Taking the wrong attitude toward African refugees in Australia

There's a current of thought in Australia that says that African refugees have no place here because they don't fit in. It's a view that extends from the political class to the commentariat and all the way down to lunatic fringe bloggers. I thought we'd grown out of it, but we haven't.

There is no denying that some refugees from Africa who are resettled in Australia face difficulties adjusting to life here. And when you consider that nine out of ten refugees have spent years living in camps, it's perfectly understandable.

But what does it mean to have lived in a refugee camp? Why does a few years in a refugee camp mean you can't just be grateful and "assimilate" into Australian life? To get some idea, here are some lines from an article by Frank Nyakairu which describes the situation in Dadaab, Kenya, home to two hundred and fifty thousand Somali refugees.

Every week thousands of new arrivals continue to swell the camp's population after fleeing fighting. But Dadaab is far from safe - disease and other dangers are rife...

Some residents in Dagahaley survive on as little as three litres of water a day. Poorly maintained and insufficient latrines increase the threat of epidemics...

And many teenagers end up on the streets, spending the nights at roadside shelters chewing khat - an addictive leaf which raises levels of aggression and is blamed for some of the violence in the camp.

For Bashir Ahmed Bhihi, who has been in Dadaab since Somali dictator Siad Barre was overthrown in 1991, the refugee camp is akin to a jail.

"My son was born here. He has finished his secondary education now but that education is completely useless here," Bashir told me.

"He cannot get a job anywhere. He is neither Somali nor Kenyan. He was born in this prison, and I am afraid he will die in this prison."

Disease, violence, hunger, lack of basic freedoms. Hopelessness. This is the situation that some are born into, grow up in, struggle to survive in. Is it any wonder that these people have trouble "fitting in" when they arrive in Melbourne or Brisbane or Newcastle?

Think about culture shock. About how difficult it can be to adjust to an alien society when you first encounter it. Or think about war veterans who spend years in a conflict zone and then find that they can't live a "normal" life when they come home. They can be impatient, angry, paranoid. It can take years to adjust. Some never do.

When African refugees - from Somalia, Sudan, or elsewhere - are resettled in Australia, chances are that they are coming to terms with life outside of the camp they've known for so long. They're learning how to solve problems without violence, how to get a job, how to look after a house. Many would be dealing with trauma. It's bloody tough.

It saddens me that some Australians seem to understand all of this, yet conclude that the solution is to stop Africans from being resettled here. Resettled refugees who have come from situations like the Dadaab camp are going to have a tough time. They will make mistakes and need time to adjust.

This does not mean they are "ungrateful". It does not mean they don't want to "fit in". It means we need to acknowledge these factors and make an effort to provide the support required. That's the human response. We can do it for traumatised war veterans, so surely we can do it for those who've survived life in a refugee camp.