DOCUMENT:MAC_1.TXT N A T I O N A L A B O R I G I N A L C O N F E R E N C E POSITION PAPER ON REFUGEES REFUGEES ~~~~~~~~ The National Aboriginal Conference are particularly concerned about the Indo-China crisis. Since 1975 there has been a slow progression of refugees coming to Australia. There are two major components of the refugee population: one is the "boat people" from Vietnam; and the land people from Laos and especially from Kampuchea. The Australian government has revised its policy towards the development of a more concerted and effective refugee resettlement programme within Australia. The recent exodus of Vietnamese peoples of different racial and economic origins and Kampuchean peoples is due to the upheavals of war and changes in government in the Indo-Chinese area. Refugees continue to flow from these countries as a result of the aftermath of these events, and are taking up residence in Australia. In 1978 the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State estimated that 125 thousand people had left Laos for Thailand since 1975. Fifteen thousand left Kampuchea and thirty thousand people had left Vietnam by sea in the previous two years at which point in time there were over 100 thousand refugees in Thailand who were made up of Laotians and Kampucheans. The concern of the Aboriginal people at present is not so much an objection to the influx of refugees but it is that of concern with the failure of the Australian Government and other countries in the Western world to take positive action to give the indigenous people the right to exercise their inalienable right to freedom of determining their future and continued existence in their own countries. We take the view that resettling refugees in countries such as Australia will add to the increase of racial tension. We make this point merely to identify the fact that Australia since settlement has forced Aboriginals to be migrants within their own lands. We can best illustrate this point by showing that the usurpation of traditional land by the new settlers forced Aboriginals to flee and congregate in other tribal clan territories and this has in fact created tension between the invading Aboriginal groups with the local traditional armies and in fact this has set the pattern for the destruction of the traditional Aboriginal society as a whole. The primary concern of the Aboriginal people is the amount of influence that the refugee crisis may have in having the Australian government come to terms with the Aboriginal call for land rights. The Minister for Immigration and Ethnic Affairs, Mr. Mackellar, made a major policy statement to the House of Representatives on the 24th of May 1977 and he said: "Australia has a responsibility to contribute towards the solution of world refugee problems both for humanitarian reasons and to fulfil its international obligations. In articulating a policy on refugees, it was vital to realise that they were not merely "migrants beset by a few additional problems". He noted that, "They are often persons who are distressed and dissociated and who need specialized settlement assistance. Uprooted from their familiar surroundings, they may face the shock of cultural dissimilarities, a language barrier and perhaps the trauma of the discovery that their skills or the occupation they followed in their country of origin are not recognised or have no parallel in their country of refuge". The Minister also pointed out that "Australia's capacity to resettle refugees successfully depends on many factors including: the prevailing economic situation, the level of unemployment; THE LOCATIONS WITHIN AUSTRALIA TO WHICH REFUGEES WISH TO GO; the background of refugees to be accepted -- their capacity for early integration or otherwise; the availability of special post -- arrival services -- language instruction, education, training, accommodation, health and welfare, and the numbers of refugees for which voluntary agencies can care." The National Aboriginal Conference is concerned that when looking at the refugee crises, the Australian government fails to correct a major crisis within its own boundaries in relation to Aboriginal people. We specifically refer to a section in Mr. Mackellar's policy speech when referring to refugees he said "they are often persons who are distressed and dissociated and who need specialized settlement assistance. Uprooted from their familiar surroundings, they may face the shock of cultural dissimilarities, a language barrier and perhaps the trauma of the discovery that their skills or the occupation they followed in their country of origin are not recognised or have no parallel in their country of refuge." When looking at this quote the National Aboriginal Conference is appalled at the Government's continued failure to recognise the same problems that are confronted by our people as a whole. RECOMMENDATIONS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The National Aboriginal Conference urges that the World Conference of Indigenous Peoples' 3rd General Assembly make a concerted effort to have nations sympathetic to the rights of indigenous peoples exert economic and political embargoes upon those countries that deny the freedom and rights of the indigenous people. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :: -= THE FOURTH WORLD DOCUMENTATION PROJECT =- :: :: A service provided by :: :: The Center For World Indigenous Studies :: :: www.cwis.org :: ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Originating at the Center for World Indigenous Studies, Olympia, Washington USA www.cwis.org © 1999 Center for World Indigenous Studies (All Rights Reserved. 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