There's been a lot of talk lately about Australia's refugee program. Unnecessary remarks made by Immigration Minister, Kevin Andrews, have upset some, and given others the false impression that Africans — Sudanese in particular — are not settling in to life in Australia.
Seventy per cent of Australia's refugee intake in 2003 was African. Due to recent policy changes, the 2008 figure will be 30 per cent.
The minister could have explained the change in policy as taking on a more regional focus, much like Australia's international aid agency, AusAID. That would have sufficed. But instead, he added anecdotal evidence about Sudanese refugees having difficulties settling in Australia, rather than reliable research or data prepared by key agencies doing resettlement work.
As an English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher who has worked with refugees from many countries, including Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia and Sudan, as well as having worked in a war zone and with the Victorian Foundation for Survivors of Torture, I can only wonder if the minister has any understanding of the critical need for refugees who have suffered severe dislocation, loss and trauma — as have the Sudanese — to experience a sense of safety and security in their place of resettlement.
And was the minister unaware of how upsetting his remarks would be to the African community?
One Sudanese woman expressed a common sentiment. 'We came here half way across the world so our children would be safe and now we don't feel safe.'
Using anecdotal evidence to back up government policy is dangerous. If there are resettlement challenges with any refugee community, they need to be dealt with in a more systematic way than having the federal minister spout off to the media.
I have as many positive anecdotes about Africans as the minister has negative. Teaching refugees, you build relationships, offer students the opportunity to express themselves, and know that their life stories are respected. You accompany them over the many hurdles associated with resettlement, which years in the refugee camps or on the run have not prepared them for.
One of my students, Maryam, is so inspiring. A Sudanese woman who has not seen her husband for over a decade, she was on the run with her five children, before making it to Kenya. Somehow she managed to get her oldest son educated, and when he was given a scholarship to medical