Many countries across Asia are not safe due to poverty, war, politcal and economic instability, natural disasters and more
e.g. Myanmar after the milatary coup in 2021 and the Rohingya people who have faced mass violence, persecution and genocide
Refugees in Thailand
Thailand is where many of these refugees go
However there is little protection for refugees in Thailand
Refugees are unable to legally work
They lack access to basic resouces like food, water and education
Thailand’s Immigration Act 1979 catagorises all refugees as illegal immigrants
Refugees are vunerable to arbitrary arrest, detention and deportation.
Many rangers hunt down large groups of refugees who are then arrested and could be sent back to their home country
This leads to refugees live in fear of prosecution constantly
Australia’s Management of Incoming Refugees
Since 2013, the Australian government has forcibly transferred more than 3000 refugees to processing camps
Refugees spend years in sub-standard conditions in these camps
They suffer from severe abuse, inhumane treatment and medical neglect
Article 14 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that “Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy asylum in other countries without persecution.”
This is not upheld in Australia at all with most refugees being trapped forever in these camps or being sent back to countries like Thailand
Shaun Hanns, a former official in Australia’s immigration department, has said the whole process is a “waste of taxpayer money to torment people, to not impact on the ultimate outcome in any meaningful way anyway"
