I recently wrote an essay, ‘A home among the peach trees’ about refugee settlement in regional Australia and I wrote it for two reasons. One was because while I care and am vocal about the cruelty with which Australia treats refugees, especially those in offshore detention, I also believe not enough time is spent discussingContinue reading “Essay: ‘A home among the peach trees’”
Tag Archives: immigration
Australia & Tamil refugees: what the media is saying
With reports that Australia has returned more than 150 Tamils seeking asylum from Sri Lanka, back to the Sri Lanka, the spotlight on Australia’s ‘draconian measures’ (as the New York Times puts it) towards refugees has been in the national and global spotlight. And it hasn’t been ignored by the UNHCR — the United Nation’sContinue reading “Australia & Tamil refugees: what the media is saying”
Gathering for Reza
On Sunday 16 February 2014, a violent riot took place in Australia’s offshore-detention centre on Manus Island, Papua New Guinea. During the violence, a young Iranian man, Reza Berati, was killed. A week later, on Sunday 23 February, candlelight vigils — ‘Light the Dark’ — were held around Australia. There were reportedly more than 700Continue reading “Gathering for Reza”
Reporting Australia’s social cohesion
Today the Scanlon Foundation, at Melbourne’s Monash University, released its annual research report on social cohesion in Australia. The report is formed from the findings of the sixth Scanlon Foundation Mapping Social Cohesion National Survey, conducted in July 2013. Tim Soutphommasane, Australia’s Race Discrimination Commissioner, was discussing the findings on ABC 774 Melbourne morning radio. Following a yearContinue reading “Reporting Australia’s social cohesion”
Amy Feldtmann 