Six of the emerging poets who entered the Emerging Writers program are showcased in this anthology Becoming Known. Josephine Clarke, Fable Goldsmith. Ruari Jack Hughes, Taonga Sendama, Sunny Wignall and Colin Young are each incredibly gifted poets.
Mentally ill asylum seeker sent away from promised treatment on 5,400km Qantas round trip
See the article from the Guardian. I can’t believe the Australian government condones this terrible treatment. And they want to repeal the medevac law!
They fought for a”fair go”, for freedom not concentration camps in our name!
It’s worth saying it again as some never seem to listen
Myth: “Asylum seekers who arrive by boat are illegals.”
Both Australian and international law allow asylum seekers to enter Australia without authorisation. Asylum seekers do not break any Australian laws simply by arriving on boats or without authorisation.
“Myth: Asylum seekers are queue jumpers. They should apply through the proper channels, rather than applying onshore.”
Applying as an asylum seeker is the normal way of seeking protection as a refugee. Resettlement is meant to act as a complement to other strategies for protecting refugees, not a substitute for providing protection to refugees who arrive as asylum seekers. Only a tiny minority of the world’s refugees are resettled and the system works more like a lottery than a queue. Most refugees – even people in very vulnerable and dangerous situations – cannot realistically expect to be resettled in the near future, if ever.
Myth: “Asylum seekers who arrive by boat are economic migrants.”
An asylum seeker is, by definition, a person who claims to be a refugee and is waiting for that claim to be assessed. It is impossible to say one way or the other whether their protection claims are credible until they have been assessed. Historically, however, the vast majority of asylum seekers who have reached Australia by boat have been found to be refugees.
Myth: “Refugees and asylum seekers receive higher social security payments than Australian age pensioners.”
A refugee who has permanent residency in Australia receives exactly the same social security benefits as any Australian citizen or eligible permanent resident in the same circumstances. Centrelink payments are calculated at exactly the same rate for both refugees and non-refugees.
There are more myths detailed by the Refugee Council
It’s a new world in America! And not in any a sphere that surprises, but restrooms or washrooms, or bathrooms! Not in a toilet as we’d call it in Australia. First all I need to do is stand up, not even use a magic wand! The toilet flushes by itself! (When it does’t flush before I stand! )
Then all I need to do is wave my hand! The soap pumps out a splosh! Except when it doesn’t!
The tap sprays water! ! Except when it doesn’t!
The paper towel rolls out a roll of paper! ! Except when it doesn’t!
The magic! Except when it isn’t!
The trouble is I’m invisible! My hands wave wildly, and the systems do not work! The woman who comes after me makes the magic work flawlessly… But for me … the magic fails, except rarely!
Why is it my presence fails to make the magic work?
The same lack of magic, aura or presence means people walk through me in the street! I do not exist for the crowd on the footpath or sidewalk.
Maybe the ultimate magic is working! I have attained invisibility!