Legal Aid Presentation
Dr Melika Yassin Sheikh-Eldin
Date 2 September 2009
Ladies and gentlemen
First, I would like to acknowledge and pay my respect to the traditional owners of this land past and present.On this occasion, I would like to congratulate the Footscray Community legal centre for running such an important research and for their valued contribution to examine the peculiarities of the legal and social problems facing new arrived Africans and their underlying causes.It is a great pleasure to be with you today as we talk together about the challenges facing members of the New and Emerging African communities during their settlement journey in a new country.
It is a journey that begins a long way from here, and continues as they seek meaningful ways of engagement and a new identity in their new country.
Coming to a new and developed country from a refugee camp is a life changing experience for every refugee or humanitarian entrant.It carries the excitement, the challenges, the fear of the unknown, the high expectation to integrate and the hopes and aspirations for a better life. The barriers are huge and designing ways for a smooth transition has to be the ultimate goal of everyone, whether it be the government, the recipient, or service providers.
We all know that there is great diversity within and between African refugees resettling in Australia, ranging from skilled professionals, trades people and or those with limited education. This diversity also extends to their abilities in spoken and written English, knowledge of the Australian systems and their past experience both overseas and in Australia. We also need to understand and be sensitive to the fact that African is not a homogenous term – we are talking about a continent of about 58 countries. There are a multitude of varying ethnicities, languages, faiths and customs. We also need to acknowledge the psychological trauma that may come from being a refugee
Resettlement is not a straightforward process. It is a tricky process of adjustment to great change and new ways of doing things. New arrivals face many confusing and competing demands on arrival and their immediate focus will not always be on legal issues. They have other basic and important needs
While each of us will experience this adjustment differently there are some common barriers that face all new arrivals / refugees in dealing with the law.
For example
•Social and cultural barriers
The Australian society is based on segregated communities from different background. It causes isolation and Social stratification on economic bases where most refugees occupy the lowest level of the social hierarchy
Not using traditional ways of solving problems – resulting in more complicated family disputes.
•Family relations barriers
•Single mothers with many children with no mentoring support – resulting in isolation, low self-esteem and depression.
•Lack of orientation and guidance for Un-accompanied minors –and most of them tend to take the negative aspects.
•Intergenerational gap – leads to misunderstanding and confusion within families.
•There are no or a few role models - there is a gap and disconnection of refugee professionals from their communities.
•Educational barriers
•Language barriers
•Lack of recognition of benefits of education due to high unemployment of educated members of communities causing many school drop outs
•Employment barriers
Lack of skills, qualifications and language barriers
•Stereotyping
•Stereotyping which leads to Immediate assumptions based on looks, names, etc
•Information and media barriers
•Programs for newly arrived communities are not visible in main stream media.
•Housing barriers
•Overcrowded living conditions resulting in family separations and youth are left to care for them selves
•Law Enforcement
•Mistrust of police due to previous experiences and relationship with police. Thus training in cultural sensitivity is very important to minimize anxiety through the use of positive body language, specially smiling and shaking hands which are very important in African culture.
The legal system in particular is very complicated as many of those refugees might have never lived in a country where law and order is the norm. In those countries, human suffering, violence, oppression, autocracy, intolerance and violation of human rights are part of daily life. It may also mean having to adjust their initial knowledge and or expectations of the law.
It is important African Australians know that knowledge about the legal system is a process all Australians go through. For people born in Australia it starts early and formally at school and are taken for granted. These are all part of The Australian peoples’ legal and civic development. Those African Australians have children at school they will be exposed to these responsibilities. This may raise issues now for many adult new arrivals and their parents at their initial years of settlement
Effective programs to educate those new arrivals should
•Provide an integrated multi-dimensional approach rather than linear, single focused solutions
•Programs should be customised for different groups of new arrivals to address specific barriers faced by each group and not one size fits all
• Information have to be delivered in creative ways to facilitate successful settlement
There is a paradox about information. There is so much of it (it is the Information Age after all) but how do you know what you need to know; and when you do know you need more information, where do you find it? We often rely on those around us, those that speak our first language and understand our way of looking at things when seeking information. This can work for many things but may not always be a reliable means for understanding the Australian legal system.
- There is growing recognition that government services alone, although crucial will not be able to develop the sort of flexible holistic response that many new arrivals need –
- Reflect the importance of harnessing the capacity of local leaders through active engagement strategy which includes shared planning, decision making, a clearly articulated communication and the required funding and resources.
- That all people who know and support Africans act as advocates and introduce them to their networks in the mainstream
- All new arrived Africans learn about Australian law on arrival and police are trained in cultural diversity especially in the use of positive, friendly body language.
- That early intervention is vigilantly practiced to prevent young Africans at risk of crimes,
- That early intervention diversionary programs are used for young offenders
- That initiatives should be developed to provide responsive, holistic support for people. With particular emphasis on activities that strengthen relationships across generations and within families
- That all new arrival Africans are assisted to have equitable and affordable access to driver education and licensing programs along with training in the main aspects of Australian family and general law
- The empowering of African youth via rights without commensurate responsibilities in Australia can upset the African Australian families’ dynamics so education of youth on rights and responsibilities is vital in order to make well informed, lawful decisions that are best for all people and the society in general
- That all forms of media are fed back commendations on accurate reporting of African issues, especially youth as they are very vulnerable and conversely, that the media is appropriately challenged when reporting is inaccurate and damaging
Refugees have already shown enormous resilience in their journeys. It is drawing on this internal strength that will help overcome the obstacles to their future ambitions of living in a peaceful and harmonious society.To assist those left behind and need our help – We hope that government and non government agencies support the Footscray legal centre in their endeavours to find solutions by implementing those outcomes and I am sure Africans will go a long way to achieving self reliant, sustainable and flourishing community in Australia