A
STUDY GUIDE BY ATOM
http://www.metromagazine.com.au
ISBN: 978-1-74295-336-6
http://www.theeducationshop.com.au
SCREEN EDUCATION ©ATOM 2013
2
I needed to have this experience rather
than to be turned around by somebody else.
To meet the men themselves, that��s what
convinced me. There are so many lies
going on out in the community
– MARY
A documentary feature film by
Heather Kirkpatrick
SCREEN EDUCATION ©ATOM 2013
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detainees are rumoured to have, and visits the centre
a couple of months later as the beanies are delivered.
Afterwards, Mary and four other knitters decide to become
regular visitors to the asylum seekers.
The knitters�� friendships deepen with the Hazara men
from Afghanistan as they help knitting and craft activi-
ties to flourish within the detention centre. Asylum seeker
Mohammad provides revealing insights of life inside the
detention centre and the knitters are surprised by the first
hunger strike at the centre.
When the detention centre closes after six months, some of
the refugees decide to settle in Hobart. The knitters stay in
contact with them and we see a close relationship develop
between Mohammad and Mary. Despite their friendship,
Mary remains uncomfortable with Mohammad��s Islamic
beliefs.
The close of the film sees knitter Joy invite Mohammad
and Mary to her fishing shack in the Central Highlands of
Tasmania. Will a connection of common humanity prevail
for Mary and Mohammad over their religious and cultural
differences?
SYNOPSIS
The film opens with the Australian government��s surprise
announcement in 2011 to build Tasmania��s first asylum
seeker detention centre at Pontville, thirty kilometres
north of Hobart. Tasmania is Australia��s least multicultural
state and the local community erupts with hostility as the
Department of Immigration hosts a public meeting.
When a suggestion is made at the nearby knitting club
to make beanies for the asylum seekers, not everyone is
in support. Knitter and elderly Christian woman Mary is
strongly opposed to the Muslim asylum seekers; how-
ever she becomes curious to see the ��luxurious life�� the
OVERVIEW
Tasmania��s first detention centre opens and local knitting
club member Mary, a staunchly Christian pensioner, does
not welcome the 400 male asylum seekers. Mohammad is a
26-year-old Muslim asylum seeker of the Hazara ethnic group
of Afghanistan. He is detained inside the centre and an unlikely
friendship develops between Mohammad and Mary after her
knitting club donates woollen beanies to the asylum seek-
ers. Mary finds many of her prior beliefs are challenged as her
relationship with Mohammad deepens.
MOHAMMAD IN CENTRAL TASMANIA (PHOTO BY KRISTY DOWSING)
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• Identifying and explaining the main types and patterns
of international migration, for example, permanent mi-
gration, temporary labour migration, student migration,
forced migration (including refugees) and family reunion;
• Investigating where and why international migrants
settle in Australia and how this may reinforce urban
concentration;
• Exploring the changing cultural diversity of the
Australian population.
Year 10: Reflect on and evaluate the findings of the inquiry
to propose individual and collective action in response to
a contemporary geographical challenge, taking account of
environmental, economic and social considerations; and
explain the predicted outcomes and consequences of their
proposal.
Elaborations:
• Reflecting on the role of personal values and attitudes in
influencing their responses to situations including goals;
• Explaining how the application of geographical concepts
and methods has contributed to deep understanding of
the causes of and solutions to issues related to environ-
mental change, human wellbeing or development.
History:
Year 10: The contribution of migration to Australia��s chang-
ing identity as a nation and to its international relationships.
(ACDSEH147)
Additional Curriculum Links from Australian Curriculum:
<http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/English/
Curriculum/F-10>
Tertiary Curriculum Relevance
Politics, International Relations, Human Rights Law, Social
Work, Occupational Therapy, Psychology and Mental
Health Studies.
Secondary Curriculum Relevance
Mary Meets Mohammad (Heather Kirkpatrick, 2013) would
be a valuable resource for students in middle and senior
secondary school classes in Civics and Citizenship, His-
tory, Geography, Politics and Society, English, Philosophy,
Values Education, Religion and Society, and Cross-cultural
Studies. The National Curriculum guidelines for Civics and
Citizenship outline General Capabilities to be fostered and
includes the following advice in relation to Intercultural
Understanding:
Students develop intercultural understanding as they learn
to value their own cultures, languages, religion and beliefs,
and those of others. They come to understand how personal,
group and national identities are shaped, and the variable
and changing nature of culture. The capability involves stu-
dents in learning about and engaging with diverse cultures in
ways that recognise commonalities and differences, create
connections with others and cultivate respect.
English:
Year 8: Explore the ways that ideas and viewpoints in liter-
ary texts drawn from different historical, social and cultural
contexts may reflect or challenge the values of individuals
and groups. (ACELT1626)
Year 9: Explore and reflect on personal understanding of
the world and significant human experience gained from
interpreting various representations of life matters in texts.
Analyse how the construction and interpretation of texts, in-
cluding media texts, can be influenced by cultural perspec-
tives and other texts. (ACELY1739)
Year 10: Compare and evaluate a range of representations
of individuals and groups in different historical, social and
cultural contexts. (ACELT1639)
Analyse and evaluate how people, cultures, places, events,
objects and concepts are represented in texts, including
media texts, through language, structural and/or visual
choices. (ACELY1749)
(Note that texts and media texts include film).
Geography:
Year 8: The factors that influence the decisions people
make about where to live and their perceptions of the live-
ability of places. (ACHGK043)
The reasons for and effects of international migration in
Australia. (ACHGK058).
Elaborations:
MARY AND MOHAMMAD
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Should the treatment of asylum seekers be hidden from
citizens and the media, or do we have a right to know how
government policies are being implemented in our name?
By what criteria can a society be judged to be good? By its
wealth? By the way in which it treats its poorest and most
disadvantaged? By the richness of its art and culture?
Do we have responsibilities to those less fortunate than
ourselves? These are a few of the questions this pro-
gram should encourage students to consider.
Mary Meets
Mohammad presents a close study of how one small com-
munity learns that things are not always as they first appear
and that people are not always as inflexible and stereo-
typical as they are often depicted in the media. Changing
attitudes and behaviours are possible.
INTRODUCTION
The movement of millions of asylum seekers is widespread
and global. It affects hundreds of countries and not just
Australia. There has rarely been a debate in our Australian
history that so divides people and there has rarely been a
topic about which most of us know so little. In increasing
numbers, people seeking asylum are travelling in fishing
boats in an attempt to reach Australia. This ocean journey
from countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia and Sri Lanka is
perilous. As we see on television news reports, some boats
do not make landfall and people are drowning.
What criteria might teachers use to select a resource
that explores the dimensions of this complex subject in
a way that will engage and inform students?
Mary Meets
Mohammad is very accessible and firmly grounded in the
realities of life for two people in an Australian community. It
deals sensitively with the realities of mandatory detention
for asylum seekers and with the anxieties of those who live
close to a detention centre. We see little of what happens
in these centres unless there is violent unrest, as access to
the centres by the media is not permitted and few citizens
see inside them. This documentary goes well beyond the
simplistic mantras of ��Stop the boats�� and ��Let��s control our
borders��. It is a film about human rights, democracy and
common decency. How should we treat people who come
to Australia fleeing persecution, whether they arrive on
boats or by plane, and who is responsible for actions taken
in a democratic country – the leaders, or its people?
QUETTA, PAKISTAN (PHOTO BY GHULAM SAKHI HAZARA)
HAZARA COFFINS IN QUETTA, PAKISTAN (PHOTO BY JOYA SEENA)
Australia��s changing policy on
asylum seekers since the 1970s
The first boat-arriving asylum seekers to Australia arrived
in 1976, when Malcolm Fraser��s Liberal government was in
power. Fraser��s government reduced the arrival of asylum-
seeker boats to zero by the early 1980s through negotiation
with the source and neighbouring countries of the refugees,
as well as with allies and the United Nations, to facilitate
an orderly migration process. The Vietnamese government
minimised its own exposure to human rights criticism by
facilitating the non-violent immigration to Australia of dis-
sidents and ethnic Chinese Vietnamese. Under Fraser, more
than 246,000 refugees were able to arrive in Australia by
plane from 1975–1983 after their applications were pro-
cessed in Asia, thus avoiding risky boat journeys. Australia
did not have a policy of mandatory detention then. Details
about this period can be found here:
http://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_
Departments/Parliamentary_Library/Publications_Archive/
online/Refugeess2/
http://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_
Departments/Parliamentary_Library/pubs/BN/2012-2013/
Detention/
The Keating Labor government introduced mandatory
detention legislation for asylum seekers arriving in Australia
without visas in 1992. For a timeline of key decisions and
policy changes in relation to indefinite mandatory detention
between 1992 and 2012, see a two-part article by academ-
ic and journalist Wendy Bacon, published in
New Matilda in
2012.
After viewing and discussing what we see in this film and
undertaking some research using the materials in this
guide, students should be able to explain:
• What being an asylum seeker and refugee means;
• Australia��s obligation as a signatory to the UN Refugee
Convention;
• The changes in Australia��s asylum seeker policies over
the years
• How Australia��s asylum seeker policies compare to the
rest of the world;
• Why some people are fearful of and hostile to boat-
arriving asylum seekers;
• Why many people are not happy with the government��s
treatment of boat-arriving asylum seekers both onshore
and offshore;
�� and finally, be prepared to:
• Express and present an informed view about how
Australia��s management of asylum seekers has
changed over the years since boat-arriving asylum
seekers began arriving in the 1970s;
• Offer a coherent evidence-based proposal about how
current policies in relation to the treatment of asylum
seekers could be changed in the future.
SCREEN EDUCATION ©ATOM 2013
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HAZARA HOMES IN QUETTA, PAKISTAN (PHOTO BY GHULAM SAKHI HAZARA)
SCREEN EDUCATION ©ATOM 2013
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Tasmania��s first detention centre
The Pontville Detention Centre is situated in the municipal-
ity of Brighton, thirty kilometres north of Tasmania��s capital
of Hobart. It was opened in September 2011 for six months
only whilst other detention centres were being built inter-
state. Read a February 2012 interview transcript with then
Minister for Immigration, Chris Bowen, about closing down
the Pontville Centre despite considerable local support for
the facility to remain open: <http://www.minister.immi.gov.
au/media/cb/2012/cb182619.htm>
The Pontville Detention Centre was reopened in February
2013 and now accomodates hundreds of teenage boys,
known as ��unaccompanied minors�� in immigration-speak.
These are children who have arrived in Australia by boat
without parents or family members.
Part 1: <http://newmatilda.com/2012/07/24/our-nauru
-amnesia/>
Part 2: <http://newmatilda.com/2012/07/25/three-waves
-nauru-anguish#comment-42055>
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd announced on 19 July 2013 that
he had reached an agreement with Papua New Guinea, that
the Manus Island detention centre would be expanded to
host and process all future asylum seekers coming by boat.
He stated they would not have the option for resettlement
or to become citizens in Australia. It is expected there will
be legal challenges to this action. Here are some media
links:
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/
immigration/un-refugee-agency-condemns-kevin-rudds-
png-asylum-seeker-plan/story-fn9hm1gu-1226686151213/
http://www.theage.com.au/federal-politics/federal-election
-2013/rudd-plan-in-tatters-as-camps-labelled-gulags
-20130724-2qjqo.html
In recent years there have been many ongoing changes
to Australia��s asylum-seeker policies as both major politi-
cal parties try to create conditions that deter boat-arriving
asylum seekers from coming to Australia. Please research
this area and see if there are further policy changes since
this study guide was completed in July 2013.
INDEFINITE MANDATORY DETENTION
The time that an asylum seeker will spend
in an Australian detention centre, or a centre
offshore in another country that Australia
has sent them to, is not specified. No other
western country has an indefinite mandatory
detention policy. Some asylum seekers have
waited years to be released. During their
time in detention, an individual��s claim for
refugee status is assessed.
MAYOR TONY FOSTER & MURAL BY KOSOVOS
SCREEN EDUCATION ©ATOM 2013
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• What do Mary, Joy and Rose discover they have in
common with the men?
• A few months after the knitters begin visiting the deten-
tion centre, there is a hunger strike and Mary says,
��I wouldn��t like to be locked up and I think I��d put up
some kind of a protest. Freedom is something every-
one is entitled to and should have.��
• What do these reflections show about how the experi-
ence of spending time with the men is affecting Mary?
• What are some of the attitudes to asylum seekers
encountered by Mary on the pensioners�� bus trip to the
beach? What is the source of the incorrect informa-
tion about the financial support asylum seekers get
from the government? How does Mary react to these
claims?
• What points in Mary��s relationship with Mohammad
could be described as ��light-bulb moments�� where
Mary��s views are changing?
Student Activity
Responding to issues raised in the film
Not in my backyard
Brainstorm local responses to the announcement of the
establishment of a detention centre at Brighton, north of
Hobart. Using a whiteboard, list some of the concerns ex-
pressed by residents. How would you feel if a disused build-
ing such as a school or army camp near your house was
converted into a detention centre for asylum seekers? Which
of the concerns expressed in Tasmania might you share?
Fact or Fiction – Truth or Lies?
What do you think are some of the factors driving these
concerns, e.g. first-hand experience, previous knowledge
of living near a detention centre, statements made by
politicians, media stories, local gossip, fear of an unknown
group of people, or concerns about employment?
Mary��s journey.
• Describe what we see and hear of Mary in the early
parts of the documentary.
• What are some of the factors in her background – in-
cluding her religious beliefs – that might partly account
for her hostility to the presence of asylum seekers in
the local community?
• Why is Mary curious to see inside the detention centre?
• What does she find when she first visits the centre as
part of the knitting group? Does this reception surprise
her?
WATCHING THE FILM
How does the story of
Mary Meets
Mohammad present the asylum
seeker debate?
Government reports, political brawling, facts and
figures, media images of leaky boats and detention
centres, and statistics offer information and opinions
about the asylum-seeker debate in Australia. However,
the personal human stories of the asylum seekers
themselves are rarely heard or seen. As you watch the
film, make brief notes on how Mohammad��s and Mary��s
experiences might be representative of that of many other
asylum seekers and citizens. Consider how this approach of
focusing on these crucial human stories at the heart of the
subject affects your own response to the debate about the
treatment of asylum seekers.
IS ARRIVING BY BOAT ILLEGAL?
Asylum seekers who arrive in Australia by boat are
not illegal immigrants. The UN Refugee Convention
(to which Australia is a signatory) recognises that
refugees have a lawful right to enter a country
for the purposes of seeking asylum, regardless of
how they arrive or whether they hold valid travel or
identity documents. The Convention stipulates that
what would usually be considered as illegal actions
(e.g. entering a country without a visa) should not
be treated as illegal if a person is seeking asylum.
This means that it is incorrect to refer to asylum
seekers who arrive without authorisation as
��illegal��, as they in fact have a lawful right to enter
Australia and seek asylum under both international
and Australian domestic law.
SOURCE – REFUGEE COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA.
MOHAMMAD AND MARY KNIT (PHOTO BY KRISTY DOWSING)
9
SCREEN EDUCATION ©ATOM 2013
Mohammad��s journey.
• What is Mohammad��s story? Why was he living
in Pakistan? Why did he flee Pakistan, leaving his
family?
• Why are men like Mohammad unlikely to have
documents with them that attest to their identity
and history?
• What does Mohammad reveal about the factors
that cause severe depression and despair amongst
asylum seekers in detention?
• What are some of the ways in which this sense of
hopelessness is reflected in unrest at the detention
centre?
• What do Emily and Clarissa, the friendship visitor
coordinators, have to say about the problems for
the detainees of being locked up indefinitely?
• When Mohammad is finally released on a bridging
visa to live in the community, how much time has
he spent in Australian detention centres?
• What are Mohammad��s biggest hopes or dreams?
ARE ASYLUM SEEKERS ARRIVING
BY BOAT ��QUEUE-JUMPERS��?
Few countries between the Middle East and
Australia are signatories to the 1951 Refugee
Convention, and as such asylum seekers are
forced to continue to travel to another country
to find protection. There is no standard refugee
process where people wait in a queue to have their
applications considered.
— EDMUND RICE CENTRE.
OTHER RESPONSES
I��m very grateful that I had this experience. It taught me
a bit about myself. My attitude changed so quickly and it
was mainly because they just became individuals instead
of a sea of people flooding our shores.
— Joy, member of the knitting group
A variety of responses to the presence of asylum seek-
ers in the Brighton community are revealed in this
documentary.
• Describe how and why the Tasmanian Asylum Seeker
Support group from Hobart wants to make a connection
with the men being held in the detention centre?
• What is long-term Brighton Mayor Tony Foster��s attitude
to the detention centre being in his community?
• How does the local Christian church respond to the new
arrivals?
• When a group of Kosovo Albanians were placed in a safe-
haven community in Brighton in 1999 for three months,
Mary��s brother worked at the centre. What was his impres-
sion of the Muslim Kosovars?
• How is friendship shown to be the basis for developing an
empathetic understanding of others?
MOHAMMAD AND MARY AT JOY��S SHACK (PHOTO BY KRISTY DOWSING)
SCREEN EDUCATION ©ATOM 2013
10
Student Activity
MYTH or TRUTH?
The chart below (Table 1) asks you to look at a number of commonly held views about asylum seekers coming to Australia.
Attempt to determine which of these views are MYTH or TRUTH. Always check the source to be as reputable as possible and
check the dates of online information as facts and figures frequently change. Would you consider what a politician has to say
about this topic to be a reliable source? Use information that appears in the documentary to illustrate any conclusions you
reach, as long as you believe it to be reliable.
Table 1
Concerns about the
detention centre in
tasmania
Myth or truth
Perceptions, explanations and factual
information
ASYLUM SEEKERS ARE
COMING ILLEGALLY
It is legal to seek asylum and it does not matter how you ar-
rive. It is legal to seek asylum by any means, e.g. boat, plane,
hiding under or in trucks or containers or even swimming.
Many people die as they seek asylum around the world. See
<http://www.asrc.org.au/resources/for-students/> from the
Asylum Seeker Resource Centre or a research paper from the
Parliamentary Library in Canberra.
http://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_
Departments/Parliamentary_Library/pubs/BN/2012-2013/
AsylumFacts/
REFUGEES GET MORE MONEY
THAN THE PENSIONERS
Refugees receive the same entitlements as someone on social
security and even less if you are an asylum seeker on a Bridg-
ing Visa – 89 per cent of a basic Centrelink allowance. See the
details here:
http://www.immi.gov.au/media/fact-sheets/65onshore
-processing-irregular-maritime-arrivals.htm
ALL BOAT PEOPLE ARE
TERRORISTS
Everyone undergoes a rigorous security clearance when they
arrive in Australia. No links to terrorists have been uncovered
yet. Most Hazaras are escaping from terrorism activity and
many have lost family members to terrorists, e.g. Moham-
mad��s story of losing two brothers killed by the Taliban.
MUSLIMS WANT TO TAKE
OVER AUSTRALIA
Is there any evidence to support this proposition?
Do all religions include an extreme range of views?
Who were the Muslim Kosovo refugees, who lived in Brighton in
1999, being persecuted by?
In which scenes are the religious differences between Mary and
Mohammad represented in this documentary? Are there barriers
to understanding and acceptance?
A refugee is legally defined as a person who is outside
their country of nationality and unable to return, due to
a well-founded fear of persecution because of his or her
race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership
of a particular social group. By receiving refugee status,
individuals are guaranteed protection of their basic human
rights and cannot be forced to return to a country where
they fear persecution.
A record number of refugees for the last two
decades
The Global Trends Report released in June 2013 by
UNHCR, the UN��s refugee agency, says that more people
are refugees or internally displaced than at any time since
1994, with the Syrian crisis having emerged as the major
new factor. At the end of 2012, more than 45.2 million
people were in situations of displacement including 15.4
million refugees, 937,000 asylum seekers, and 28.8 million
people forced to flee within the borders of their own
countries. This translates to around 23,000 new refugees
or internally displaced people every day. Children under
eighteen make up 46 per cent of all refugees. War remains
the dominant cause of global displacement.
Afghanistan remained the world��s top producer of refugees,
a position it has held for thirty-two years. On average,
one out of every four refugees worldwide is Afghan, with
95 per cent located in Pakistan or Iran. Somalia, another
protracted conflict, was the world��s second-largest refugee-
producing nation during 2012, however there the rate of
refugee outflow slowed. Iraqis were the third largest refugee
group (746,700 persons), followed by Syrians (471,400).
Which countries hosts most of the world��s
refugees and asylum seekers?
A gap continues to widen between richer and poorer coun-
tries when it comes to who is hosting refugees. Developing
countries host 81 per cent of the world��s refugees com-
pared to 70 per cent a decade ago. Pakistan continues
to host more refugees than any other nation (1.6 million),
followed by Iran (868,200) and Germany (589,700).
Debunking stereotypes
Much of the concern in respect to establishing the deten-
tion centre at Pontville was not related to the fact that its in-
habitants would be refugees but rather because they would
be Muslim. When Mary was asked how she felt about
Muslim asylum seekers arriving at Pontville, she said, ��they
are a pack of heathens. They like another form of God. To
me there is only one God.�� Did your views about Muslims
change after seeing the film?
Towards the end of the film, Joy says that initially in
Pontville there was a sense of ��prejudice through fear��.
There are times when we all fear the things we don��t know
or fully understand. Dispelling the myths that abound in
relation to Islam as a faith is crucial to debunking many of
the stereotypes that exist in our society.
Consider how Mohammad lived and interacted
with others
Did the Muslim men inside Pontville Detention Centre
celebrate Christmas?
Did Mohammad respect other religions?
Was Mary challenged by Mohammad��s Islamic beliefs?
Were you uncomfortable with Mohammad��s beliefs?
Did Mary change her views on Islam over time or not?
What do you think were the reasons?
In this film we see a number of average Australians modify-
ing and changing their initial attitudes to the asylum seekers
at Pontville. As active citizens, how would you best be able
to find where the truth lies with the asylum-seeker debate?
How can you play an active role in the debate other than
how you vote at an election?
Asylum seekers and refugees – some
definitions
The terms asylum-seeker and refugee are often confused.
An asylum-seeker is someone who says he or she is a
refugee, but whose claim has not yet been definitively
evaluated.
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ASYLUM SEEKERS IN PONTVILLE DETENTION CENTRE
SCREEN EDUCATION ©ATOM 2013
12
GRAPH 1: MAJOR REFUGEE HOSTING COUNTRIES AT END 2012
* Government Estimate
** The 300,000 Vietnamese refugees are well integrated and in practice receive protection from the Government of China
HAZARA GRAVES IN QUETTA, PAKISTAN (PHOTO BY GHULAM SAKHI HAZARA)
SCREEN EDUCATION ©ATOM 2013
13
• What are some of the common factors forcing people
to seek refuge away from their homeland?
• What are some of the common challenges faced by
asylum seekers?
• What percentage of boat-arriving asylum seekers are
ultimately found to be genuine refugees?
Words Matter
The language of political debates is often loaded, designed
to elicit emotional responses. Depending on the position
you hold, your attitude and the outcome you want, you
might refer to asylum seekers as ��boat people��, ��illegals��,
��criminals�� or ��queue-jumpers��. If you really want to gener-
ate fear you might use terms such as ��towel-heads��, ��terror-
ists�� or ��extremists��. Pauline Hanson commonly referred to
asylum seekers as ��Asians�� and ��Middle Eastern people��.
Places where new arrivals to Australia are detained may be
referred to as ��prisons�� or ��holding camps�� where people can
be ��incarcerated�� or ��locked up�� while waiting processing
and assessment of their claim to be recognised as refugees.
• In what ways are some of these terms dehumanising?
• In what way does the language politicians use influ-
ence our perception and views?
Write three short paragraphs describing Australia��s current
practices in relation to our treatment of boat arrivals. Para-
graph one should be a neutral description, paragraph two
from a person who believes the boats should be stopped
and paragraph three from someone who believes our treat-
ment of asylum seekers is inhumane. Think carefully about
the kind of language each person will use.
Asylum claims are not the same as the numbers of people
given refugee status. Most people seeking refuge from
conflict choose to remain in neighbouring countries in the
hope of being able to return home (e.g. there are 24,800
Syrian asylum claims in industrialised countries compares
to more than 1.1 million registered Syrian refugees currently
in neighbouring countries).
By region, Europe received the most asylum applications
in 2012, with 355,500 claims across thirty-eight countries.
Germany saw the highest number of new applications
(64,500 claims), followed by France (54,900 claims) and
Sweden (43,900 claims). The single largest recipient of
asylum requests was the United States with 83,400 claims.
North-east Asia and Australia also saw increases but over-
all the asylum claims were significantly lower compared to
other countries.
The Global Trends Report is UNHCR��s leading annual
report on the state of forced displacement. You can down-
load Item 1 of the 2013 report here:
http://unhcr.org/globaltrendsjune2013/
Student activity
Download the above report and refer to Table 1 on pages
38 to 41. You will see countries around the world listed
with the far right-hand side column showing the number
of people whose application for asylum or refugee status
is awaiting an assessment at the end of 2012 (labelled as
��Total population of concern�� by UNHCR in the table).
How many claims are awaiting an outcome in Australia as
at the end of 2012?
How many other countries in the world have a number of
higher than this? Where does Australia rank in terms of the
number of claims lodged per country in 2012?
The UNHCR releases a Global Trends Report in June each
year with the latest statistics on worldwide movements of
displaced people so you can keep up to date in the future.
HAZARAS
The Taliban killed Mohammad��s two older brothers
and persecuted him for being a Shia Muslim
belonging to the Hazara ethnic minority group.
Most asylum seekers fleeing from Afghanistan are
Hazaras. The Sunni Taliban in Afghanistan rose to
power after the collapse of Soviet rule in the 1990s
and they have killed thousands of Hazaras since
this time.
The Hazaras are very easily recognised by the
Taliban and other terrorist groups because of
their distinctive Mongolian-like features. Many
Hazaras have fled to Pakistan and Iran where they
live illegally. The terrorist violence against the
Hazaras in the Quetta region of western Pakistan
has escalated in recent years. This daily threat
to life has forced many Hazaras to travel to Asian
countries such as Indonesia or Malaysia from
where they hope to reach Australia on small fishing
boats. Mohammad��s story is typical of the journey
many Hazaras have been forced to make.
WEAVING OF AUSTRALIAN AND HAZARA FLAGS BY ASYLUM SEEKER
SCREEN EDUCATION ©ATOM 2013
14
▪ Detention that is indefinite or otherwise arbitrary is not
acceptable and the length and conditions of detention,
including the appropriateness of both the accommo-
dation and the services provided, will be subject to
regular review.
▪ Detention in immigration detention centres is only to be
used as a last resort and for the shortest practicable time.
▪ Children – and, where possible, their families – will not
be detained in an immigration detention centre.
▪ People in detention will be treated fairly and reasonably
within the law.
▪ Conditions of detention will ensure the inherent dignity
of the human person.
The Human Rights Commission recommended that these
five values be both enshrined in law and implemented in
practice as soon as possible. Unfortunately, to date they
have not been enshrined in legislation and some of them
are not being implemented in practice.
More community detention placements for
children
In October 2010, the Australian Government announced
that it would begin to move a significant number of unac-
companied minors and families with children into communi-
ty detention. Many children still remain in detention to date.
Parliamentary enquiry recommends a
maximum of ninety days in detention
In early 2011, a federal parliamentary enquiry was initiated
to investigate Australia��s Immigration Detention Network
after some riots and fires had occurred at the Christmas
Island and Villawood detention centres. The enquiry
released their report in March 2012 after eight months of
investigation and their report concludes:
The Committee��s most fundamental conclusion is that
asylum seekers should reside in held detention for as short
Asylum seeker policy developments in
Australia
What is the origin of the United Nations Refugee Convention?
Refer to the link <http://unhcr.org.au/unhcr/index.
php?option=com_content&view=article&id=48&Itemid=58>
and click on the 1951 Q&A link.
How long are people held in immigration
detention?
There is no set time limit to how long a person may be held
in immigration detention in Australia. The period of time a
person spends in detention varies and may be years.
The Department of Immigration and Citizenship regularly
publishes statistics setting out the length of time people
have been in immigration detention. The Human Rights
Commission continues to have serious concerns about the
impact of long-term detention, particularly with children.
Immigration detention policy changes in
recent years
In July 2008, the Minister for Immigration announced a pol-
icy known as ��New Directions in Detention��, which included
seven key immigration values. Of those values, the Human
Rights Commission welcomed the following:
PROCESSING
An asylum seeker must have their claim for refugee
status investigated in order to remain in Australia.
Security, health and character checks are required.
They must prove they are a refugee, which is
someone who has fled their home country and has
a well-founded fear of persecution if they were
to return. If an asylum seeker��s claim for refugee
status is rejected, they can appeal the case before
facing deportation back to their country of origin.
��FROZEN TIME�� – GHULAM SAKHI HAZARA
SCREEN EDUCATION ©ATOM 2013
15
• Explain why the Australian government has now
decided that asylum seekers arriving by boat will be
sent offshore to New Guinea��s Manus Island to be
processed.
• What would be the benefit for Papua New Guinea?
• Why doesn��t the Australian Government want to detain
and process asylum seekers in Australia?
Ex-Prime MInister Malcolm Fraser – who settled 246,000
refugeees between 1975–1983 and stopped the boats by
providing a regional processing centre at the source coun-
try of the boats and then plane tickets for those recognised
as refugees – does not support Australia��s offshore pro-
cessing practice for asylum seekers and calls for a Royal
Commission. He details his regional processing solution in
an ABC interview:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-07-25/malcolm-fraser
-calls-for-royal-commission-into/4842576
How does Australia��s asylum seeker policy and
practices compare to other countries around
the world?
See the link here on an SBS online production – SBS
Detention Centre. Stories from Australia��s Detention
System:
http://www.sbs.com.au/detentioncentre/#chapter/future
a time as practicable. Evidence overwhelmingly indicates
that prolonged detention exacts a heavy toll on people,
most particularly on their mental health and wellbeing. A
study found clinically significant symptoms of depression
were present in 86% of detainees and one quarter of them
reported suicidal thoughts. As well as incidents of self-
harm, there have been numerous suicide attempts and nine
deaths in detention centres in the 24 months to February
2012.
The length of time in detention was found to
be the key cause of mental breakdown.
Recommendation 23: 5.120:
The Committee further recommends that asylum seek-
ers who pass initial identity, health, character and security
checks be immediately granted a bridging visa or moved to
community detention while a determination of their refugee
status is completed, that all reasonable steps be taken to
limit detention to a maximum of 90 days.
Given the enormous human and financial cost of held
detention, the Committee has reached the fundamental
conclusion that less harmful, far more cost-effective alterna-
tives are available and should be pursued. Last financial
year to 2011 the Australian Government spent over $772
milllion on running detention facilities. The projected cost of
operating the community detention program in 2011–12 is
$150 million.
For further information see the links here:
http://www.aph.gov.au/parliamentary_business/
committees/senate_committees?url=immigration_
detention_ctte/immigration_detention/report/c05.htm
http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2012/s3467992.htm
Offshore processing resumed in 2012
The Gillard Labor government announced that any asylum
seeker who arrived by boat from 13 August 2012 onwards
is potentially liable to transfer to a third country for pro-
cessing of their claim for protection. Some asylum seekers
were transferred to Nauru and Manus Island in Papua New
Guinea, but these centres soon reached capacity, forcing
onshore processing to meet the demand of new arrivals for
most of 2013.
On Friday 19 July 2013, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd an-
nounced an agreement with Papua New Guinea that the
detention centre at Manus Island would be expanded to
host and process all future asylum seekers coming by boat.
He stated they would not have the option for resettlement
or to become citizens in Australia. It is expected there will
be legal challenges to this action.
��LIMITED FREEDOM�� – GHULAM SAKHI HAZARA
Other useful references
The Refugee Council of Australia – Myths about Refugees:
https://www.refugeecouncil.org.au/f/myth-long.php
The Refugee Council of Australia – Durable solutions:
http://www.refugeecouncil.org.au/f/int-ds.php
Amnesty International – Refugees:
http://www.amnesty.org.au/refugees/
The Asylum Seeker Resource Centre
http://www.asrc.org.au
A close look at what life is like within Australia��s detention
centres through an online project; SBS Detention Centre –
Stories from Australia��s Detention System:
http://www.sbs.com.au/detentioncentre/
FAQs about the work of the Tasmanian Asylum Seekers
Support Organisation:
http://www.tasasylum.org/volunteering-faqs.html
http://www.amnesty.org.au/refugees/comments/29462/
Edmund Rice Centre Q&A debunking myths about asylum
seekers coming to Australia
Welcome to Australia:
http://www.welcometoaustralia.org.au
Final Student Activities
Thinking laterally and creatively
Using the material in this guide, information you have found
through your research, your own understanding of the
issue, class discussions and information from this or any
other documentaries you may have seen, select one of the
two tasks below:
1. Present an informed view about Australia��s manage-
ment of asylum seekers over the past forty years. Iden-
tify when and how we have ��got it right��, in your view.
OR
2. Offer a coherent evidence-based proposal about how
current policies in relation to the treatment of asylum
seekers arriving in Australia could be changed to bet-
ter serve the rights and needs of everyone involved.
Consider both the humanitarian and economic reasons
behind any changes you might propose.
Given the complexity and multi-stranded nature of this is-
sue – ��asylum seekers and Australia�� – the activities listed
above would be best done in small groups rather than indi-
vidually. Your findings could be presented as a talk, a letter
to the Minister for Immigration or as a report.
SCREEN EDUCATION ©ATOM 2013
16
JOY, MARY AND MOHAMMAD IN CENTRAL TASMANIA (PHOTO BY KRISTY DOWSING)
SCREEN EDUCATION ©ATOM 2013
17
The UN Refugee Agency Australia for UNHCR:
http://www.unrefugees.org.au
Australian Human Rights Commission:
http://www.humanrights.gov.au
Australian Human Rights Commission,
Human rights
issues raised by the transfer of asylum seekers to third
countries, AHRC, Canberra, November 2012. <http://www.
humanrights.gov.au/publications/human-rights-issues
-raised-third-country-processing-regime>
Some links to Mary Meets Mohammad
Mary Meets Mohammad website:
http://www.marymeetsmohammad.com
Facebook page
Mary Meets Mohammad:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mary-Meets-
Mohammad/387916057968800
Mary Meets Mohammad trailer on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBxXvXLOwSU
Media and Reviews of Mary Meets Mohammad:
http://www.marymeetsmohammad.com/index.php/media
-reviews
Other books, films and documentaries
exploring asylum seekers
The Rugmaker of Mazar-e-Sharif, Najaf Mazari and Robert
Hillman, Insight, 2008
(This book has been a popular text on the VCE English
syllabus in the
Encountering Conflict study. Read an extract
from this novel at <http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/
features/the-rugmakers-story/story-e6frg8h6
-1111115933254>)
A Well-founded Fear, Delaney and Dean, 2008 – documen-
tary about the Edmund Rice Centre��s work in following up
on asylum seekers who are deported from Australia.
Go Back to Where You Came From, 1 and 2 – a 2011 and
2012 SBS ��reality�� series about Australians who undertake
refugee journeys in reverse
. The programs challenge per-
ceptions about what it means to be a refugee.
The Man Who Jumped, Russell Vines, 2012 – documentary
film about a Hazara asylum seeker who was at the centre of
protests at Woomera detention centre in 2002.
ABOVE: MOHAMMAD WITH KITE, RIGHT: MARY AND MOHAMMAD
(PHOTOS BY KRISTY DOWSING)
Additional contributions and comments from Heather
Kirkpatrick, Margie Piper, Helen Smith, & Anna Young.
This Study Guide was created to accompany the feature
length documentary Mary Meets Mohammad through a
grant provided by the Tasmanian Premier Lara Giddings
and the Tasmanian Department of Premier & Cabinet. The
filmmaker, Heather Kirkpatrick, gratefully acknowledges
the Premier & the Tasmanian Government for this generous
donation.
THE FILMMAKER
Heather Kirkpatrick is an independent documentary filmmaker
and freelance journalist from Tasmania. She also works as
a professional outdoor instructor and emergency relief work
logistician. Heather has worked on all seven continents and
loves being immersed in different cultures in remote parts of
the world.
Mary Meets Mohammad
is a Waratah Films production.
It runs for 80 minutes
Director, producer, writer, camera & sound
HEATHER KIRKPATRICK
Editors
LARA VAN RAAY, HEATHER KIRKPATRICK
& EDITING CONSULTANT RAY THOMAS
Second camera and sound in final scenes
RUSSELL HAWKINS
Composers
DAVID BRIDIE, HELEN MOUNTFORT
AND SUSAN MCGOWAN
Music performed by
MY FRIEND THE CHOCOLATE CAKE
AND SILKWEED
SCREEN EDUCATION ©ATOM 2013
18
HEATHER KIRKPATRICK (PHOTO BY TOBY STORY)
SCREEN EDUCATION ©ATOM 2013
19
This study guide was produced by
ATOM. (© ATOM 2013)
ISBN: 978-1-74295-336-6 editor@atom.org.au
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FISHING IN CENTRAL TASMANIA (PHOTO BY KRISTY DOWSING)