Australia's Refugee Dilemma

Imagine that your mother or father arrives home from work one day and tells you that the police are about to arrive to arrest the whole family, because of your family’s religious beliefs.  You are told to pack a small backpack and be ready in 2 minutes. A family friend drives you overland to Darwin where you climb aboard a yacht. Your parents hand over thousands of dollars in cash. Six weeks later the yacht leaves you on a Japanese beach.  Police arrive and take you to a detention centre which is prison and home to refugees like yourself from various parts of the world, all speaking different languages. Only a few other people speak English.  The guards, canteen staff, doctor etc. all speak Japanese.  Your parents tell you that they are applying for refugee status in Japan, which means you will be allowed to live in the country, go to school there and eventually get a job. 

1.      What would you pack in your backpack?

·         A water bottle

·         A blanket

·         My bible

·         Photos

2.      What would you miss most if you had to leave your home, your school, Australia?

I would miss all my friends that I had in Australia, all the activities that I participated in and the church I went to. I would miss the feeling of home and freedom.

3.      What would be some of the problems of living in a detention centre in a foreign country?

You wouldn’t be able to communicate with other people because they speak a different language. Everything would be unfamiliar to you and you wouldn’t be able to do the things that you wanted to. You would be stuck and you would have no freedom. You would be constantly forced to do things, living by rules and customs, and your life would turn into a pointless routine.

4.      What would be the biggest challenges for you if you and your family were accepted as refugees?
To keep together and not forget all the things God has given us even in the hardest times. To keep on going even when we feel we could not take anymore because we still have each other and our lives. To accept what has occurred and not forget our old lives but overcome our losses and embrace the future.

5.      Why is this ‘imagine’ story a very unlikely one?

We live in Australia, and here we have freedom of speech and freedom of faith. We are able to live in any way we want and are not persecuted because of our beliefs. Everybody is treated equally.