ASYLUM SEEKERS AND IMMIGRANTS

Last year about 16,770 asylum seekers arrived on Australia's shores, with Sri Lankans the biggest group, numbering about 6360.  Canberra is struggling to contain the numbers and has set up processing centres on Nauru and Papua New Guinea. This issue is really delicate and distressing. How can we judge  people who are ready to leave their own countries,  risking everything, even their own lives on a boat to find  a better future?  Politicians and commercial media debate this topic in a very superficial way, simply describing them as irregular immigrants, doing something below the law and forgetting that they are humans like us. Only with a different passport.  I think that there is a need to consider this theme under a different point of view. For example who are really asylum seekers ? Why did they escape from their nations ? How did they arrive to Australia ?  Have they experienced detention ? Which difficulties had they faced to leave and work in Australia ? It’s very important to give them a voice to analyse the subject better. The majority of people simply judge them without having any direct experience, nor real knowledge. This project regarding radio producer about asylum seekers can be a good chance to shine a light on immigration difficulties. I  have already applied for it... cross finger !