By Andy Park and Kristina Kukolja
Against a backdrop of political deadlock, a divided public, and sometimes limited media perspectives, boats carrying asylum seekers keep arriving in Australian waters.
But what of Australia's existing refugee communities? Their voices in the asylum-seeker debate often go unheard, maybe because they lack strength of voice, or are shy of criticism, or perhaps they simply have not been asked.
In the weeks before the Federal Government's expert group on asylum seeker policy hands down its recommendations, SBS has sought a range of opinions from members of Australia's refugee communities.
Their surprisingly different stands on the issue reflect their individual experiences and the diversity of opinion within their communities.
VIETNAMESE “We were the boat people of the 1970s”
As a five-year-old, Tri Vo was one of the tens of thousands of Vietnamese boat people who fled after the Communist victory in the Vietnam War in the 1970s.
Today, he is the President of a community group calling itself the Vietnamese Community in Australia.
“The Australian political parties, especially the major political parties, should try to find a long-term solution to the asylum issue and they should treat this issue as more of a humanitarian issue, rather than one of political point scoring.
“And when we do that the neighbouring countries will be more willing to discuss ways that they would be able to help Australia in solving the asylum issue and the people smuggling issue,”
But Vietnamese Australians have in the past been the target of criticism over their silence on the issue of asylum seekers, even from within their own ranks.
HôÌ£i thoaÌ£i vêÌ€ thuyêÌ€n nhân/Hear this debate on SBS Vietnamese Radio:
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