If ever a social and political issue was so completely driven by the power of imagery as opposed to fact - it is that of ‘boat people’. We are manipulated and cajoled by a potent combination of pictures, fear laden political catch phrases and an absence of hard facts.
Most of us have heard it at some point - boat people are only a tiny fraction of the ‘illegal immigrants’ coming to our country. In fact virtually all come by plane. Every day, at least 13 asylum-seekers penetrate our borders through airports, by using traditional visa options, a hefty 30 times those who come by boat, according to this report. Furthermore, Amnesty research shows that 96.6 per cent arrived by airplane whilst only 3.4 per cent by boat.
But still the arrival of a new boat and its passengers, its picture sprayed across the front pages of our newspapers and TVs, spells such panic that it dominates the national agenda, the national conscience and national elections, time and time again.
Perhaps the sophisticated nature of aeronautical transport and an established gateway - compared with leaky boats and unwashed passengers - makes one group look safe and the other not? Or perhaps it’s simply because those using our airports, coming in one by one, elude that potent ‘group photo’ that gets everyone so flustered.
Boat people, according to Tony Abbott, pose a threat to “keeping our borders secure and our country safe” . I wonder, how exactly is our safety being jeopardised by boat people and not plane people? In fact, the research says plane people are much less likely to be genuine refugees, only about 40-60 per cent compared with 85-90 per cent of boat people.
Is Abbott piggy-backing off the fear still simmering from Howard’s political opportunistic legacy of ‘children overboard’, and the oh so loose and intangible connection between terrorism, Muslims and boat people?
And whereas boat people are detained while their claims are processed, plane people live in the community and are allowed to work; a Rudd Government initiative. Where is the fairness there?
The truth is, having boats rock up on our shores is not a ‘good look’ politically. It looks like we have no control, when in truth the evidence shows we have far less ‘border control’ through our airports.
Julia Gillard, whilst also guilty of cleverly ‘handling’ this political hot potato, deserves credit for being the first of recent Prime Ministers to point out the real numbers, saying “…the number of asylum seekers arriving by boat is very, very minor. It is less than 1.5 per cent of permanent migrants each year; and indeed it would take about 20 years to fill the MCG…”
So, despite my initial thoughts, she doesn’t seem to be swinging as hard to the Right as may have first appeared.
This can also be seen through her acceptance of the ‘push’ vs. ‘pull’ factor as to what drives the number of boats. “It has less to do with what we do here and more to do with the conditions people are escaping - like war, genocide, imprisonment without trial, torture…” Read here for some interesting research on push/pull factors.
Finally Gillard’s key policy plank that has media headlines pointing to Howard’s Pacific Solution, although scant on detail, is not really like the previous government’s ’solution’ at all. As explained by credible political blog Pollytics.com:
“The creation of a well resourced, properly administered regional refugee processing centre that has UNHCR participation, regional government cooperation, a fair, efficient and consistent refugee status determination process, clearly defined legal rights for appeal and, most importantly, a well functioning resettlement program…was one of the most important long standing goals of most refugee organisations in Australia.”
The post goes on to explain that the Pacific Solution was canned by refugee organisations - because it was exactly none of these things.” It’s also why comparisons between the Pacific Solution and some possible East Timor solution are pretty superficial and lazy.”
Former Liberal Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser, a vocal, committed and harsh critic of the Pacific Solution and politicisation of refugees, agrees it is different and has given the plan “his provisional approval“.
If you want to see more on how this could actually work, and be a benefit rather than a burden to East Timor, check out some of the comments here.
In the meantime, as we wait to see Gillard flesh out the policy, let’s remember to not let the pictures of another boat make us panic, look at the stats, the facts, and remember last year Australia took only 0.6% of the world’s asylum seekers. We are after all just a little fish…in that big blue sea. And if you still want to get upset, think of the planes.
Ruci Fixter
Don’t believe it, she is a facist on this issue with no clue what she is talking about. There are 3.6 million refugees, asylum seekers and stateless people in Thailand and nearly 200,000 in Malaysia who are not signatory to the refugee convention and treat people shockingly while we pay them to do it.
It’s got nothing to do with any regional issue, it’s got to do with NIMBY because I am afraid the rednecks match my hair.
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