Is this a form of xenophobia or racial discrimination? Seeking asylum is not a crime and it is a right that is upheld by the laws of this land as well as the UN Refugee Convention that our country has pledged to support.

Yet in recent times, successive Australian governments have begun to fundamentally disregard this pledge. People imprisoned in detention centers as a consequence of seeking asylum in Australia include children. Australia only receives 0.1% from the world refugee population of 11,400,000.