Confronting Australian attitudes to refugees.

It is now time for Labor to pay for its bipartisanship on Phillip Ruddock and John Howard 's exploitation of the fear of refugees. SBS television's social experiment might do in three days what refugee advocates have being trying to do for decades: tell voters that refugees are not illegals, criminals or terrorists but rather are people, desperate and frightened, and seeking safety and protection.

Can you walk a mile in the shoes of a refugee? This is a question I first asked when I visited asylum seekers in Villawood detention centre in the weeks before the 2001 federal election. As national president of 'Fair go for Refugees', I continue to do so.

What happens when six 'ordinary' Australians live with refugees and share their journey for 25 days? SBS television's Go Back to where you come from? (airing from 21-23 June 2011) is finding out.

"Deprived of their wallets, phones and passports" six Australians "board a leaky refugee boat, are rescued mid-ocean, experience immigration raids in Malaysia, live in a Kenyan refugee camp and visit slums in Jordan before ultimately making it to the Democratic Republic of Congo and Iraq, protected by UN Peacekeepers and the US military."

A refugee journey in reverse, three participants begin in the Western Sydney suburb of Liverpool and three in the rural town of Albury. In Albury, they are immediately confronted by the experiences of the Masudi family, originally from Burundi and the Congo, who arrived in Australia from Kenya in mid-2009. The family was granted re-settlement in Australia after spending nine years in Kakuma Refugee Camp in north-west Kenya.

In Liverpool, three Australian's meet Wasmi, Salah, Nayef and Thair all from Iraq, all arrived in Australia within the last two years, and all now live in south-western Sydney. On their first day the Iraqi's take them to Villawood detention centre. Within three days, they are on a leaky boast heading to an unknown destination, as is the reality for many asylum seekers.

With the boat apparently leaking, they are rescued. But SBS has manipulated the situation and at least one of the participants is annoyed. The boat was not leaking and the participants were never at risk. Unlike those that attempted the journey to Australia on the SIEVX – of which 146 children, 142 women and 65 men drowned on their way to Australia on an Indonesian fishing boat and unlike the deaths of those off the rocks of Christmas Island in December 2010, the Australians were safely rescued from the 'staged' event.

SBS's social media experiment continues over the next two nights supported by a web site, that asks "Could you survive an asylum seeker' journey?"

Visitors are asked to participate in an interactive fact-based simulation and to take the quiz 'Boat people are queue jumpers: where do you stand?' It provides factsheets on some of the common myths about asylum seekers and refugees. Such as:

Are asylum seekers who arrive by boat illegal immigrants?

Asylum seekers who arrive in Australia by boat are neither engaging in illegal activity, nor are they immigrants. The U.N. Refugee Convention (to which Australia is a signatory) recognises that refugees have a right to enter a country for the purposes of seeking asylum, regardless of how they arrive or whether they hold valid travel or identity documents.

How safe are refugee camps?

The majority of the world's refugees live in countries bordering their own. Some refugee camps can hold hundreds of thousands of people, in conditions that are, at best, very difficult. Food and water supplies are unpredictable and refugees are often not allowed to leave or work outside the camp. Violence, especially rape, is common.

Does Australia take in its 'fair share' of refugees?

The overwhelming majority of the world's refugees are situated in the developing world in countries neighboring their own. In 2009, of the 10.4 million refugees under the mandate of UNHCR, 8.3 million or 80 per cent were hosted by developing countries. Only 17 per cent of the refugees under UNHCR's mandate live outside their region of origin. 

Are refugees who arrive by boat queue jumpers?

Applying for protection onshore is not a means of "jumping the queue" or bypassing the "proper" process of applying for protection. In fact, applying onshore is the standard procedure for seeking protection. According to the definition in the UN Refugee Convention, refugees are persons who are outside their country of origin.

What social security benefits do refugees receive?

A refugee who has permanent residency in Australia receives exactly the same social security benefits as any Australian-born person in the same circumstances. Refugees apply for social security through Centrelink like everyone else. There are no separate Centrelink allowances that one can receive simply by being a refugee.

Are asylum seekers who arrive by boat a threat to Australia's national security?

The majority of asylum seekers who have reached Australia by boat have been found to be genuine refugees. Between 70 and 90 per cent have typically been found to be refugees, compared to around 40 to 45 per cent of asylum seekers who arrive with some form of temporary visa (e.g. tourist, student or temporary work visa). In the 2009-10 financial year, the primary recognition rate for asylum seekers who arrived by boat was 73 per cent, compared to 44 per cent for asylum seekers who arrived on a temporary visa.

The timing of the program could not be worse for Gillard. Her left-wing caucus members are threatening to veto the Malaysian solution, Gillard's support is disintegrating in opinion polls and Tony Abbot is peddling around Nauru saying 'stop the boats' and 'start the votes.' The next two episodes cannot be missed. Nor can the op-eds and weekend political analysis that is surely to come. I am betting David Marr will be on Barry Cassidy's couch! But will Andrew Bolt make a surprise return?