Asylum Seekers

Lessons to Learn Annette Field finds that asylum seekers encounter, at first hand, issues facing mainstream Australia. So do those who assist them.

Sydney, like Australia's other major cities, has its quota of people who enter our borders fully expecting to return home - only to find that events overseas make them unable or unwilling to do so. Since August 1993, I have enjoyed assisting such individuals and families, as Co-ordinator of the Asylum Seekers Centre in Surry Hills.

The Centre may appear marginal in many respects, but the experiences of those who benefit from it - asylum seekers and volunteers alike - are surprisingly representative of some major questions facing Australia.

The Centre is unique in that it operates largely through the contribution of professional volunteers who donate their time and expertise to run a range of programs. This raises issues about the difference between paid and unpaid labour, and allows for conflicts within the triangular relationship between government, welfare organisations and volunteers. By way of response we are focusing on developing equitable work practices and will document these. It is interesting to note that workers at the Asylum Seekers Centre, like the volunteer labour force in general, are predominantly women.

Unemployment remains a major concern. For this reason among others, efforts to limit the numbers of those seeking refugee status is always on the national agenda. Pressure arises from conservative political forces and from those who fear a tide of immigrants arriving, fleeing political dislocation. Some environmentalists, too, argue that Australia is at its maximum carrying capacity, especially in cities such as Sydney. What responsibility do we bear, then, towards people who have been subjected to trauma, and in some instances torture?

A common question from the public is: Why do people come and what are they doing here? Many misconceptions exist about asylum seekers. The term itself is problematic and raises issues of discrimination. In practice most refugee applicants would choose to return to their own country if circumstances permitted. Their problems, while local in some respects, are symptoms of the deep political, economic and social problems that continue to plague the world. Those caught in the turmoil that affects much of the globe require political commitment by governments and concerted action by the international community. Addressing the root causes of population displacement requires much more attention and energy than is currently devoted to it.

Meanwhile, a genuinely humanitarian response must include providing resettlement opportunities to victims of war and human rights violations. At a local level, a starting point is to offer hospitality and acknowledge that people have basic needs. The Asylum Seekers Centre assists people to obtain food and accommodation, but also facilitates social interaction, recovery of self-esteem, along with opportunities for praise, recognition and achievement. Unless such needs are met, people's capacity to control their lives is diminished. This is true for all sections of the Australian population.

The future direction of government policy regarding asylum seekers is a matter of concern. On the one hand, sections of the Labor caucus believe that the Commonwealth's Access and Equity Policy should be extended to include asylum seekers. They maintain that asylum seekers are pursuing a basic right, and that Australia as a signatory to the relevant UN Conventions is obliged to provide all refugee applicants with a fair hearing. Present policy guidelines are in fact reasonably equitable.

Yet considerable uncertainty, even anxiety, exists about the effect that a change of federal government would bring. At the time of writing, the Coalition has not published its policy on immigration and refugee issues. Consequently agencies such as our Centre face an uncertain future. Withdrawal of the Asylum Seekers Assistance Scheme, a scheme presently funded by the Commonwealth and administered by the Red Cross Society, would test our ability to provide basic financial, social and training support to people who have few other places to turn.

Meanwhile one thing remains certain: the refugee problem is not about to go away.

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