Najeeba's story

Najeeba Wazefadost
“Leaving your country for good is one of the hardest decisions you can be forced to make.”
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Fact 1

Fact 1
It is not illegal to seek asylum in Australia, even if arriving by boat.

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Farida and Hussain's story

Hussain Dad
“My children are safe and we can finally sleep well for the whole night, without fear and bomb blasts.”
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fact 2

Fact 2
In Australia, there is 1.1 refugee for every 1,000 people.

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John's story

John Jegasothy
“I’m really concerned about the misconceptions about refugees coming to this country.”
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Fact 3

Fact 3
In 2010, 6,879 asylum seekers arrived in Australia. That’s only 6.8% of the seats in the MCG.
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Chaman's story

Chaman Shah Nasiri
“After I left, my father was tortured so badly he died in prison… The same would have happened to me.”
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Fact 4

Fact 4
Australian Centrelink benefits for an asylum seeker? $0.

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Ashane's story

Ashane
“We knew the boat would be very dangerous, but there was nothing else. Everything else was hopeless.”
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Fact 5

Fact 5
The number of refugees who have arrived by boat, and who have been terrorists? Zero.
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Dinh Tran’s story

Dinh Tran
“When we left, mum & dad had already accepted that we were all going to die. You risk everything on a boat.”
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Fact 6

Fact 6
In 2009, 8,427 sought asylum in Australia – compared to 45,197 in the United Kingdom.
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Asylum seekers swim ashore at Cocos Islands

02/08/2012

“_Published by ABC News_

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Someone said

A boat carrying 67 Tamil asylum seekers has arrived undetected at the Cocos Islands. The boat was 200 metres from the Cocos Islands when four of the men onboard swam ashore. A local resident said that the said the people on board were exhausted and in need of food. He also stated that the boat was “obviously crowded with bodies”, and that he was worried that the asylum seekers onboard might try to traverse the surf to get to the shore, which “would be catastrophic because it’s jagged reef”.

Did you know

People who get on boats often know the risks but feel they have no choice because of the
terrible danger they face where they are. If we really want to ‘stop the boats’, we would make
refugees’ lives safer in countries like Malaysia and Indonesia, instead of further punishing
people who arrive on our shores fleeing terror and violence. On average, it costs $5-20,000 to seek asylum in Australia. Many asylum seekers are not wealthy, but borrow money from relatives and/or sell land and possessions to make the journey to safety.

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Join the conversation

Let's reject the myths and think again about asylum seekers and refugees. Join the conversation by adding #rethinkrefugees to your tweets or click on a link below to get involved in your local area.