based on. Are there any valid crime statistics to indicate that this particular community is a security problem for Australia especially when compared against incidents of crime recorded from both Australians and other migrant societies? It also sets forth a rather disturbing notion alluding to racial profiling in relation to crime. Any individual’s propensity to crime is shaped largely by his environment and experiences rather than race. Surely, if crime were to be attributed to race, then Africans would be at the very bottom of such a list. This view is shared by the UNHCR, whose spokesperson for the Canberra Office, Arianne Rummery confirmed that the UNHCR is not aware of any evidence of integration difficulties associated with Africans as compared with other newly arrived refugees.
Such statements as those made by the Prime Minister Howard and his Immigration Minister Mr Kevin Andrews demonstrate a very narrow, individualistic and extreme stance on a very sensitive issue. Their failure to separate issues and apparent lack of discernment casts a shadow over their ability to enhance racial cohesion and harmony. For a leader of Mr Howard’s stature to make such remarks leaves one wondering what his motives really are. The majority of African migrants are doing remarkably well in their new environments considering all their past traumas and experiences in their former countries of persecution. These people simply need patience and understanding from Australians, and perhaps the The recent announcement by PM John Howard that Australia will not be taking in any more refugees from Africa until at least the middle of next year, and the reason for it being that Australia’s refugee intake was being “rebalanced” from Africa to the Middle East and Asia where the need was more acute is rather misleading for several reasons. The situation in Sudan, and Darfur where many of the migrants in question come from is actually getting worse, going by the most recent reports of the town of Haskanita in Sudan's Darfur region being completely burned down in an attack last week of who’s perpetrator is not yet clear. The situation in Darfur is clearly one of the most acute and under resourced in terms of humanitarian aid in the globe. The millions of innocent human beings caught up in this disaster are living extremely desperate lives, and offering a minute portion them peace of mind as asylum seekers in Australia is the least one could do for them. When the Immigration Minister Mr Kevin Andrews explains the reasons given behind such a decision as being a failure to integrate into Australian society, he is simply compounding the problem for these migrants and polarising the general community.
The fact that one has been exposed to the trauma of continual violence for decades, especially for reasons well beyond their understanding and control does not make them any less of a human being, but instead should highlight the urgent need for rehabilitation, both physical and psychological. These people are in need of help and not further oppression and alienation from the rest of the world.
Where as concerns about crime may be very real, these very concerns are shared even amongst the members of the African community. It is rather preposterous and simply racist to attribute this to a particular race, and isolate the problem to one’s inability to assimilate. Why must African migrants as a whole have to suffer repeatedly for the actions of a very small minority who do not in the least represent the sentiments of Africans in any way whatsoever? Where these alleged African perpetrators of crime exist, they are considered as rebels even within their very own communities. The second issue of concern behind such statements is that of what factual information they are actually based on. Are there any valid crime statistics to indicate that this particular community is a security problem for Australia especially when compared against incidents of crime recorded from both Australians and other migrant societies? It also sets forth a rather disturbing notion alluding to racial profiling in relation to crime. Any individual’s propensity to crime is shaped largely by his environment and experiences rather than race. Surely, if crime were to be attributed to race, then Africans would be at the very bottom of such a list. This view is shared by the UNHCR, whose spokesperson for the Canberra Office, Arianne Rummery confirmed that the UNHCR is not aware of any evidence of integration difficulties associated with Africans as compared with other newly arrived refugees.
Such statements as those made by the Prime Minister Howard and his Immigration Minister Mr Kevin Andrews demonstrate a very narrow, individualistic and extreme stance on a very sensitive issue. Their failure to separate issues and apparent lack of discernment casts a shadow over their ability to enhance racial cohesion and harmony. For a leader of Mr Howard’s stature to make such remarks leaves one wondering what his motives really are. The majority of African migrants are doing remarkably well in their new environments considering all their past traumas and experiences in their former countries of persecution. These people simply need patience and understanding from Australians, and perhaps the
Posted by: Biko Syongoh | Oct 16, 2007 6:04:14 PM
The recent announcement by PM John Howard that Australia will not be taking in any more refugees from Africa until at least the middle of next year, and the reason for it being that Australia’s refugee intake was being “rebalanced” from Africa to the Middle East and Asia where the need was more acute is rather misleading for several reasons. The situation in Sudan, and Darfur where many of the migrants in question come from is actually getting worse, going by the most recent reports of the town of Haskanita in Sudan's Darfur region being completely burned down in an attack last week of who’s perpetrator is not yet clear. The situation in Darfur is clearly one of the most acute and under resourced in terms of humanitarian aid in the globe. The millions of innocent human beings caught up in this disaster are living extremely desperate lives, and offering a minute portion them peace of mind as asylum seekers in Australia is the least one could do for them. When the Immigration Minister Mr Kevin Andrews explains the reasons given behind such a decision as being a failure to integrate into Australian society, he is simply compounding the problem for these migrants and polarising the general community.
The fact that one has been exposed to the trauma of continual violence for decades, especially for reasons well beyond their understanding and control does not make them any less of a human being, but instead should highlight the urgent need for rehabilitation, both physical and psychological. These people are in need of help and not further oppression and alienation from the rest of the world.
Where as concerns about crime may be very real, these very concerns are shared even amongst the members of the African community. It is rather preposterous and simply racist to attribute this to a particular race, and isolate the problem to one’s inability to assimilate. Why must African migrants as a whole have to suffer repeatedly for the actions of a very small minority who do not in the least represent the sentiments of Africans in any way whatsoever? Where these alleged African perpetrators of crime exist, they are considered as rebels even within their very own communities. The second issue of concern behind such statements is that of what factual information they are actually based on. Are there any valid crime statistics to indicate that this particular community is a security problem for Australia especially when compared against incidents of crime recorded from both Australians and other migrant societies? It also sets forth a rather disturbing notion alluding to racial profiling in relation to crime. Any individual’s propensity to crime is shaped largely by his environment and experiences rather than race. Surely, if crime were to be attributed to race, then Africans would be at the very bottom of such a list. This view is shared by the UNHCR, whose spokesperson for the Canberra Office, Arianne Rummery confirmed that the UNHCR is not aware of any evidence of integration difficulties associated with Africans as compared with other newly arrived refugees.
Such statements as those made by the Prime Minister Howard and his Immigration Minister Mr Kevin Andrews demonstrate a very narrow, individualistic and extreme stance on a very sensitive issue. Their failure to separate issues and apparent lack of discernment casts a shadow over their ability to enhance racial cohesion and harmony. For a leader of Mr Howard’s stature to make such remarks leaves one wondering what his motives really are. The majority of African migrants are doing remarkably well in their new environments considering all their past traumas and experiences in their former countries of persecution. These people simply need patience and understanding from Australians, and perhaps the The recent announcement by PM John Howard that Australia will not be taking in any more refugees from Africa until at least the middle of next year, and the reason for it being that Australia’s refugee intake was being “rebalanced” from Africa to the Middle East and Asia where the need was more acute is rather misleading for several reasons. The situation in Sudan, and Darfur where many of the migrants in question come from is actually getting worse, going by the most recent reports of the town of Haskanita in Sudan's Darfur region being completely burned down in an attack last week of who’s perpetrator is not yet clear. The situation in Darfur is clearly one of the most acute and under resourced in terms of humanitarian aid in the globe. The millions of innocent human beings caught up in this disaster are living extremely desperate lives, and offering a minute portion them peace of mind as asylum seekers in Australia is the least one could do for them. When the Immigration Minister Mr Kevin Andrews explains the reasons given behind such a decision as being a failure to integrate into Australian society, he is simply compounding the problem for these migrants and polarising the general community.
The fact that one has been exposed to the trauma of continual violence for decades, especially for reasons well beyond their understanding and control does not make them any less of a human being, but instead should highlight the urgent need for rehabilitation, both physical and psychological. These people are in need of help and not further oppression and alienation from the rest of the world.
Where as concerns about crime may be very real, these very concerns are shared even amongst the members of the African community. It is rather preposterous and simply racist to attribute this to a particular race, and isolate the problem to one’s inability to assimilate. Why must African migrants as a whole have to suffer repeatedly for the actions of a very small minority who do not in the least represent the sentiments of Africans in any way whatsoever? Where these alleged African perpetrators of crime exist, they are considered as rebels even within their very own communities. The second issue of concern behind such statements is that of what factual information they are actually based on. Are there any valid crime statistics to indicate that this particular community is a security problem for Australia especially when compared against incidents of crime recorded from both Australians and other migrant societies? It also sets forth a rather disturbing notion alluding to racial profiling in relation to crime. Any individual’s propensity to crime is shaped largely by his environment and experiences rather than race. Surely, if crime were to be attributed to race, then Africans would be at the very bottom of such a list. This view is shared by the UNHCR, whose spokesperson for the Canberra Office, Arianne Rummery confirmed that the UNHCR is not aware of any evidence of integration difficulties associated with Africans as compared with other newly arrived refugees.
Such statements as those made by the Prime Minister Howard and his Immigration Minister Mr Kevin Andrews demonstrate a very narrow, individualistic and extreme stance on a very sensitive issue. Their failure to separate issues and apparent lack of discernment casts a shadow over their ability to enhance racial cohesion and harmony. For a leader of Mr Howard’s stature to make such remarks leaves one wondering what his motives really are. The majority of African migrants are doing remarkably well in their new environments considering all their past traumas and experiences in their former countries of persecution. These people simply need patience and understanding from Australians, and perhaps the
Posted by: Biko Syongoh | Oct 16, 2007 6:07:05 PM
The Sudanese gangs problem in Melbournes eastern suburbs has dominated the news of late. But as always the media have blown a minority problem out of proportion and caused many interest groups to call for the intake from Africa to be halted. The problem mainly lies in insufficient support groups for new migrants.
Also, John Howards pacific solution was a thorn for him in the last election. The poor and lazy reporting carried out, especially after Sydneys Cronulla riots, is skewing public opinion, and the real issues behind many of these migrant integration problems are not being looked at.
Posted by: peter | Oct 16, 2007 6:53:29 PM
Registered Migration Agents are all registered with MARA and full members of the Migration Institute of Australia and will work for you to maximize chances of success in obtaining an Australian visa. You can expect prompt, up to date advice that is based on current legislation and specific to your circumstances.
Posted by: australia migration | Dec 21, 2010 11:22:35 PM
