Asylum seekers as individuals

On April 25, the Lady Sandra, an oil rig support ship off Cairns, helped rescue 60 Afghan asylum seekers who arrived in an unseaworthy boat. The Lady Sandra's skipper, exposed to the human side of the issue for the first time, immediately changed his views on boat people. He talks about it eloquently in an article from the Cairns Post.

Our policy of locking away asylum seekers means it's easy not to think of them as individuals. As a group, they're often portrayed as a threat, or as greedy people wanting to sneak into the country and take our jobs, or somehow undermine our way of life.

Think about this: What would it take to make you give up all your possessions, leave behind your home, your friends, your family? What would it take to make you risk your life by getting on a crowded, leaky boat, and try to sail half way around the world?

Would you do it because you wanted a holiday? Would you do it just because you felt you could make more money in another country? Would you do it if you were a terrorist wanting to attack a country?

No. You'd do it because you felt it was the only alternative. You'd do it because you were desperate, because you feared for your freedom, or your life.

The vast majority of asylum seekers are people just like us, trying to escape horrendous circumstances. I wish Australia's treatment of them reflected the compassion I feel when I think about that.