Make a Whistle From my Throat

I do not knowwhat will happen after I die.I do not want to know.Make a whistle from my throat

But I would like the Potter to make a whistlefrom the clay of my throat.May this whistle fall into the handsof a cheeky and naughty childand the child to blow hard on the whistle continuouslywith the suppressed and silent air of his lungsand disrupt the sleepof those who seem deadto my cries.

AnonymousBaxter detention centre 2005

This poem, written by an asylum seeker detained in Villawood, was read out in Hyde Park, and also at the Canberra protest, for World Refugee Day 2002.

(P) The poem is a symbolic representation of how the Australian people choose to ignore or remain ignorant of the refugee crisis in Australia by using the metaphor of a whistle.

(E) For example, the disembodied persona hopes that the whistle is blown by the child using his “suppressed and silent air of his lungs/and disrupt the sleep/of those who seem dead”.

(A) The use of the metaphoric whistle alludes to the idea of “whistle blowing”, and how refugees themselves are incapable of articulating their plight , not merely as a result of language barriers but because Australians choose not to listen to their suffering.

(A) The use sibilance “suppressed ... silent ... sleep ... seem” emphasises the lack of “breath”, and how there is no power behind the voice of refugees, which in terms of the effect on the media and government, resemble a whisper that cannot wake them from complacency.

(A) The use of the alliteration, “disrupt ... dead” exemplify the dormant state of Australia in rectifying the suffering of refugees, the poet in fact criticising the lack of action on the part of many Australians who choose not to focus on their inhuman treatment.

ILL – Issue Law Limitation

What are examples of limitations?What is the law is not able to do?Does the law achieve its purpose?Does the law discriminate ?Does the law disadvantage a group? Is the law just? Is the law fair? Is the law equal? Is the law easily accessed?Time – is the law consistent with the time/context?Is the law ethical? Is the law moral?Is there another agenda for the law?Does the law protect human rights? (UN conventions)

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What can you use to outline the effectiveness of law?UN – International LawStatisticsStatements of Judges (from judgements – obiter dicta)Opinion of Academics (Law, Psychology, Sociology, Feminism)Opinion of Government Officials

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United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of RefugeesA person who is a refugee has a number of important rights under the Refugee Convention, including:

• the right to seek asylum in a country outside their country of origin which has agreed to be bound by the Refugee Convention• the right not to be returned to the country where they have a well-founded fear of persecution• the right not to be discriminated against or penalised because they are a refugee• the right to equal access to the courts• freedom of religion and movement• the right to education and employment

I - In Australia, the treatment of refugees is breaching the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhumane and Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CATOC).

L- According to CATOC, refugees have a right to the “freedom from torture, cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment”, which means that when refugees are being processed in Australia, they need to

L- Although, Australia is a signatory to this convention

Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhumane and Degrading Treatment or Punishment (1984).

• freedom from arbitrary arrest or detention;

• freedom from torture, cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment;

• the right to the equal protection of the law

• the right not to be expelled, returned or extradited to a State where there aresubstantial grounds for believing that a person would be in danger of beingsubjected to torture;

Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989)

• the right of children to have their best interests taken as a primary consideration inall actions concerning them, whether undertaken by public or private socialwelfare institutions, courts of law, administrative authorities or legislative bodies

I - In Australia

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Migration Legislation Amendment Act (No. 6) 2001 (Cth), section 5Changing the meaning of ‘persecution’

In 2001, the Federal Parliament passed legislation which narrowed the definition of‘persecution’.1

The new provisions of the Migration Act say that the reasons forpersecution set out in the Refugee Convention will not apply unless:

- the reason is the essential and significant reason for the persecution, and- the persecution involves serious harm to the person; and- the persecution involves systematic and discriminatory conduct.

It is undesirable to prescriptively define a term that must be able to respond and evolve according to changed circumstances of the person or reference country and developments in human rights law.

‘Persecution for a Convention reason may take an infinite variety of forms fromdeath or torture to the deprivation of opportunities to compete on equal terms with other members of the relevant society.’

McHugh J in “Applicant A” & Anor v Minister for Immigration and Ethnic Affairs &Anor [1997] 190 CLR 225

I – According to the High Court

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