Anxiety and empathy
Someone recently accused me of not being empathetic to their anxiety. And upon reflection I see that they were correct: I wasn’t sufficiently compassionate to their suffering. I’ve pondered this … Continue reading
Australian government cover-up mental health of children asylum seekers
When I was in Kulala Lumpur in January I spoke with a Burmese refugee whose 14 year old nephew is detained on Christmas Island. The man was happy that his nephew … Continue reading
What will become of asylum seekers?
157 mostly Tamil asylum seekers from India and Sri Lanka were held at sea for over a month and are denied the right to have their claims for refugee status processed on Christmas Island. … Continue reading
Caning for rape victim?
Unfortunately it’s true that a 25 year-old woman faces up to nine lashes with a wooden cane as punishment for “adultery” after being gang-raped by eight men in the Langsa district … Continue reading
Boko Haram and Nigeria: The Power of Social Media
In keeping with my pledge to Amnesty International that I would use my blog to bring people to the Amnesty International website, I have prepared a post on the abductions of … Continue reading
Crisis in the Central African Republic
This week I was called twice by a persistent young man from Amnesty International asking me to make monthly donations. I listened to his spiel and agreed that the work … Continue reading
Will Australia send refugees to Cambodia?
In late February, Australia’s foreign minister, Julie Bishop, visited Cambodia to ask if Australia could initially send a small group of asylum seekers to live in Cambodia. Presumably this is a … Continue reading
Refugee statistics
Having posted a few times on Australia’s policies towards asylum seekers I decided to drill down into the actual statistics of who arrives in Australia, by what means, and what … Continue reading
Death of asylum seeker on Manus Island: Australia’s shame grows
On Sunday about 35 people broke out of the Manus Island mandatory detention centre after they became agitated during a meeting about their future resettlement prospects. On Monday, an asylum seeker inside Manus … Continue reading
International criticism of Australia’s treatment of asylum seekers
Today China’s vice-minister of foreign affairs, Li Baodong, said he was concerned about the ”very important issue” of the treatment of refugees and asylum seekers, especially children, who arrive in … Continue reading
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