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Boundless
Plains To Share
Ellora Kelly
Orator Of The Year
Winner
Who dreams of winning lotto? That $21 million jackpot all yours.
Well, Surprise… You have already won. The greatest lottery is your
place of birth. It guarantees you legal protection fromdiscrimination,
education and access to clean water and shelter. More than two
thirds of the worlds population cannot guarantee these basic
human rights.
Nauru, is the size of Melbourne airport with a tent community
of 1200 asylum seekers on it. Lost, alone, unemployed and many in
poor health. They have fled discrimination and horrific violence.
Since September 2012, Australia has been incarcerating
ALL
asylum
seekers including children. Physically and emotionally vulnerable
they live in tents where temperatures can reach 45–50 degrees
celsius.
So, let me get this straight, fellow human beings are coming to us,
begging for help but we turn our hearts away and lock them up..
People on Nauru have constantly stated that they are ‘always scared,
all the time, always checking the door to see if it is locked.’ People
are promised medical treatment, but there are no prescriptions
filled, getting a pair of glasses can take 9 months.
Can you imagine getting sick in a foreign country where you did
not speak the language and you were told you could not have a
doctor?
What is worse is Australia is legally required to provide asylum.
Australia is defying articles 1–9, 12–14, 16, 20–25 and, 28–30 of
the
UN
Declaration for Human Rights. We breach 37 of the 43
articles of the Declaration of the Rights of the Child. We are guilty
of more than 1000 individual cases of abuse on Nauru. We should
be ashamed. Australia was one of the first signatories of the
UN
Declaration and now we mistreat those in need. Even basic privacy
is violated as women have been watched in the shower by male
guards.
In 2012 asylum seekers spent an average of 72 days on Nauru,
now it is 441! There are people who have been there for more than
3 years waiting… waiting. If we were the ones seeking asylum I hope
we would receive compassion and kindness. We give these people
nothing. Just think, what if we had not won the “born in Australia
lotto”. What if you were fleeing Syria right now?
During
WWII
, many English children went into the country
with signs around their necks stating their name, address and
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