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Showing posts from January, 2011

The Facts of Australian Refugees Awareness

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The Six Facts, every refugee need to know when they seek refuge in Australia. These facts are based on the Regulations of the Department of Immigrations and according to Australian Refugees Policy and by Law.

Queensland Flood Disaster, 16 die in Qld floods, 60 missing

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The death toll from Queensland's devastating floods has climbed to 16, Premier Anna Bligh says. "This morning the search and rescue teams located another woman who was found deceased near Grantham," she told reporters. Ms Bligh told reporters in Brisbane there were 53 people unaccounted for, including 12 for whom police hold grave fears. Some communities, such as Theodore in central Queensland, had been evacuated entirely. The premier said 4436 people are currently living in 50 emergency evacuation centres. A further 7502 people have registered as being out of their homes. Ms Bligh said there are many thousands more who have not registered. She said those people are "very dislocated at the end of this week". Ms Bligh said Queensland had been overwhelmed by support from other parts of the country. "It certainly helps to endure an event like this, to know we are not alone," she said. The premier said the state had ended the week with a determinatio

Queensland Flood Disaster, 16 die in Qld floods, 60 missing

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The premier braced Queensland for a potentially dramatic rise in the death toll from flash flooding. A four-year-old boy's death during an attempt to rescue his family has taken the  Queensland floods death toll to  16, with 60 people still missing. Queensland Premier Anna Bligh said the number of missing people had risen to 60 , with grave concerns held for 18 people. The four-year-old boy was swept away in floodwaters at Marburg, west of Brisbane. "The best advice we have at this stage is that this boy's life was lost during an attempt to rescue him and his family," Ms Bligh told reporters on Tuesday night. Ipswich Mayor Paul Pisasale said the boy had fallen out of a boat. "We've just found out a four-year-old-boy has fallen out of a boat and they've just found the body," Mr Pisasale told the ABC. Ms Bligh said the number of missing people had risen from 59 to 78. "Clearly as we get more information from families looking for their loved ones,

Refugees Awareness

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Refugees Awareness: Australia is home to a considerable refugee community that is misunderstood and whose needs are oftentimes overlooked. The media, our own pre-existing misconceptions as well as limited interaction with the members of this community have all contributed to a situation where little knowledge regarding the issues, problems and horrific experiences facing this community is known in the general public. Settling successfully into a new country with a completely different culture is intimidating and it understandably takes time to adapt. Furthermore, the pre-arrival experiences of many refugees and asylum seekers mean that they have very specific settlement needs which can be inadequately addressed by government-provided services. Oftentimes it is left up to the community to aid in the successful settlement of refugees in the long term. Our Australian refugees awareness group (ARA) has organised a series of events focusing on bringing students more information on this iss

Floods in Australia, Natural disaster

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Floods: Some parts of Queensland are on standby for flash flooding as more torrential rain disrupts recovery attempts in areas where raging rivers have begun to subside. The focus of attention has shifted southwards from central to southeast Queensland which is being battered by heavy local falls. Authorities have warned that the ground is so waterlogged that sudden downpours can quickly cause flash flooding. Emergency Management Queensland (EMIT) Acting Deputy Chief Officer Warren Bridson on Sunday warned Queenslanders that they can't presume what increased rainfall will do. "This year, with all of the catchments primed (and) the rivers already flooding, that 200mm of rain will mean something very different," he said. "It could mean the difference between a minor flood and a major flood." He advised people experiencing high rainfall to tune in to local weather warnings.

The Refugees Conventions

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The Refugees Convention Australia is one of 146 signatory countries to the United Nations 1951 Convention and/or 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees. The Convention defines refugees as people who: are outside their country of nationality or their usual country of residence are unable or unwilling to return or to seek the protection of that country due to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion are not war criminals or people who have committed serious non-political crimes. The Convention does not oblige signatory countries to provide protection to people who do not fear persecution and have left their country of nationality or residence on the basis of war, famine, environmental collapse or in order to seek a better life for themselves or their family. Protection obligations may also not be owed to a person who already has effective protection in another country

It’s always good to get a new perspective on an old problem, particularly one debated with such sound and fury as refugees. .

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Khalid Koser is associate dean at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy and co-editor of the Journal of Refugee Studies. A paper he has just written as non-resident fellow at the Lowy Institute conveys the outsider's sense of wonderment about our reaction to boatpeople . "Australia is not undergoing an asylum crisis of the sort that warrants such attention," he writes. "To be sure, asylum and immigration are near the top of the political agenda in many other industrialised countries, especially in Europe and political leaders there have ramped up their rhetoric against asylum-seekers, especially during national elections. "But in a period of global downturn, no other government has translated rhetoric into policy in the way that the Australian government has." He marvels at the resources we are prepared to devote to the problem, including $654 million over four years to combat people smuggling and hundreds of millions on expanded detention centres. "

I still call Australia home and Refuge, Natural disasters in Australia, Cyclones

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Cyclones: Australia experiences a range of 'natural disasters' including bushfires, floods, severe storms, earthquakes and landslides. These events cause great financial hardship for individuals and communities, and can result in loss of life, which has become part of Australian folklore. However, these events are also considered both part of the natural cycle of weather patterns in Australia as well as being affected by human factors such as overstocking, vegetation loss, dams, groundwater and irrigation schemes. These patterns are recognised by terms such as a 100-year drought - a drought of severity that is only seen once in a hundred years. Fire can often follow drought, and drought can be followed by flood. Severe fires followed by drought can also contribute to soil erosion. The experience of natural disaster has come to be seen as part of the Australian national character as described in the poem ' My Country ' by Dorothea McKellar (1904). I love a sunburnt coun

I still call Australia home and refuge, Natural disasters in Australia, Floods

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Floods: Australia experiences a range of 'natural disasters' including bushfires, floods, severe storms, earthquakes and landslides. These events cause great financial hardship for individuals and communities, and can result in loss of life, which has become part of Australian folklore. However, these events are also considered both part of the natural cycle of weather patterns in Australia as well as being affected by human factors such as overstocking, vegetation loss, dams, groundwater and irrigation schemes. These patterns are recognised by terms such as a 100-year drought - a drought of severity that is only seen once in a hundred years. Fire can often follow drought, and drought can be followed by flood. Severe fires followed by drought can also contribute to soil erosion. The experience of natural disaster has come to be seen as part of the Australian national character as described in the poem ' My Country ' by Dorothea McKellar (1904). I love a sunburnt country

I still call Australia home and refuge, Natural disasters in Australi, Fire

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Fire :   Australia experiences a range of 'natural disasters' including bushfires, floods, severe storms, earthquakes and landslides. These events cause great financial hardship for individuals and communities, and can result in loss of life, which has become part of Australian folklore. However, these events are also considered both part of the natural cycle of weather patterns in Australia as well as being affected by human factors such as overstocking, vegetation loss, dams, groundwater and irrigation schemes. These patterns are recognised by terms such as a 100-year drought - a drought of severity that is only seen once in a hundred years. Fire can often follow drought, and drought can be followed by flood. Severe fires followed by drought can also contribute to soil erosion. The experience of natural disaster has come to be seen as part of the Australian national character as described in the poem ' My Country ' by Dorothea McKellar (1904). I love a sunburnt countr

I still call Australia home and refuge, Natural disasters in Australia, Drought

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Drought :  Australia experiences a range of 'natural disasters' including bushfires, floods, severe storms, earthquakes and landslides. These events cause great financial hardship for individuals and communities, and can result in loss of life, which has become part of Australian folklore. However, these events are also considered both part of the natural cycle of weather patterns in Australia as well as being affected by human factors such as overstocking, vegetation loss, dams, groundwater and irrigation schemes. These patterns are recognised by terms such as a 100-year drought - a drought of severity that is only seen once in a hundred years. Fire can often follow drought, and drought can be followed by flood. Severe fires followed by drought can also contribute to soil erosion. The experience of natural disaster has come to be seen as part of the Australian national character as described in the poem ' My Country ' by Dorothea McKellar (1904). I love a sunburnt coun