...better opportunities and safe environments. The 21st century has seen the increased migration of citizens of one state to another, a period termed as the age of Diasporas (Helman, 2007). The research will focus on immigrants, mainly asylum seekers and refugees with particular emphasis on the 72 asylum seekers from Lebanon who perished off the coast of Indonesia while heading to Australia. The research will address the plight of asylum seekers as one the most vulnerable populations. Migration to another country may be voluntary or voluntary. The involuntary migrants include asylum seekers, refugees, returnees ad internally displaced persons (IDPs). The primary cause of this category of people changing their location could be political upheavals, wars, natural disasters and poor states of the economy. The voluntary migrants migrate to other countries in search of employment and new ventures for personal growth. However, the involuntary migrants have multiple psychological, physical and social vulnerabilities due to their experience with violence and oppression. These vulnerable populations are very sensitive to risk factors. They are therefore more likely to develop health problems to their exposure to risk. An increase in the number of Asylum Seekers calls for the allocation of more resources to support their wellbeing and this will straight the available scarce resources. While competing for these resources...
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...Reflection upon placement 1, Health Visitors 17/05/10 – 16/06/10 COMMUNICATION “Communication is the exchange of information with others. It is a process of sending and receiving messages. People communicate with signs and symbols, such as words, drawings and pictures. They also communicate with behaviour”, (Alvare et al, 2005:129). Communication is either verbal or non-verbal. Verbal communication is spoken. However, meanings can be interpreted differently due to tone, pitch and volume. Movements, facial expressions and posture displaying attitudes and emotions convey non-verbal communication. Therefore, the importance of effective communication in nursing cannot be overstated as miscommunication causes misunderstandings, misdiagnosis and even a lack of trust in the professional. In agreement with this, Walker et al state that interpersonal aspects of care are central to patient’s perceptions of quality of care. (2007:149). In this reflective essay, I will discuss the issues of prejudice and discrimination and how communication can convey both negative and positive attitudes. From my first clinical placement, I have learned how attitudes could have a profound effect on the level of care a client or patient receives. “Positive responses to cultural diversity include acceptance and knowledge, not bias or prejudice. A culture is a system of behaviours people learn from the people they live and grow up with. Each culture may have different lifestyles, religions, customs...
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...individuals trying to enter Australia to seek asylum. To help comprehend the complex phenomenon of “others”, it is comparable to stereotyping, used to uphold social order. Richard Dyer (Hall, Evans & Nixon 2013) debates that “we represent people and places that are different from us with a representational practice, which we call stereotyping, which involves feelings, attitudes and emotions, and it also provokes fears and anxieties”. This ‘othering’ is a preface for the Australian Government to disregard their human rights responsibility, proclaiming that it is good for Australia. “Stop the boats” is the slogan and catchphrase the Australian Government and Australian society use when discussion of and around asylum seekers issues. This has triggered asylum seekers to be seen as a political concern instead of a humanitarian issue. Asylum seekers are used for political advance, playing on racial stereotypes or ‘others’ to strike fear within the Australian society. As the political concerns rage on, the public restrain understanding and compassion for asylum seekers. With...
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...A Baptist policy on immigration and asylum seekers The world currently faces a global refugee crisis with up to 40 million displaced people (the majority of whom are women and children). Australia currently accepts around 13,750 refugees each year as part of total planned annual immigration of around 182,000 people. This paper identifies social and political problems relating to asylum seekers and refugees. It examines the biblical teaching on a responsible Christian approach to asylum seekers and refugees, and discusses some of the ways in which Australian Baptists have responded to the challenges of immigration and asylum seekers. It concludes with a new policy proposal for the consideration of Australian Baptist Ministries, the various State and Territory Baptist Unions, and local churches. There is also a guide to further information. The situation facing Australia today Immigration policy is one of the two most bitterly contested issues in Australian politics, and has been for more than ten years. People who seek asylum by boat, and various policy instruments designed to deter both asylum seekers and people smugglers, have been at the heart of an increasingly contentious public and political discussion in Australia for more than a decade. The debate has polarised large sections of the Australian community and prevented many politicians from engaging in a constructive policy dialogue. With little to differentiate their product, especially on economic and employment...
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...Throughout the years, there have been articles about asylum seekers resorting to violence due to discontentment with the Australian government regarding the assessment of their refugee status. These are evident cries for help which sparks off debates on the government’s abilities to find a successful solution to the asylum issues. Australia has been criticized due to the requirements of compulsory immigration detention for ‘all unlawful non-citizens, (including asylum seekers)’ (Phillips & Spinks 2013, p.1). The other controversial issue of Australia regarding the asylum seekers is also the claims that it has been avoiding it’s responsibilities under the United Nations refugee conventions by making it hard for asylum seekers to claim refugee protection. Although the Australian government is undertaking various asylum policies in response to the constant increasing influx of refugees and asylum seekers entering the country, many are still constantly suffering and the human rights of these inhumane policies need to be further addressed. This essay will emphasize the inhumane asylum policies by weighing the negative aspects, but also addressing the government’s response in dealing with the asylum issues. Many have questioned the need for the mandatory detention of asylum seekers upon arrival especially when there is no exclusion for women and children. The Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) has found that this policy is an infringement of human rights as it...
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...My name is Najeeba Wazefadost, and 12 years ago I risked my life on a dangerous journey. I escaped my country Afghanistan and came to Australia by boat. I know that there are no words to comfort those who have lost their loved ones in the recent boat tragedies. But also devastating is the fact that over the past decade, we have only heard politicians endlessly scare-mongering about the number of boat arrivals and how we can decrease these numbers, or deter asylum seekers altogether. Over time, the real human faces of the vulnerable have been turned into statistics about the number of boat arrivals. We have forgotten the devastating circumstances from which asylum seekers come. Afghanistan has been in a state of war for many decades, a war that has left little evidence of justice, humanity and peace for its people. Even now, villages are frequently attacked and there is continuous persecution of minorities. The Afghan Hazaras are not safe in Afghanistan, and are not even safe in neighbouring countries like Pakistan. These are people whose only choice is to seek refuge and security in any way possible. For my family and me, we could not wait for someone to come and rescue us because we could have been dead by then. Coming by boat was the only choice we had. Even though we knew we were at risk of drowning in the daunting waters of the Pacific, we preferred taking that risk over brutal killing at the hands of the Taliban. It hurts me to hear politicians claim that the best way to...
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...ACCESS TO JUSTICE AND LEGAL AID FOR REFUGEES AND ASYLUM SEEKERS; WHAT CAN THE JUDICIARY DO? Introduction Asylum seekers, regardless of their immigration status, are human beings, with fundamental and basic rights, needs and aspirations. Refugees and asylum seekers are a diverse group with one thing in common; they are subject to forced migration, and are fleeing from persecution in their countries of origin. A refugee is defined as any person who, owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality or political opinion, is outside the country of his or her nationality and is unable or owing to such fear for reasons other than personal convenience is unwilling to avail himself or herself of the protection of that country. Refugee status is therefore adopted for those who, having applied for asylum, have been recognized and given refugee status. It also usually encompasses those who have received ‘exceptional leave to remain’ or ‘indefinite leave to remain’. Recognition of refugee status is also a pre-requisite for other basic rights guaranteed to refugees by international law, such as the right to seek employment, to move freely and to obtain education and healthcare on the same terms as citizens. The status of an Asylum Seeker is reserved for those who have applied for asylum and are awaiting a decision on their applications and those whose applications have been refused. Refugees therefore need legal assistance as soon as they arrive in...
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...Not only is it mandatory, it is for the purpose to ‘support the integrity of Australia’s immigration program’ and ‘management of Australian borders’ and to distinguish between those who have submitted themselves to offshore entry processes prior to arrival and those who have not, mandatory detention for asylum seekers was introduced in 1992. Section 14 of the Migration Act requires the detention of all unlawful non-citizens without a valid visa. Section 189 requires an officer of the federal or state police or the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) to detain any person known or reasonably suspected to be unlawful non-citizen. Under s 196 an unlawful non-citizen must be kept in immigration detention until they granted a visa or removed from Australia. There is no limit under Australian law to the length of time for which a person may be held in immigration detention. According to Chu Kheng Lim v Minister of Immigration, Local Government and Ethnic Affairs (Lim) the provision which authorised detention and remained valid as long as the...
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...nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country; or who, not having a nationality and being outside the country of his former habitual residence as a result of such events, is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to return to it.” Thus, we can say that refugees are defined by the following characteristics • they are outside their country of origin or outside the country of their former habitual residence; • they are not able to or not willing to take up the protection of that country because of a rational fear of being persecuted • the persecution feared is based on one of these five grounds: race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion. The term “asylum seekers” pertains to persons, that are seeking asylum, although their refugee status may not be determined. The principle of “non-refoulement” Under Article 33 of the 1951 Refugee Convention, a government is obligated not to return a refugee to a country of territory where he/she is threatened of persecution. “No Contracting State shall expel or return (“refouler”) a refugee in any manner whatsoever to the frontiers of territories where his life or freedom would be threatened on account of his race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion.” This is called the...
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...Among Asylum-Seekers in North-West Ireland Mary Manandhar, Michelle Share, Sharon Friel, Orla Walsh, Fiona Hardy Combat Poverty Agency Working Paper Series 06/01 ISBN: 1-90548-512-3 May 2006 FOOD, NUTRITION AND POVERTY AMONG ASYLUM-SEEKERS IN NORTH-WEST IRELAND A collaborative study by the Health Service Executive – North Western Area and the Centre for Health Promotion Studies, National University of Ireland, Galway. With funding from Combat Poverty Agency Report authors: M Manandhar, M Share, S Friel, O Walsh and F Hardy (2006) FOOD, NUTRITION AND POVERTY AMONG ASYLUM-SEEKERS IN NORTH-WEST IRELAND Research Team Members HSE Western Area National University of Ireland, Galway (formerly North Western Health Board) Dr Mary Manandhar Senior Research Officer Public Health Department Dr Sharon Friel Lecturer Centre for Health Promotion Studies Ms Michelle Share Senior Research Officer Public Health Department Ms Orla Walsh Researcher Centre for Health Promotion Studies Dr Fiona Hardy Regional Coordinator for Services for Asylum Seekers and Refugees Ms. Theresa Shyrane Community Health Adviser Community Services, County Donegal March 2006 Food, nutrition and poverty among asylum seekers in NW Ireland Manandhar et al. Contents Page List of Tables List of Figures Abstract Executive Summary Introduction 1 1 5 1.1 Rationale and aims of the research 6 1.2 Who are asylum seekers...
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...‘owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion is outside the country of his nationality …’. Being a refugee means being unable to seek protection in your country of nationality because of a fear of persecution and so refugee status brings with it the protection of the international community. One of the ways in which potential refugees access protection is by seeking asylum, at which point the receiving state considers the individual’s case to be a refugee. There also exists an extensive human rights framework that should, in principle, protect people regardless of their immigration status and their motive or motives for migration. Universality underlies these treaty regimes and included in this are children’s rights and women’s rights as well as political, civil, economic, social and cultural rights, all enforceable through actions against the state. Finally, there are nation state rights which are stratified by an individual’s citizenship and immigration status within the country of residence (Morris, 2002). Under the stratified system of rights, naturalized citizens and refugees have extensive rights and are at one end of the continuum. At the other end of the continuum are undocumented migrants and rejected asylum seekers who exist on the margins of society with few or no rights, often exploited economically and unable to gain protection from the...
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...began as a surrogate for consular and diplomatic protection to include ensuring basic rights of refugees and their physical safety and security. The definition adopted at the 1999 International Confederation Of The Red Cross(ICRC) defines the concept of protection to encompass all activities aimed at obtaining full respect for the rights of the individual in accordance with the letter and spirit of the relevant bodies of law; the human rights law, international law, refugees law. Individual organizations and programmes have adopted their own understanding of protection to outline their activities. The InterAction Protection working group, which is made up of a number of non-governmental organizations has come to agreement that “protection” consists of ensuring the fulfillment of basic human rights and enabling human well-being particularly for vulnerable people, such as women, children and displaced people. Protection thus means and includes all the activities geared towards reducing physical, emotional and social risks; supporting emotional and social well being, providing equal access to basic services, and promoting the rights and dignity of individuals or community. There are so many reason that can push people to become refugees. Terrorism is one of these reasons. Booth & Dume (2002) define terrorism as a method of political action...
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...responsible for the well-being of its unified citizens, whereas the citizens perform their certain duties such as paying taxes. After the World War II, welfare systems were initiated mostly in Western countries in different types and scales. However, a welfare system that targets its citizens and is financed by the levied taxes goes through a crisis when foreigners cross the borders and need basic services. Those migrants can be asylum seekers who escape from political conflicts in their homeland or economic migrants who search for a better living. Those migrants who enter the country from an illegal way or whose residence permits expire become undocumented/unregistered/illegal. At this stage, they cannot benefit from health services except the emergency health services, cannot work in good standards,...
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...bird in a cage.” Despairing words from desperate children. These asylum seeking children have suffered detrimental abuse at the hands of our government for long enough, and they must be released from mandatory detainment. It is time Australia abolishes their suffering and abandons the black cloud of guilt looming over our nation. Merely days ago, the Human Rights Comission released, “The Forgotten Children”, a fittingly titled report that provides a heart retching insight into the appalling conditions, and resultant wellbeing effects, experienced by children in detention. Within the January 2013 - March 2014 period alone, the...
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...aim of this study was to test the effectiveness of a sequential intervention reminding patients of their upcoming appointment and to identify the profile of patients missing their appointments. Methods: We conducted a randomised controlled study in an urban primary care clinic at the Geneva University Hospitals serving a majority of vulnerable patients. All patients booked in a primary care or HIV clinic at the Geneva University Hospitals were sent a reminder 48 hrs prior to their appointment according to the following sequential intervention: 1. Phone call (fixed or mobile) reminder; 2. If no phone response: a Short Message Service (SMS) reminder; 3. If no available mobile phone number: a postal reminder. The rate of missed appointment, the cost of the intervention, and the profile of patients missing their appointment were recorded. Results: 2123 patients were included: 1052 in the intervention group, 1071 in the control group. Only 61.7% patients had a mobile phone recorded at the clinic. The sequential intervention significantly reduced the rate of missed appointments: 11.4% (n = 122) in the control group and 7.8% (n = 82) in the intervention group (p < 0.005), and allowed to reallocate 28% of cancelled appointments. It also proved to be cost effective in providing a total net benefit of 1846. - EUR/3 months. A satisfaction survey conducted with 241...
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