How bad must a detention centre be when an Afghan asylum seeker who escaped Afghanistan with her family for fear of their lives, says she doesn't want to remember her time there?
Human nature seems to rear it's ugly head when the topic of asylum seekers is approached. Australians are protective of their land and resources. We want to keep our lucky country secure from foreign enemies, quarantined from foreign diseases and a utopia for those born into it, or able to jump through the necessary hoops.
It is a fact, that we need to be mindful our resources will run low, and we don't have the means to sustain our growing nation. But it is also a fact that in places like Afghanistan, desperate people are risking their lives to escape.
Imagine if it was us. If we had corrupt governments, if we had to hide in black painted windows and prayer our father/husband/brother, would make it home alive each day. If we heard of a country flowing with fresh water and freedom, and the only way to get there was to spend all the money we had, risk our lives, and leave behind our friends and family. The desperation of these moments is humbling.
Najeeba says many Australian kids call them 'Queue jumpers', but she explains that they did not come to Australia to see something new, but because of peace. Now 22, she is believes she would have been dead at the age of 12.
The Cast Away kids reveals the humanity behind the topic of Asylum Seekers in Australia.
Julia Gillard says "
Australia's basic decency does not accept the idea of punishing women and children by locking them up behind razor wire". If it doesn't accept it, then why do we still have over 1, 000 children locked up in detention centres?
Watch Najeeba's story.
"The first smile I got from an Australian person, she said you guys seem lost. She taught me how to smile. She taught me that everyone's not the same based on what I had suffered in the detention centre".
Do we base our solution on humanitarian equality or sustainability for our nation?
