Freedom from Persecution or Continued Abuse? An Analysis of the Meaning of Rights in Refugee Communities

摘要

The resettlement of refugees from a place of danger to a safe country brings an assumption of security, peace and access to human rights. It should herald the beginning of a fulfilling life in a new homeland. Australia has a resettlement programme of about 13,000 people per year. Many of these people settle extremely well and successfully establish themselves and their families in the Australian community. However, research over the past decade into settlement experience has highlighted the fact that not all newly arrived refugees have a positive settlement experience, and many put the blame for the problems they experience on ‘human rights’. Funding was obtained from the Australian Research Council by the authors to explore what exactly the concept of ‘human rights’ meant to diverse refugee communities. The research identified that the rights that were causing the majority of concern were women’s rights and children’s rights. They became the focus of all problems experienced in settlement, and named as the reason for the loss of dreams of a new and happy life. At the base was confusion and lack of understanding about the meaning of human rights and their links to Australian domestic law. This lack of knowledge was often shared by both refugees and the community members and settlement service providers who were endeavouring to assist them to settle successfully. The research identified that the problem was complex and intersectional. It was obvious that a sophisticated analysis was needed to explore the issue and to identify solutions. Klug’s suggested analytical framework of human rights as part law, part philosophy, and part political movement was found to be extremely appropriate, facilitating the application of three very different lenses. It was used as a tool to unpack the different interpretations of rights, and to identify potential solutions.