Refugees Rights and Responsibilities across the Contemporary World

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Asylum Seekers in Australia

Refugee crises are one of the main reasons for their generation and situations like war, human rights violations, environmental factors, and climatic situations create situations through which an individual needs to become a refugee. Refugees are present all over the world, but three main countries generate 55 percent of refugees which are Afghanistan, Sudan, and Syria. Australia is one of the most participating countries when it comes to refugees and their acceptance from different countries. The history of Australia for accepting refugees is quite strong, as in the early 1990s the country accepted more than half a million refugees. In the year 2012, approx. 20000 individuals who were refugees and displaced were accepted into Australia (Bidinger et. al., 2014). Year by year, Australia is contributing by accepting refugees in their nation and making all the efforts to ensure that all of them are provided with equal rights and responsibilities.

Since 1945 Asylums have been granted to many refugees, and during World War II, more than half a million refugees and others were dispatched to Australia and accepted there. Australia keeps on accepting several refugees year by year. As of 2015 and 2016, the total number of refugees accepted was 17,555 in total. In the year 2017, around 1.9 million asylum were lodged with governments or through UNHCR. 2% of the total is fewer in Australia, which is quite high in numbers.

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Refugees are provided with the right to safe asylum and the protection for them is more than physical safety available to them. For this concept, it has been stated that refugees must be provided with the same rights and responsibilities as any other foreigner who is a legal resident in another country. Together with this freedom of thought, movement, and freedom from torture and degrading treatment must be available to them (Boswell, 2017). As per the Humanitarian program of the Australian government, refugees are provided with protection visas, which are provided to them based on Australian immigration law.

In Australia, asylum seekers arrive by plane with a valid visa and are provided with several rights that are specifically introduced by them. To save them United Nations Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, as amended by its 1967 protocol. As a member of the UN, all the rules and regulations are also implemented. Australia has obligations to protect the human rights of all asylum seekers and refugees who arrive in Australia. The obligation of protection will not change when refugees arrive in the country without a visa. Lawmakers and developers in Australia ensured that no individual who falls under the definition of a refugee as per the United Nations will be sent back to a country where the life and freedom of individuals are threatened.

As a member state of the UN, Australia has an obligation not to return propel those who have faced some real crises in their own country as per CRC and CAT. These individuals will not be sent to some other country. In addition to this, asylum seekers in Australia as per government treaties with other nations will ensure that their human rights are protected and respected. As per the Migration Act of 1958, thousands of asylum seekers as well as recognized refugees are held in detention around Australia (Immigration Detention and Human Rights, 2016). This act validates the existence of refugees and asylum seekers who have arrived in Australia on the mainland or to some extended offshore places with a valid visa. Asylum seekers who do not possess valid visas must be held in immigration detention until they are provided with a visa or removed from Australia. There is no time limit specified in the law to detain a person in immigration detention. Sometimes it takes an individual to prove their claim of being a refugee.

These asylum seekers and refugees are transferred out of the closed immigrant detention and the government has initiated a program through which a community can be established by them. The government is taking primary concern for these individuals so that their safety, security, and health can be maintained more appropriately (Bradley, 2013). In Australia asylum seekers who do not possess a valid visa are not provided validity to stay there and transfer to some third country. Australia's international human rights obligations are relevant to how people are treated while in immigration detention. Some of the human rights of these individuals are defined as follows:

• No one should be subjected to arbitrary detention.
• Children should not be detained as a measure of last resort.
• An individual who is detained has the right to challenge the lawfulness of their detention in court.
• All the detained individuals should be treated with humanity.
• No one should be subjected to torture, inhumanity, or cruel punishments and treatments.
• When children are involved in that case, all the decisions must be made in the best interest of the child.
• No one should be returned to a nation where the freedom and rights of individuals are threatened.
• All the human rights are provided to them without any form of discrimination.

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Asylum seekers who arrive in Australia by plan have their claims for protection assessed through the refugee status determined and complementary protection system that applies under the Migration Act. Asylum seekers who have arrived in Australia by boat to offshore places also become eligible to have their claims as per the Migration Act. Asylum seekers who have their claims processed in Australia are made a primary assessment to identify whether they are refugees or not. If asylum seekers are found to be refugees, then requirements for health, identity, and security will be granted with a protection visa (Brysk, 2013). Persons who are not considered to be refugees are sent to their place of origin or country. Individuals who refuse protection have access to independent merits review by the Refugee Review Tribunal.

Asylum-seeking is a legal activity based on human rights in Australia and any other country. Claims made by these individuals must satisfy the criteria for asylum seekers or refugees. Some of the amendments are made in the Migration Act, and based on these changes, individuals who have arrived in offshore places of Australia and are considered official asylum seekers are liable to be transferred to a third country. The commission aims to provide clear, factual information to improve community awareness and understanding of the situation of asylum seekers and refugees in Australia. The commission aims to highlight the human rights issue of treating and managing asylum seekers. Interactive web material has been developed so that human rights can be protected.

Crises among nations are increasing continuously and the number of refugees is increasing continuously. Several factors lead to the flow of refugees and these factors are not in the control of the government of the nation (Cohen, 2012). Factors such as conditions in the countries of origin, geographical issues, historical ties, and some of the structural factors lead to the creation of more and more refugees. One of the major factors that results in the creation of refugees all over the world is the perception regarding religion, caste, color, and some of the political factors. The situation of hunger, war, and climate change also leadledthe flow of refugees in Australia. All these factors generate more and more refugees and other nations become homes for these refugees.

The movement of individuals from one nation to another made life quite difficult, as access to resources that are required for them is not as easy as citizens of the country. government of each nation is considering this situation and making all possible efforts so that all these factors that generate refugees are minimised and can be controlled. This is achieved through providing easy and fair availability of resources to all the citizens of the nation in an equal manner. Together with this, citizens in situations of war are made with suitable solutions so that the flow of refugees can be avoided.

At present, Australia is the only country with a policy of mandatory detention and offshore processing of asylum seekers who are arriving without a valid visa (El-Shaarawi, 2015). Asylum is granted to people fleeing serious harm in their own country who need international protection. Asylum is termed a fundamental right and granted as an international obligation. This was recognized in the year 1951 for the first time in the Geneva Convention for the protection of refugees. As the claim of asylum seekers for being termed refugees has not yet been determined, this requires laws and policies so they can be protected with equal rights. Some of the policies applicable to refugees are as follows:

• Refugee and Humanitarian Programme
• The Migration Act, 1958
• Refugee Convention
• International Convent on Civil and Political Rights
• Convention on the Rights of the Child

Asylum seekers and refugees are taking political protection in different nations. When these persons feel serious harm and persecution in their own country therefore require international support and help from governments of various countries of the world (Fernandes, 2015). Various asylum acts, like the Geneva Convention on the Protection of Refugees, are made by the EU for the protection of refugees. A description of government policies and the role of other legal authorities towards asylum seekers and refugees in various countries is provided below:

In Australia, a refugee and humanitarian program is started by the government, which consists of several visas that are made available for refugees and other seekers of asylum to protect them from all kinds of harm. The total number of locations and places that are available under this policy and program of the government of Australia is currently around 13,750, and besides this, 12,000 additional places are also made available in upshot to meet the refugee crisis that has emerged due to the conflicts between Iraq and Syria.

The government of Brazil has a constitutional principle that provides for granting asylum, and together with this, a federal law is also there to help and support refugees. Besides this, a national council subordinate also coordinates and manages immigration activity in Brazil (Fozdar, 2012). A Refugee Status Act of 1951 is also created in the country under the Ministry of Justice to deal with refugee matters. Permanent residency and citizenship are also made available to the holders of asylum and refugee status, but certain requirements must be met by them.

In Canada, the refugee system is mainly regulated by the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, which canonizes the Humanitarian Resettlement Program for those individuals who seek protection from outside countries of Canada. The government of Canada supports most of the quotas and allocations of refugees to properly assist and manage refugee programs. The government of Canada also allows private organizations to sponsor and identify individuals who belong to the category of admissibility and eligibility requirements as per the law of Canada.

The issues of racism, religious intolerance, and empathy continue to be faced by the refugees, who face interpersonal as well as institutional racism. This sustains their lower socioeconomic status by keeping them away from economic opportunities as well as land ownership. Moreover, the men and women who belong to the refuse or Indigenous community have a shorter life as compared to the non-indigenous people. The main issue behind this is that they don't get much access to better places, food, or other facilities as compared to other people in the country. This directly affects their health, and it further increases the issues related to it to a great extent (Gammeltoft-Hansen, 2014). In addition to this, the large and growing body of evidence consistently implicates racism activities as core determinants in health-related service access for Indigenous Australians. Various studies are being performed on this, from which it has been determined that the effect of racism on the health of adult Aboriginal Australians is relatively higher as they face poor health, which includes self-assessed poor health status and physical as well as mental health. This is because the refugees mainly get low access to health services, as the institutions also provide less access to them due to their perception toward criticizing and performing racial discrimination against them.

Inequality due to various factors in the necessities and human rights access is one of the biggest reasons why refugees are taking shelter in different nations, and various rules and regulations are implemented in this relation.

CONCLUSION

From the above project report, it has been concluded that the government of Australia is performing all the possible steps so that the rights and responsibilities of refugees can be provided fairly. There are special protocols to save the human rights of refugees, and the status of these individuals is made clear as per law. Several factors make the flow of refugees, and these factors are controlled so that the number of refugees can be managed. There is a historical development recorded in terms of refugees and the creation of legal rights to protect them. The government policies of each country are different and strong to save refugees and provide them with fair rights and responsibilities. Refugees in Australia made a good amount of contribution to generate growth in the country.

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