Two Melbourne writers are taking on the Australian Government in an attempt to break myths and challenge perceptions around asylum seekers.
The duo are seeking to raise $10,000 to fund a campaign in opposition to the eighteen-page comic strip aimed at people seeking asylum in Australia which the government published in November 2013.
The comic, which features a depressed-looking man sitting alone in a detention centre after attempting to seek asylum, was created to send the message that anyone coming to Australia by boat to seek asylum will not find a home here.
“The comic seems to take delight in the unfair and highly dangerous way asylum seekers are currently treated by the Australian government, and I thought that was shameful,” said Kate Iselin, one of the brains behind the project.
“The comic is not only deeply offensive towards anyone seeking or having sought asylum in Australia, but to anyone who disagrees with the government’s hard-line policy and believes in helping those in danger.”
The campaign, entitled ‘You Are Welcome in Australia’, is to centre around a countering comic strip that highlights the inherent generosity and mateship of Australians, and the support systems available to those settling.
“We feel that the Australian Government is really poorly representing Australians on this issue – we’re not all heartless when it comes to people in desperation.” said Thomas Blatchford, who helped develop the idea. “It’s not illegal to seek asylum in Australia, as ruled by the UN Refugee Convention which we signed in 1950.”
“Many Australians came from a place of turmoil – the Government’s policies just create divisiveness and intolerance amongst what should be a unified nation of multicultural people.”
The campaign does not aim to encourage people to seek asylum in Australia, but hopes to encourage support for those who already have or are currently being processed.
“Arriving by boat is dangerous, and this passage should be prevented, but this would be better achieved by more foreign aid, international diplomacy and increasing intake through safe means – not by demonizing people who are literally facing life or death.”
The pair are crowdfunding the comic through a Pozible campaign and are donating profits to the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre.
Kate Iselin is the editor of online magazine Vanity Project and the fashion designer of PAVO. Thomas Blatchford is a writer for The Thousands and coordinates the Melbourne zine collective, Sticky Institute.
