5
Sep
Book Review: “Refuge – Transforming a Broken Refugee System”, Alexander Betts and Paul Collier
“Refuge –Transforming a Broken Refugee System”, Alexander Betts and Paul Collier, Allen Lane imprint of Penguin Random House, 2017 This book seems very salient given the first asylum seeker boat in 5 years has made it to Australian shores. We see the same repetition of the asylum seeker politics of the recent decade – calls... Read More
23
Aug
“I should do work hard, day and night”: What can universities do to share the burden of ‘success’ with students from refugee backgrounds?
Written by: Evonne Irwin, Shelley Gower, Dr Sally Baker and Professor Jaya Dantas For people from refugee backgrounds, participating in education is a significant priority during and after their settlement [1,2,3] and for the last 20 years, increasing numbers of students from refugee backgrounds (SfRBs) have entered Australian universities. However, while these students willingly take... Read More
14
Aug
Refugee crisis: the immediate and lasting impacts of powerful images
Emma Thomas, Associate professor, Flinders University; Craig McGarty, Professor, Western Sydney University, and Laura G. E. Smith, Senior Lecturer in Social Psychology, University of Bath This article is about the power of emotive images to create social and political change. However, we have chosen not to display distressing images, including those of Aylan Kurdi, for ethical reasons. Recent images... Read More
7
Aug
How gardening can improve the mental health of refugees
After spending many years living in refugee camps, gardening can provide a safe space to establish identity, rebuild lives and attain happiness. A new study on the Myanmar former refugee community in the regional city of Coffs Harbour revealed the importance of gardening, and in particular how this connection has a positive impact on the... Read More
31
Jul
Refugee women use their voices through digital storytelling
Storytelling is innate to humans. For millennia, ever since cave paintings were used to record practices, storytelling in all its different forms and genres has contributed to rich cultural traditions from one generation to the next. Like people themselves, storytelling methods have changed over time. Digital storytelling is one such approach. Digital storytelling was originally... Read More
23
Jul
Communicating refugee research insights
“No-one will read your thesis”. PhD candidates are often told this during doctoral study. In response to this deflating statement, I bite my tongue. The reality is that only the motivated are going to read 80-100,000 words of our hard work. I am nearing the end of my PhD on refugee contact with their local... Read More
13
Jul
Why Europe shouldn’t follow Australia’s lead on asylum seekers
Australia’s harsh asylum policies have been touted as a possible solution to Europe’s so-called refugee crisis. Politicians in the UK, France, Holland, Denmark, Austria and Belgium have advocated for an Australian-style approach aimed at blocking asylum seekers from accessing Europe. But there are a few reasons Europe should be wary of following this lead. Australia’s... Read More
4
Jul
We cannot rely morally on ‘deterrence’ to justify our harsh refugee policies
Tony Coady, University of Melbourne When debate about refugees ascends from slogan swapping (“stop the boats”, “bring them here”) to specific reasoning, there seems only one argument worth considering for the ignominious detention of asylum seekers on Manus Island and Nauru and the refusal to ever settle any in Australia. That argument, advanced by both... Read More
26
Jun
Film Review: “Border Politics” a Rymer Childs Documentary
“Border Politics” a Rymer Childs Documentary, now showing nationally. 94 mins. Refugee advocate Julian Burnside QC is the presenter of this Australian film, whose tagline is “I wonder where our democracy is going” and takes us on a tour of Europe, US, and the Middle East. From the RymerChilds documentary company, “Border Politics” is... Read More
25
Jun
The Limits to Regional Refugee Protection: the EU and ASEAN
The concurrent refugee crises affecting the countries of the EU and ASEAN since 2015 have brought to the fore long-standing questions regarding the feasibility of regional cooperation on refugee protection and responsibility sharing. The responses to the humanitarian crises in the Mediterranean and the Andaman Sea demonstrate the shared failure of the EU and ASEAN... Read More