Truth, Lies and Mediascapes: A Forum on Sudanese Refugees and the Dynamics of Resettlement, 22 October 2007
This ICEPA forum was held to promote dialogue on the actual - as opposed to 'perceived' or 'anecdotal' - experiences and challenges for the Sudanese refugee community in making a new life for themselves in Australia. The forum was also concerned with exploring the way in which Sudanese refugees have been presented as 'maladaptive' - that is, incapable or less capable of responding positively to the imperatives of integration and cultural exchange. The perception of maladaptivity arguably has more to do with a failure to understand the needs and backgrounds of refugees from varying cultural backgrounds and historical/political circumstances than it does with any 'deficit' on the part of refugees themselves. The forum actively engaged with these perceptions and attempted to restore some accuracy and balance in how we view this issue. This event was opened by Honourable Justice Frank Vincent OA, QC (Chancellor, Victoria University).
The forum addressed key questions such as:
- What do we need to know, and to learn, in order to change our thinking about how those of us in established Australian communities understand our relationship to Sudanese refugees?
- How can we strike a balanced perspective on the real challenges both refugee and established communities face in coming to terms with new relationships and new ways of sharing the same space in a cooperative and mutually enriching fashion?
- What does the current debate tell us about how we understand the rights and obligations of what it means to be an Australian citizen, and are we heading in the right direction on this as a society and as a polity?
The following presentations were made at the forum and are available for download as PDF files:
- Mr Brian Tee MLC, Parliamentary Secretary for Justice
- Settlement Experiences Among Sudanese Youth, Professor Sandy Gifford, Director, Refugee Health Research Centre, School of Social Sciences, Latrobe University
- Mr Matthew Albert, Coordinator, Sudanese Australian Integrated Learning (SAIL) Program
- Mr Gatwech Puoch, Sudanese Community Leader
Other speakers at the forum were:
- Mr Bol Diu Gok, Secretary-General, Sudanese Community Association of Australia
- Ms Margaret Choul, Sudanese Community Leader
- Associate Professor Helen Borland, School of Communication, Culture and Languages, Victoria University
