Australia needs to reconsider its “out of sight, out of mind” approach towards refugees and asylum seekers, according to Lin Ma.

The Oceanic Viking in Fremantle harbour (Image: Crouchy69).

As Australia hotly debates over the 78 Tamil asylum seekers that were onboard the Oceanic Viking, I – like many other second-generation ‘boat people’ – cannot help but wonder why we are having a debate in the first place.

As a daughter of Chinese-Vietnamese refugees, who was born and raised in Australia, I am appalled at all the umm-ing and ahh-ing that has completely paralysed our so-called leaders (on both sides). Their ‘stance’ is simply inaction at its finest; the equivalent of sticking a giant ‘Wrong Way Go Back’ sign outside Australia’s borders and smugly thinking that that will do the trick.

While I do not dispute the need to curb the extortionist people smugglers, I do believe Australia has been given enough time (more than half a century, perhaps) to get its act together and establish a humane yet efficient processing system. Because at the moment, things seem to have gone from bad to worse, especially in Indonesian detention centres.

Refugee advocate and lawyer, Jessie Taylor says, “Conditions in asylum seekers’ [Indonesian] accommodation ranges from acceptable to appalling. In the worst places, we saw babies and children behind bars, with filthy drinking water, deprived of basic education, malnourished and very, very frightened.”


 In Behind Australian Doors, Taylor reports that asylum seekers (mainly Afghani Hazaras, Iraqis, Burmese and Sri Lankans) have inadequate medical treatment, food and water, and are treated like prisoners. Some had been in these Indonesian detention centres for more than nine years – and it’s the only life that some of their children have ever known.

In the Sydney Morning Herald, it was even revealed that Indonesian authorities have beaten asylum seekers in detention.

 Though that doesn’t surprise me. 

Tales of officers shooting those who desperately swam to shore from sinking boats or the routine raping of young female ‘boat people’, have been passed around my family dinner table as casually as condiments and napkins. And that’s not including my uncle’s stories about living in poverty in Vietnam; or my auntie’s memories of her mother slaving away so she could send the kids to school; or their witnessing dead bodies and neighbours getting infected by Agent Orange; or being cramped on a little fishing boat with hundreds of other people; or my mother giving birth to my brother on one of those boats. Something tells me those 78 Sri Lankans are quite justified in wanting to disembark in Australia.



Funnily enough, while Australia argues over refugee issues, it was just last month that Sydney celebrated its annual Sydney International Food Festival. The city was alive with all sorts of cultural delights – night noodle markets in Hyde Park, Egyptian delicacies, and yes, even Cabramatta, the Vietnamese refugee ghetto of the late 80s and ex-drug capital of Sydney (well, at least it was when I grew up there), was recognised as being a foodie’s haven. 

So I find it ironic that we can celebrate diversity, include yum cha and dhaal in our Australian vernacular, and remain perfectly unperturbed by what is going on off the coast of Indonesia. We froth over Red Lantern owner, Luke Nguyen and hope to gain cultural ‘brownie points’ for appreciating fish sauce and lemongrass, and conveniently forget that he was once one of ‘those illegal boat people’. Have I missed something here?




As Australians, we ‘protext’ at a U2 concert, attend anti-poverty events, sponsor children, wear those sweatshop-produced rubber wristbands – heck, we even make designer T-shirts with trendy slogans to support refugees and end poverty. But when these issues arrive on our doorstep, it suddenly becomes a matter of ‘border security’; it’s simply too inconvenient. 


But what is not inconvenient is our forgetting that Indonesia is a third world country that is still dealing with the aftermath of a devastating earthquake. Australia, on the other hand, has just increased interest rates and decreased unemployment figures, as our economy remains one of the strongest in the world. So why are we shifting the responsibility to a little nation like Indonesia (that is clearly struggling with internal problems of its own) to do what we are legally obliged to do?


Do we really need celebrity endorsements and canvas tote bags with heart-wrenching Desmond Tutu quotes before we act on behalf of asylum seekers?


 It is simply too easy (and disgusting) to close off our borders and watch (on our plasma televisions) as others get persecuted, live in extreme poverty and at least try to provide a better life for their children – a life that we have inherited all too easily. Right now we sit comfortably at our desks, posting long-winded comments, theorising and politicising asylum seeker issues, oblivious to all that is going on within detention centres and the life that many have tried to leave behind.

Given our comparatively low asylum seeker intake, Australia is in a unique position to start thinking about – and implementing – an effective, humane and moral refugee policy. Although it’s not a big problem yet, experts are predicting a surge in immigration over the next few decades. 

But a sharp rise in our population is just the start. Economists say that climate change will displace even more people; new online technologies will completely rewrite the future working environment; and China and India’s booming economy will increase the demand for our natural resources.

Sydney Morning Herald journalist, Ross Gittens says, “You think we’ve got a problem with boat people? Can you imagine how many there’ll be if the Pacific islands and half of Bangladesh are under water?”


With all these factors coming into play, we will soon see more and more people knocking on our doors. But what will we do with them? How will we treat them? What will become of them and their children? Something has to be done to deal with these issues – and wishing these ‘illegal boat people’ away will certainly not do. Adopting an ‘out of sight, out of mind’ approach by dumping them offshore is equally as immature. Giant ‘Wrong Way Go Back’ signs are too myopic. We cannot go on ignoring the inevitable.

Do you think Australia needs to reconsider it’s approach towards refugees and asylum seekers? Tell us what you think below.