The record of the Australian Government in dealing with asylum seekers is appalling! For a number of years, the Government has rounded up all asylum seekers who arrive by boat and put them into concentration camps in the most remote parts of Australia for long periods of time while they determine whether these people should be granted refugee status.  Not satisfied with this, the Howard Government has decided that too many people have been granted refugee status when they have appealed to the Courts, so they have removed the right of appeal to the Courts.  They have also taken the extreme step of passing laws to try to say that Territories such as Christmas Island, off the mainland of Australia are not part of Australia for the purpose of seeking asylum.  This step seems to be unprecedented in international law. Still not satisfied that this will be sufficient to stop people attempting to flee oppression, the most recent actions of the Howard Government has been to use the SAS and the Navy to board boats in international waters and take asylum seekers to impoverished Pacific Island Nations (currently Nauru and Papua New Guinea) who are less unwilling to provide refuge to people who say that they are fleeing for their lives. In order to facilitate asylum seekers being processed in these countries, the Australian Government is paying enormous sums of money to build detention centres and cover the costs of detaining people. In one recent incident it appears that the Australian Navy went so far as to shoot at a boat containing asylum seekers to convince them to turn away from Australia. The Howard Government has been spreading lies and propaganda about asylum seekers and refugees for the last five years in the attempt to create a political climate that allows them to take such actions. It is important to look at the truth about some of these issues and to see what the facts really are. Boat People Are Not Queue Jumpers Fact: In Iraq and Afghanistan, there are no queues for people to jump. Australia has no diplomatic representation in these countries and supports the International coalition of nations who continue to oppose these regimes and support sanctions against them.  Therefore, there is no standard refugee process where people could wait in line to have their applications considered.  Few countries between the Middle East and Australia are signatories to the 1951 Refugee Convention, and asylum seekers are forced, therefore, to continue to travel to another country to find protection. Asylum seekers are afraid for their lives and are fleeing from the world's most brutal regimes including the Taliban in Afghanistan and Sadaam Hussein's dictatorship in Iraq.  The head of the United Nations Humanitarian Program in Afghanistan, states that Afghanistan is one of the most difficult places in the world in which to survive. Asylum Seekers Are Not Illegal Fact: It is legal under both Australian Law and International Law to make an application for refugee asylum in another country, when a person is escaping persecution.  Article 14 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that 'Everyone has the right to seek, and to enjoy in other countries, asylum from persecution.' People who arrive on our shores without prior authorisation from Australia, with no documents, or false documents are not illegal.  They are asylum seekers - a totally legal status under International Law.  If a person is fleeing persecution from an oppressive regime, it is highly unlikely that the regime concerned is going to provide a passport or travel papers. 'Illegals' are people who overstay their visas. The vast majority of these in Australia are from western countries, including 5,000 British tourists. Australia Does Not Take Too Many Refugees Fact:  Australia receives relatively few refugees by world standards. In 2001 Australia will receive only 12 000 refugees through its humanitarian program.  This number has remained static for three years.  In the early 1980's, Australia accepted 20,000 refugees each year. This year Australia is only taking 60% of the numbers taken almost twenty years ago, despite the ever-increasing numbers of refugees worldwide.  It is only in recent years that Australian Governments have had such a hard line against people who are fleeing for their lives. Refugees re-settle all over the world.  However, the distribution of refugees across the world is very unequal.  Tanzania hosts one refugee for every 76 Tanzanian people (1:76) Britain hosts one refugee for every 530 British people.  (1:530) Australia hosts one refugee for every 1,583 Australian people. (1:1,583) We're Are Not Being Swamped by Hordes of Boat People Fact: 300,000 refugees arrived in Europe to seek asylum last year.  In contrast, 4174 reached Australia by boat or plane.  In 2000, Iran and Pakistan each hosted over a million Afghan refugees. The real burden of assisting refugees is borne mostly by the world's poorest nations. Phillip Ruddock has publicly promoted the Australian Government's policy of making the poorest nations bear the heaviest burden of coping with those who flee from terror. People Who Arrive By Boat Are Real Refugees Fact: 97% of applicants from Iraq and 93% of applicants from Afghanistan seeking asylum without valid visas in Australia in 1999 were recognised as genuine refugees. Therefore, under Australian law they were found to be eligible to stay in Australia. Generally, 84% of all asylum seekers are found to be legitimate refugees and are able to stay in Australia. It Is Desperate Who Pay People Smugglers Not Only the Very Rich Fact: It is alleged that people who have the resources to pay people smugglers could not possibly be genuine refugees.  The UNHCR disputes claims about 'cashed up' refugees saying that payments made to people smugglers in fact range from $4000 - $5000 AUD. In reality, many families and communities pool their resources in an attempt to send their relatives to safety.  It is ironic that the Government who attacks poor people who scrape together enough money to get to Australia on leaky boats strongly supports and promotes the Business Migration Program that fast tracks entry for business people who can put up far larger sums of money in advance. People smuggling is a form of exploitation that the international community needs to address.  However, this does not negate the legitimacy of asylum seekers' claims, nor their need to seek refuge.  The international community, if it is to eradicate people smuggling, must address the causes for the growing numbers of asylum seekers throughout the world.  As a comparatively rich nation, Australia has a role to play. There are Alternatives to Mandatory Detention Fact: Asylum seekers claims need to be assessed for legitimacy.  Australia is the only Western country that mandatorily detains asylum seekers whilst their claims are being heard. Asylum seekers are not criminals and detention (if it is can be justified at all) should be minimal. At a cost of $104 a day per head the policy of detention is very expensive.  Community based alternatives to mandatory detention can be found internationally and within the current Australian parole system.  A select Committee of the NSW Parliament has costed alternatives to incarceration including home detention and transitional housing. The average cost of community based programs are (per person, per day): Parole: $5.39.  Probation: $3.94.  Home Detention: $58.83.  These options are clearly more economically efficient, and much more humane. Sweden receives similar numbers of asylum seekers as Australia, despite having less than half the population.  Detention is only used to establish a person's identity and to conduct criminal screening. Most detainees are released within a very short time, particularly if they have relatives or friends living in Sweden. Of the 17,000 asylum seekers currently in Sweden 10,000 reside outside the detention centres. Children are only detained for the minimum possible time (a maximum of 6 days). Refugees Are Not a Drain On the Australian Economy Fact: A common misconception is that refugees arriving in Australia will 'steal' the entitlements of Australians.  The reality is that refugees, like migrants, create demand for goods and services, thus stimulating the economy and generating growth and employment.  A recent UCLA study has shown that unauthorised immigration boosts the US economy by $800 billion per year. Refugees From the Middle East Are Not Terrorists Fact: There are no proven links between people who have arrived in Australia seeking refugee status and terrorism.  In the wake of the September 11 catastrophe in the USA, Peter Reith and Peter Slipper have both made statements about refugees to Australia harbouring terrorists. This is probably the most irresponsible and stupid claim made by Howard Government Ministers in the whole debate around refugees. Any consideration of how terrorist attacks around the world have been perpetrated shows how ridiculous this claim is.  How could anybody seriously consider that a terrorist would set off for Australia to cross the Arafura Sea in a leaky boat and risk drowning and shark attacks, not to mention the likelihood of spending three years in a concentration camp in Woomera or Port Hedland when they arrived?  Terrorist organisations would be able to obtain, or manufacture, visas and passports and pay for first class tickets on regular flights into Australia if they wanted to carry out any illegal activities here, to consider otherwise is the height of self delusion and stupidity. Australian Government Policy on Refugees and Asylum Seekers Really Benefits Unscrupulous Bosses Fact: The Australian Government policy on refugees and asylum seekers is calculated to divide workers in Australia.  The climate of blame and division that is fostered by this policy indirectly undermines workers' organisation and is exploited by employers who try to use racism to divide workers.  The policy of the Howard Government to give people who are found to be genuine refugees by the Australian Government or the Courts limited visas with less rights of citizenship puts refugees into an invidious position in which they are vulnerable to exploitation.  Because these people are refused access to English language classes and have fewer rights to housing and social security than those who are granted permanent residency, they are easy prey for unscrupulous employers who want to exploit them to undermine wages and conditions of organised workers.  The AMIEU believes that the way that workers from Afghanistan on three year visas were signed up on AWAs by G&K O'Connor and have been ruthlessly exploited is the result of the vulnerability of these refugees.  This vulnerability is created by policies of the Howard Government on refugees. We believe that all genuine refugees should be given the same rights as other residents no matter which way they came to Australia. We also believe that only by joining the Union can refugees be protected from such exploitation. We will defend the rights of all members of the Union, recent arrivals, refugees, born in Australia or any where else in the world and indigenous workers.  The Federal Opposition allowed the Howard Government to pass the legislation that has put refugees in the invidious position that they find themselves in.  As a Union we do not support these actions and will pressure a future Labor government to review the immigration laws and to abide by the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and the Refugee Convention. We acknowledge the leaflet by the Edmund Rice Centre for Justice and Community Education and the School of Education, Australian Catholic University on which we have relied for facts and figures quoted in this article.