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Voices without borders

Joel Carnegie, Melbourne / seJuly 11, 2014

Australia's treatment of asylum seekers, including its policy of turning back boats at sea, is under scrutiny. Those who do reach Australia face new obstacles, but a unique choir is helping them make their voices heard.

https://p.dw.com/p/1CbVW
In this photo released by the Indonesian National Search And Rescue Agency, a wooden boat which is believed to have up to 180 asylum seekers on board floats on the waters off Christmas Island, Australia, Wednesday, July 4, 2012(Photo:Indonesian National Search and Rescue Agency/AP/dapd)
Image: AP

Australia's voices without borders

The treatment of a group of asylum seekers who were returned to Sri Lanka after being screened at sea has led to questions about whether Australia is breaching its obligations under international law.

Australia's government, led by Prime Minister Tony Abbott, is determined to stop boatloads of asylum seekers from reaching Australian territory. Hundreds of people have died while attempting the often dangerous journey to Australia in unseaworthy boats, on trips arranged by people smugglers.

Those who do make it to Australia by boat end up facing long waits, often in offshore immigrant detention centers.

If they end up on the Australian mainland, migrants may face more waiting in onshore detention facilities or in "community detention," a form of immigration detention where asylum seekers live in the community and are provided a basic living allowance, but no opportunity for paid work, while their application for refugee status is assessed.

A choir and cooking program in Melbourne called "Voices without Borders" aims to give these asylum seekers an opportunity to express themselves and a way to break down barriers.