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AFRICAN MIGRANTS

Thoughts and Reflections on African Migration and Settlement in Australia.

Friday, February 24, 2006

A New Compact with Migrants

The Australian federal treasurer, Peter Costello, demands a new compact with migrants; arguing that people coming into the country must accept the Australian values.

He has bluntly warned the radical Muslims and other migrants to respect the laws and liberties of the Australian nation or lose their right to citizenship.

The treasurer believes that people who want to live under the Islamic sharia law should move to countries where they would feel “more at ease”.

Costello is obviously concerned with the emergence of what he describes as “mushy misguided multiculturalism”.

Nevertheless, while his vision of a more muscular nationalism may be good news to some elements of the far right, the affected migrants are not laughing!

Monday, February 20, 2006

They Left Paradise Behind

They left the tropical paradise behind
In the race to open the windows of the mind;
Courting the bourgeois world, on which their futures depend;
And doing the daily battle for survival; toiling for hours on end.

Now, they’re planting vineyards in the temperate zone
Where once nothing of substance had grown
Yet, the ancestral home still beckons
Even as their grasp of the new reality strengthens.


© Lawrence T. Udo-Ekpo

Saturday, February 18, 2006

On Imported Workers

The phenomenon of “imported workers” is becoming increasingly popular in the 21st century Australia. But there are genuine concerns about the treatment of such workers.

Addressing the newly arrived African refugees in South Australia recently, the Federal Minister of Immigration, Senator Amanda Vanstone, called on fair minded Australians to “dob in” shonky sponsors of imported workers if there was enough evidence to suggest that they’ve been underpaid or mistreated in any way.

The Senator did a good job of raising the issue in a public forum; thereby creating an awareness of the plight of imported workers in Australia today.

www.theadvertiser.com.au

Saturday, February 11, 2006

The Adventures of African-Australian Sprinter

The former Nigerian sprinter, Ambrose Ezenwa, has found his way into the Australian Commonwealth team. He now calls Australia home.

Ezenwa, aged 28, will represent Australia in the 100m and 200m sprint during next month’s Commonwealth Games in Melbourne.

He has been given official clearance by Nigeria and the international athletics bodies to compete for his adopted country, according to The Australian newspaper report.

This is a big win for Australia.

Sunday, February 05, 2006

The Rise of the Bogus Woman

Kay Adshead’s devastating play, The Bogus Woman, has taken centre stage in the land Down Under. It has already been picked as one of the five top theatre shows to see in the upcoming Adelaide Fringe Festival in South Australia, according to The Advertiser newspaper report.

Indeed, The Bogus Woman is a powerful political play on aspects of immigration procedures – a highly successful one woman show. It is a play which speaks to us through a poetic language that is both brutal and beautiful.

Full credits to Sarah Niles who plays over 48 different characters as the story is told of a young African woman who has to flee her country, after the mass murder of her family, and seeks asylum in London.

A great political theatre!


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