Well, I hope it is a constructive outlet for the frustration and anger that has been mounting in me since Tampa. The more we shed light on our government’s treatment of asylum seekers, the better equipped we are to raise awareness of the violations perpetrated in our name. Of late, the mainstream media has been revisiting asylum seeker issues because of the wrongful detention on an Australian resident. This is encouraging as the majority of journalists appeared to swallow the government’s line in the wake of Howard’s ‘boat people’ election, despite the revelations on ‘children overboard’. Few commentators drilled down to unearth the human rights abuses underlying Australia’s detention of asylum seekers. I think this is changing.
The blog will provide opinion and information on these issues. I will try to maintain a record of commentary from refugee and human rights advocates and encourage readers to post comment and share information.
4 comments:
good on you Mark.
- barista
Cheers
Around the time of 9/11, and then the tampa event, I saw changes in people around me, friends I thought would have known better. It was as though a refugee drowning could just as easily be some gameshow contestant on survivor we could all hate at a distance. There was a lot of division then, some people really thought their country was under attack, whereas I felt our minds were under attack.
Anyway, I like what you've done, will pass it on. Cheers.
-LG
Thanks LG. Both the US and Australian governments continue to pitch to security fears through an 'us' and 'them' construct. Through fear and a sense of righteous indignation over boat people coming without our permission, a majority of Australian electors bought the line that asylum seekers are 'illegals' unworthy of our protection and compassion. A highly educated person, a practising Christian, told me emphatically during the boat people election that she would be happy if these people all drowned!
Post a Comment