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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First Sydney families take in refugee boats overflow

08/06/2012

Published by the Courier Mail

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The story said

The first asylum seekers to be billeted in Sydney homes arrived at the front doors of families last night as residents answered the Gillard government’s call to relieve it of its boat people dilemma.Almost 3000 people registered to be sent asylum seekers after the government last month teamed with the Australian Homestay Network (AHN). Michelle Tisch and her three Afghan foster children received their new house guests last night saying “I wanted to do something for our community…I want to help these young people assimilate. I don’t want to change them culturally but coming to Australia is very different to what they know.”

Did you know

Housing asylum seekers in Australian communities rather than detention centres has a number of benefits. It is significantly cheaper, has far less negative mental health implications, and gives asylum seekers the chance to contribute to the Australian community while they wait for their claims to be processed. It is true that asylum seekers and refugees have a long and proud history of contributing to the communities that welcome them.

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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.