Vietnamese Boat People, 1984. Credit: Phil Eggman.

By Nayano Taylor-Neumann

We who hate the dehumanizing rhetoric of ‘floods’ and hoards’ and ‘human cargo’ are on course to lose the struggle for ‘hearts and minds’, unless we change how we publicly address the issue. Most of the arguments I see are ineffective. Here’s a few reasons:

We  need to stop playing  the intellectually superior:  ‘the numbers of asylum seekers as a percentage of total refugees in the world April 2002 to November 5 2009 allowing for coefficients of confusion shows that …’

Stop appealing to international law such as the Refugee Convention, when the people who are most worried about asylum seekers are concerned with law in Australia:

“A reason we love being in Australia is we feel a sense of security because we have rules and regulations in place,” said Mrs Davidson, who lives at Coolum with her husband and children, Joshua, 7, Max, 5, and Carrie,2. (Ex Zimbabwe)

“There’s a real sense of security – you’re protected by those rules.” Message is clear: don’t do it illegally, Sunshine Coast News

We are not addressing real concerns: “ It’s important not to be seen as weak.”

Have you ever heard anyone saying that the Rudd government’s decision to rescind some of the Howard government asylum seeker legislation was a strong move? Please reply in the Comments if you have.

Saying things are worse in other countries (see Andrew Bartlett’s post – excellent, but preaching to the converted). If you believe you are drowning, it doesn’t help if someone tells you that other people are likely to drown sooner.

Originally published in A Possie in Aussie October 19, 2009.

Nayano Taylor-Neumann. Credit: N. Taylor-Neumann

Nayano Taylor-Neumann works with migrants in many areas including assisting refugees and workers on temporary skilled migration visas. She is also finishing a PhD thesis on integration of refugees on Temporary Protection Visas (a form of refugee visa that is no longer with us – thanks to the present Labor Government!)