Julian Walmsley My Personal (and Opinionated) blog!

Mythbusting a ‘Mythbust’: GetUp’s Refugee Animation

I just saw this advertisement from Australian Action Group GetUp! relating to the treatment of refugees leading up to the 2010 election campaign. There are fundamental problems with this ad, and I see it as a direct attempt to mislead Australians (along with many other GetUp! campaigns).

MYTH #1: Asylum seekers are illegals

No major political party contested the fact that Asylum seeking was illegal. We know, as is mentioned in this advertisement, that asylum seeking is not illegal nor does it make their migration to the country illegal. Rather, It was mentioned during the election campaigns by both major political parties that they were contesting the fact that they are entering our country illegally. It is unlawful to enter our country without a valid visa (however, should these people still arrive in our country illegally, the refugee convention requires that they will not be punished for doing so).

Asylum seekers have every right to apply correctly for asylum in our country before entering (and some do), rather than coming to our shores on leaky, dangerous boats (risking their and their children's lives in the process).

Majority of Illegal Immigrants in this country are visa-overstayers

Most 'actual' illegal immigrants arrive on our shores without the knowledge / detection of our government, therefore, it is very difficult to have statistics to prove otherwise to this claim. This claim could be seen as being misleading due to the incomplete / inability to gain statistics in this area.

MYTH #2: We are being flooded by 'boat people'

The statistics shown in this statement are incorrect. Although still a majority, a report made to the Parliament states:

More recently the proportions of Irregular Maritime Arrival (IMA) and non‐IMA (that is air arrival) asylum seekers have shifted due to the increase in boat arrivals. However, boat arrivals still comprise less than half of Australia’s onshore asylum seekers:

This updated information wasn't originally available to GetUp! at the time of publication, however, it is unlikely that previous data for the 2008-2010 periods was not available for use in this video.

The increase in IMA arrivals is clearly a policy failure for the current and previous Federal Labor government and shows that action is necessary to stop these illegal activities.

Source: http://www.aph.gov.au/library/pubs/bn/sp/AsylumFacts.pdf, pg. 6.

MYTH #3: Most 'boat people' aren't genuine refugees

This claim is very difficult to disprove objectively. During the years of the Pacific Solution, only 70% of asylum claims were judged as being genuine and ultimate resettlement to Australia. After the abolishment of the Pacific Solution (and the dramatic increase in IMA arrivals), 90-95% of assessments, resulted in permanent visas being granted. This brings to the question, are we assessing these claims as well as we used to, or are we speedily rushing these people through the system to free space in our already overcrowded immigration detention centres.

MYTH #4: 'Boat people' will harm our economy

This section of the video makes no attempt to disprove the claim, rather, goes on to say that offshore processing costs more than processing them 'more humanely' (whatever that means...).

'Boat People' do in fact harm our economy:

Asylum seekers are rescued by a taxpayer-funded vessel and taken to a taxpayer-funded housing facility where they receive taxpayer-funded health and welfare services, income support, legal assistance and Medicare whilst they await the taxpayer-funded processing of their refugee applications. This costs the Australian taxpayer over a billion dollars per year.

Further to the costs simply of processing asylum seekers, the costs to the welfare system are enormous.

Quite apart from asylum seekers, the welfare state costs the Australian tax-payer many billions, pushes down economic growth, lowers the standard of living and eliminates community activism and private sector welfare...The reason Australia is a ‘soft target’ for illegal immigration is not because of weak border security but rather because people know they can easily become eligible to receive this vast array of taxpayer-funded welfare payments.

Source: http://www.la.org.au/opinion/110710/stop-boats-ending-welfare-state

Let me know your thoughts by sending me a comment below.