THE BURNSIDE CONVERSATIONS is a digital series that features Julian Burnside in conversation with key Australian and global thinkers on the matter of asylum and current threats to human rights.
15 conversations of 6-8 minutes
SYNOPSIS
Australian leaders like Gillian Triggs, Daniel Webb, David Marr and Phil Glendenning are joined by Kenneth Roth from Human Rights Watch, Wolfgang Ischinger from Munich Security Council, Tony Fisher from the British Law Society and several others in, expanding on views expressed in the Rymer Childs feature length documentary BORDER POLITICS.
Our Politicians Have Taken Us To a Very Dark Place
Julian Burnside and David Marr discuss the use of fear in demonising asylum seekers and the obscene amount of money spent on damaging them. The race for the cruellest outcomes has meant that none of the outrages on Manus and Nauru have provoked a change of political heart or a move towards a positive bipartisan approach.
A System Designed to Return Asylum Seekers
Daniel Webb has led the Human Rights Law Centre’s advocacy, fighting endlessly in the courts for the rights of asylum seekers, heading the Centre’s advocacy at the UN Human Rights Council and winning international accolades for his tireless efforts. Webb discusses the issues associated with mandatory detention and how the system is designed to return asylum seekers home through inhumane treatment.
Scotland's Solid Refugee Strategy
David O’Neill was in a unique position, leading a cross party democratic organisation to work right across Scotland to ensure that a solid refugee strategy was in place. He was first elected a Councillor in 1995 and head of Cosla in 2012. O’Neill emphasises the political and public need to look first at the humanitarian crisis facing refugees and discusses the role leadership plays in offering the right assistance.
No Proper Process for Asylum Seekers?
Emilie Rouvroy contends that there is no longer a proper process for refugees seeking asylum. She is critical of the EU Turkey deal and explains that nations erecting fences leads to asylum seekers being trapped with nowhere to go.
The Very Real Risks to Asylum Seeking Minors
Daniel Barney has been working on the front line with MSF in many places, and spent much time at the Jungle in Calais. In Calais he was particularly concerned with the plight of unaccompanied minors.
Learning From Refugees of the Past
Former Ambassador to both the United States and Great Britain, Wolfgang Ischinger is sometimes described as 'Germany’s best connected former diplomat. He serves on the Supervisory Board of Allianz Deutschland AG and on the governing board of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. He is currently Chair of the Munich Security Council. Ischinger cites the horrors of the Berlin Wall and the memories of genocide as affecting current decisions regarding refugees in Germany.
Scotland's Solid Refugee Strategy
Scotland's Solid Refugee Strategy