-
Essay / Compare and contrast asylum seekers and refugees
Article 5 states that “No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.” This article has been violated in the detention centers to which Australia sends asylum seekers. Asylum seekers receive degrading treatment and are treated as inferiors, and children are denied the right to education. Another violation is Article 25 which states that "Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and his family, including food, clothing, housing, necessary medical care and social services, as well as the right to security in the event of unemployment, illness, disability, widowhood, old age or other loss of means of subsistence in circumstances beyond one's control. This article has been completely violated by locking asylum seekers on an abandoned island with little or no basic care, and the violence and unrest makes people feel unsafe. However, Australia has respected certain human rights towards refugees. Australia's refugee and asylum policy is viewed differently by different groups. Some people claim that the treatment of asylum seekers in detention centers is inhumane and a violation of human rights. Some organizations have worked to improve them and attempted to change the way Australia treats refugees. Sweden's policy regarding refugees and asylum seekers is that in 2013, Sweden automatically provided housing to Syrian refugees fleeing war. Sweden offers permanence to refugees, to encourage them to work and learn the language. Sweden wants refugees to be included in society and not isolated from the rest of the country. When refugees arrive in Sweden, they are appointed by a lawyer and registered. Two or three weeks later, they schedule an interview with the refugee and the authorities make a decision within three days.