It is often assumed that a country with strong human rights standards will also offer a higher quality of asylum.

Australia’s reputation in upholding human rights is marred by its treatment of refugees and asylum seekers. Many believe the regime of offshore processing and strict broader controls, including mandatory and indefinite detention, is a serious and flagrant breach of human rights.

This panel discussion will look at the relationship between a government’s respect for the rights of its own citizens and the regard for refugee rights, exploring how the protection of refugees and asylum seekers should be seen in the broader context of the protection of human rights.

Facilitated by: 
Dr. Marilyn Metta (Senior Lecturer in Anthropology and Sociology, Curtin University)
Marilyn has 20 years’ experience working as a trauma counsellor with culturally diverse and marginalised communities.  Marilyn is the Founder of Metamorphosis Inc, a not-for-profit charitable organisation working to provide access to education for refugee and stateless children and young people. Marilyn is also the Founder and CEO of The Metis Centre, a social change consultancy working to address gender inequality and promote children and women’s safety and wellbeing.   She was awarded the 2021 Westpac Social Change Fellowship for her Feeling Safe and Free initiative, which is an innovative community-led project that goes out into communities to engage young people in conversations about safe relationships.

Panelists:

• Banafisheh Driver (Lived Experience Speaker, Red Cross),
• Esther Deng (Acting General Manager, Centre for Asylum Seekers, Refugees and Detainees) and
• Abdullahi Ali (Global Impact Strategist & Community Organizer)