Australia & asylum seekers: The myths and the facts

Who are asylum seekers?  

The  terms  "asylum  seeker" and  "refugee"  are  often  confused:  an  asylum  seeker  is someone  who  has  fled  their  home  and  is  seeking  protection  from  another  country stating that he or she is a refugee, but whose claim has not yet been evaluated.

In Australia, asylum seekers must prove  they are  refugees before  they are granted a visa.  They  must  prove  to  government  agencies  that  if  they  return  home  they  face persecution, imprisonment or harm for reasons of race, religion, nationality, their social group or political opinion.

Myth 1 – Australia takes in more than its fair share of asylum seekers  

Contrary  to what  the media  and many  politicians  are  saying,  Australia  is  not  being "swamped"  by  asylum  seekers.  From  January  to  August  this  year,  Australia  took  in below  average  numbers  of  asylum  seekers  compared  to  previous  years  and  global intakes.

The  UN  High  Commission  for  Refugees  (UNHCR)  has  calculated  that  the  average number  of  asylum  seekers  accepted  by  a  country  in  the  global  context  is  197  per million of population. On that basis Australia"s fair share for the first 6 months of 2009 should be 4,197 rather than the 3,666 we have taken so far. In comparison Canada,  which  has  a  population  of  just  over  33  million  compared  to  Australia"s  22  million, received 6 times the number of lodged applications (18,722).

In a global context,  the average rate of asylum seeker  intake according  to population ranks Australia 20th out of 44 countries worldwide, behind countries such as the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada and Malta (which tops the list).

According  to  another  key  factor  –  gross  domestic  product  (GDP)  – Australia  falls  to 24th place when ranked by asylum seeker intake per size of GDP.

Myth 2 – "Boat people" are swamping our shores

The vast majority of asylum seekers arrive in Australia by air. Last year, of the 13,500 people granted asylum  in Australia only 206 of  those arriving without visas came by boat; 2,291 came by plane – well over 90%.

There  is  also  data  to  suggest  that  people who  arrive  by  boat  are more  likely  to  be legitimate refugees. Of asylum claims made by people who arrive by aircraft, 55% are rejected. Only 2-15% of claims made by people arriving by boat are denied.

This number is also small when compared to the number of people who over-stay their visa in Australia each year, particularly those on travelling visas, the majority of whom are  English-speaking  tourists.  Conservative  estimates  suggest  that,  on  average, 50,000 people stay in Australia without the proper documentation each year

Some media  have been misquoting data that last year 13,500 asylum seekers were granted refugee status. The Department for Immigration & Citizenship has responded that  the  vast  majority  of  these  in  fact  "came  to  Australia  on valid  visas  as  part  of Australia"s  dedicated  offshore  refugee  resettlement  program  or  were  proposed  as  special humanitarian program entrants  -  largely,  they were not asylum seekers", with over 11,000 visas granted before entry to Australia through proper processes.


Myth 3 – the Government"s changes in policy have made Australia a "soft target"

2,504 people  lodged asylum applications  in Australia  from January  to June  this year, an increase on the same time last year. This increase is in line with global trends.

However  these numbers are  far below  those  in 2000 and 2001.  In 2000,  there were over  13,000  claims  in  the  first  half  of  the  year,  with  over  12,000  in  2001.

This highlights the continuing fluctuations globally in the number of people seeking asylum caused by changing world events that force people from their homes.

From  January 2008  to  June 2009, only 750 people arrived by boat  compared  to 43 boats carrying over 5,516 asylum seekers in 2001,after  the outbreak of war  in  Iraq and Afghanistan. Global events dictate how many people are displaced every year.

While  some  are  claiming  that  the  abolition  of  detention  debt  (in  August  2009)  and temporary protection visas (August 2008) have made Australia look like a "soft target," this  isn"t  the case. Since  temporary protection visas  (TPVs) were  introduced  in 1999, they have had very little impact on the number of people seeking asylum in Australia. In  the  two  years  following  its  introduction  over  8,455  asylum  seekers  arrived  in Australia by boat compared to the 2,504 people this year.

They have also had very  little  impact on  the number of people being granted refugee status. According to the Department for Immigration and Citizenship, nearly 90% of the people  allocated  temporary  protection  visas  were  granted  a  visa  that  gave  them Australian  residency.  Only  3%  (or  379  people)  granted  temporary  protection  visas departed Australia.

 
Myth 4 – Refugees are a burden on our economy  

Refugees  offer  potential  for  our  economy  –  they  are  not  a  burden.  Claims  that refugees cost the taxpayer $628 million were made by some media sources in the last week, but they are baseless, with Centrelink, the government department in charge of providing welfare, stating that there is simply no data to support this figure.

strange allegiance wrote on Nov 5^th, 2009 at 8:11pm:



So why don't they fly in? It is cheaper then the 5 grand to the smugglers plus years of living expenses.

"So why don't they fly in? It is cheaper then the 5 grand to the smugglers plus years of living expenses."

They don't fly in because 99% of the media beatup about terrorists is total BS

The only terrorists we need to be concerned about are the ones in our own parliaments, that want to violate our human rights with their "anti-terror" , and "tough on crime" laws

sorry I misunderstood soren

Maybe they arrive by marine vessel because they can't get on a commercial flight as the have no papers, and the reason they have no papers is because they have had to flee their homes in the middle of the night or be executed by some guys in jack boots, or their village is being bombed by some guy on the other side of the planet who thinks he's playing Nintendo

But even if their papers hadn't been destroyed by some gun wielding secret police thugs, and they did have time before fleeing, to grab those vital documents, One could not expect them to get a taxi to the airport, with the same armed jackbooted secret police there to greet them

I don't know the answer to that one soren, maybe that bit of the story is media beat up The whole media coverage of this issue is so deceitful it's very hard to tell whats happening. But one thing is clear the policies of both the government and opposition are identical on this aspect - If a person is not determined to be a genuine refugee, then they are deported.

Quote:


Because they'd prefer to come and take your job and make your country over-crowded and use up all your social security, so when you retire you gotta self-fund it!!

That what you're hinting at??

SA - better - more relevant. 

Maybe I misjudged you, or have you just started taking your medication?

karnal - the 60s and 70s was one of the better times in aussie.
safest, people felt most connected, also few black immigrants and no muslims