2018-04-30
Chris Johansen
Australia has a long history of accepting asylum seekers, but only those of European origin prior to the 1970s (i.e. White Australia Policy), and many of us are indeed descended from them. For example, in my own case, my father jumped ship in Fremantle in the early 1940s (in todays parlance, an 'illegal maritime arrival), rather than return home to nazi-occupied Norway. He was quickly seconded into the Australian Navy as they were rather short of experienced sailors then. My maternal grandfather was essentially a refugee from the slums of London who set out to seek gold in Kalgoorlie circa 1890. If the Liberal/National Party policies on immigration since the turn of this century had been in place then, I, simply, wouldnt exist.
Why this drastic turnaround in attitudes towards asylum seekers since 2001, from the trend established by the otherwise conservative Fraser government in accepting refugees (i.e. non-white ones) from the Vietnam war? Short answer: political power. Ever since humans lived in caves, the leader of the clan/group was the individual who could best convince that he/she (but possibly not many shes) was the best person to protect the group from threats. And if there were few looming threats then it was in the interest of the leader to manufacture them in order to retain leadership.
The same political philosophy is very much alive and well today. The 9/11 terrorist attack was a godsend to politicians wishing to exploit this age-old technique. At the turn of this century there were no plausible immediate threats to Australia military security, but the door had opened for the Howard government to create them, and demonstrate their robustness in being able to defend against them. The Tampa incident provided an opportunity – to demonize asylum seekers and associate them with a terrorist threat to Australia. Rather easy to do for asylum seekers of Muslim origin and Tamils fleeing Sri Lanka (are they really Tamil Tigers?).
The first step was to 'excise places were asylum seekers are most likely to arrive by sea – mainly Christmas Island and the Cocos and Keeling Islands. This was some sort of legal contortion legislating that these places were not Australia, even though they really remained so! This effectively prevented arrivals from applying for refugee status in Australia, and opened the way for the 'Pacific solution ‒ essentially the establishment of concentration camps in Nauru and Manus Island. Options for those caught up in the scheme were essentially to 'go back to where they came from (irrespective of the reasons why they fled – which were usually rather horrendous) or wait, indefinitely, for some other country to take them.
Conditions for asylum seekers on Manus and Nauru were deliberately kept rather basic, more so than in mainland prisons as I understand. This was, and remains, a deliberate strategy of the Australian government intended to discourage any potential asylum seekers thinking of taking a boat to Australia. And there is no urgency by the Australian Government to identify countries that would take them (they rejected New Zealands offer and are going slow on the US offer). It seems that they want to keep the scenario running as a long-term discouragement to potential asylum seekers (following the Guantanamo Bay strategy with respect to Islamic terrorists). It must be admitted though that this strategy has been highly effective in keeping out 'illegal maritime arrivals and sending a message globally that Australia is no longer a place for asylum seekers. But at what cost to our morality?
An important part of the Australian government asylum seeker policy is keep knowledge of actually what is going on in Nauru and Manus from the Australian public to the extent possible, and just publicize that borders are being effectively protected and terrorists are being kept at bay. However, this is not so easy in this age of increasingly clever ITC. One of the eternal internees on Manus is indeed a journalist/writer/poet ‒ Behrouz Boochani, an Iranian Kurd. He has regularly been relaying his impressions from the inside, reflecting the horrific conditions but also demonstrating the resilience, and indeed basic humanity, of the internees.
Other insights into what is going on in these 'excised asylum seeker locations come from Australians who have been posted there in various capacities. One such person is Reneé Pettitt-Schipp. She served as a teacher in the asylum seeker camps and with the islanders on Christmas Island and Cocos and Keeling Islands during 2011-14. Her experience with the refugees turned out to be a rather mind-blowing ‒ exploding whatever myths she may have harboured about the Australian 'fair go and 'human decency. Fortunately, for all of us, she is a poet, able to capture the thoughts of herself and her subjects in a few short phrases – rather more illuminating than press releases from the Department of Immigration and Border Protection. She has recently assembled these poems reflecting her asylum seeker experience in a book entitled 'The Sky Runs Right Through Us.
In her poems, Reneé captures the desires of refugees to escape whatever horrors of their previous existence only to be persecuted by the inhumanity of Australias asylum seeker and immigration policy. They expose the myth of Australian hospitality and inclusivity and demonstrate the sheer vindictiveness and racism of that policy. For those refugees overcome by the situation, alarmingly high rates of self harm and/or suicide attempts are reported (even if not by the Department of Immigration and Border Protection). For those not yet driven to such extreme measures the poems capture the resilience of the human spirit in the face of overwhelming odds and without light at the end of the tunnel. The poems also present an historical record and first-hand account of this dark chapter in Australian history, one of many dark chapters that we prefer not to think about (e.g. the treatment of indigenous Australians by the incoming British invasion). Unfortunately, this refugee dark chapter seems far from being closed.
Following is an example of one of her thought-capturing poems:
The Haunting
on our island, the young girls ghost
curls beneath the landscape
by the toilets, the young girls ghost
has some in tears
on our island, whats by the toilets
stops men leaving their rooms
on our island, by the toilets
a tiny ghost
on our island, behind the wire
between the guards the afghans see
a girls ghost by the toilets
her unwet tears
men will not leave
their cramped and rotting dorms
cannot stand to hear the sound
of her suffering
Thus, the book is a must read for those who dare to study history while wearing a black armband. Importantly, it provides ammunition for those of us trying to shut down this dark chapter of Australian history. An increasingly difficult task in a world where xenophobia and anti-immigration sentiment are on the rise. The book is available at UWA Publishing at $22.99.
Header photo: Reneé at the launch of her book held at the picturesque amphitheatre at St Pauls Church in Fremantle on 17th February. Simon Jennings