Immigration has never been a more contentious subject.
With the world in crisis and many looking for refuge in developed countries, I stop and ask if Sydney locals welcome these refugees.
“I say let them in! I don’t see how someone could deny desperate people safety, especially families with young kids…I love it here and I know I’m lucky to have been born here, it’s not just my right or anything like that. I guess I look at it as a more the merrier kind of situation,” says Georgia Wye a 23 year old student from Sydney’s Northern Beaches.
Grace Jones, a UNSW student from Kingsford insists that its both a humanitarian and economic decision to bring in immigrants from other cultures,
“I think that Australia is a massive country that can accomodate so many more people but i think we really need to focus on, rather than just looking for people from white countries, really broadening our minds and inviting people who are really struggling in to help out because honestly our economy needs it. The more people you have, the more industry, the more infrastructure you need.”
While some argue that the superfluous process for citizenship attainment forces desperate people into extreme situations such as perilous boat journeys, Tsering Malakar, who migrated to Australia from Nepal almost thirty years ago, believes in the current procedures.
“I do believe that people should be able to migrate here but I believe that it should be done through the proper channels like I did…we should assess people. Especially in this day and age where terrorism is all around.”
Pema Bakshi, MDIA2003 Advanced Media Writing W14A
