Books

These are just a few of the Australian books, non-fiction and fiction, on refugees, asylum seekers and some current human rights issues in Australia.

Borderline: Australia's Response To Refugees And Asylum Seekers In The Wake Of The Tampa 2nd Ed
By Peter Mares
UNSW PRESS 2002
Winner of numerous major awards
Borderline was first published in April 2001, and immediately received widespread acclaim for its authority, its humanity, its passion and its fundamental honesty. The second edition of Borderline has been completely revised to include more recent events. It also includes much new testimony from professionals who have worked inside Australia’s immigration detention system and who now feel compelled to speak out about their experiences.
Order direct from the publisher at http://www.unswpress.com.au/isbn/0868407895.htm or ask your local bookshop or go to Gleebooks http://www.gleebooks.com.au/


From Nothing to Zero: Letters from Refugees in Australia's Detention Centres
Edited by Janet Austin
Preface and chapter introductions by Julian Burnside QC
Lonely Planet 2003
From Nothing to Zero presents edited extracts from letters written by asylum seekers held in Australia's detention centres. These letters provide a rare glimpse into the world of refugees who have fled war and persecution in their own countries. Several of the contributing detainees have been held for more than three years, often with no end to their incarceration in sight. This compelling book gives voice to people whose thoughts and experiences are only rarely heard.
More details or purchase here http://shop.lonelyplanet.com/product_detail.cfm?productID=2145&
Ask your local bookshop or go to Gleebooks http://www.gleebooks.com.au/



Dark Dreams: Australian Refugee Stories
edited by Eva Sallis, Heather Millar and Sonja Dechian
Wakefield Press
February 2004
An anthology of essays and short stories written by children and young adults aged 11-20 years. These young writers explore or imaginatively recreate the story of someone who came to Australia as a refugee. These are the stories of extraordinary Australians the young authors found in their family, neighbourhood, and local communities; and in themselves.
This is a unique book in Australia. The stories are the finest of hundreds collected through an unprecedented nationwide schools competition in 2002, devised by writer Eva Sallis and run by Australians Against Racism Inc.
The essays and stories range in length from 700 words to 2,500 words and represent many different countries. Some focus on survival, some on horrors, some on the experiences and alienation of a new world. Some are stories of refugees still living in detention centres in Australia, and one is the unbearable story of a twelve-year-old SIEVX survivor, told by her fifteen-year-old friend, and capturing both their voices. These stories are unavoidably topical, disturbing and political. They are highly, provocatively readable.
"A dark dream left a mark in my heart, mind and soul."
Mohammad Riyadh Ali, aged 20
‘They did what they could to stay alive, and then they played soccer.’
Helen Huynh, aged 16
For more information: www.wakefieldpress.com.au
Ask your local bookshop or go to Gleebooks http://www.gleebooks.com.au/


Desert Sorrow: Asylum Seekers in Woomera
By Tom Mann
Wakefield Press 2003
Winner of A Just Australia Award for Human Rights 2003
Desert Sorrow is the only eye witness account of life inside the Woomera detention centre. Tom Mann was contracted by the Australasian Correctional Management to teach asylum seekers detained there for eight months during 2000 and 2001. His is a personal account that gives a human face to the asylum seekers held in detention and a perspective of what life was really like on the inside. The book sheds light on some truths about the refugee situation and the processing of their applications for asylum.
Tom describes both the physical and psychological environment of the Woomera Detention Centre, as well as the teaching curriculum he devised to cater for large numbers of adults and children with varying levels of English. His job was made easier with the help of detainees who were involved in many educational and recreational aspects of life at the centre. Mann recounts chilling tales of the torment and suffering the refugees had been subjected to prior to arriving in Australia. During his time at Woomera, Tom witnessed riots and escapes and describes the feelings of hopelessness by those whose applications for temporary visas had been rejected. There were regular self-mutilations and suicide attempts and with it, concern amongst both detainees and staff about the inconsistencies of treatment of the processing of visa applications which left many feeling desperate and depressed.
For more information: www.wakefieldpress.com.au
Ask your local bookshop or go to Gleebooks http://www.gleebooks.com.au/


Asylum: Voices Behind the Razor Wire
By Heather Tyler
Lothian 2003
ISBN: 0734405367
They stitch up their lips, go on hunger strikes, burn Australian buildings on Australian soil. Who are these desperate people and what enrages them so much? Asylum gives voice to the real people behind the sensationalism, with first-hand accounts from asylum-seekers themselves.
Ask your local bookshop or go to Gleebooks http://www.gleebooks.com.au/


Future Seekers: Refugees and the Law in Australia
by Mary Crock and Ben Saul
Federation Press 2002
Millions of people flee their homelands, dangerous, war-torn, poverty-stricken places where the future is counted in days. Where do they go? A country of final destination, a land with promise of a better future. And how? Any way they can. Countries of final destination want to decide who lives in their country, which visitors are welcome in their "house" and which are not. Nations always have done. What happens when these forces meet, when a refugee comes "uninvited" and collides headlong with the political and bureaucratic imperatives of a modern democracy?
This book explains the Australian "solution". It sets out clearly and simply the legal, administrative and political procedures governing refugee claims made inside Australia. It collects statistics and other basic information relating to refugees, asylum seekers and illegal migration, placing Australia’s experience in an international context. It explores some of the common understandings about refugees and illegal migrants so as to assist people to make their own assessment of the facts and fictions that characterise the debate on refugees in Australia; and it shows how it is possible to balance Australia’s international commitment to protecting human rights against domestic concerns about safeguarding Australia’s borders.
for more information www.federationpress.com.au/Books/CrockFutSeek.html


Fire Snow and Honey: Voices From Kurdistan
Edited by Gina Lennox
Halstead Press 2001
Shortlisted in the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards – General History Prize 2002
The Kurds are one of the largest ethnic groups in the world to suffer from lack of political control over their homeland. Their history is a history of identity, formed on the one hand through community, ritual and the practices of daily life, and on the other through the trauma of brutal repression and displacement. In Fire, Snow and Honey Gina Lennox presents narratives of identity and ritual, cooking and eating, fear and loss, migration, cultural dislocation and hope. She interweaves personal oral histories with essays that place the Kurds within broader frameworks of history, religion and politics. Her book is the impressive outcome of years of listening, interpreting and translating, and the product of skilful, sensitive editing. More than that, it is the product of the 'voices from Kurdistan' - the hundreds of individuals who courageously contributed their grief, their knowledge and their scholarship to broaden understanding of their people.
Human Rights Internet Online Sales
https://nt6.magma.ca/7951.vws.magma.ca/bookStore/index.asp?CategoryID=10&action=list


Why the War Was Wrong
Editor Raimond Gaita
Contributors Robert Manne, Hilary Charlesworth, Eva Sallis, Raimond
Gaita, Peter Coughlan, Guy Rundle, Mark McKenna
Text Publishing
November 2003
More than six months after the US-led coalition of the willing invaded Iraq, huge questions remain about the decision to topple the murderous dictatorship of Saddam Hussein. Was the invasion legal under international law? Why were we lied to about the existence of weapons of mass destruction? Why do we still not know how many Iraqis died in the invasion? Why was John Howard so eager to commit Australian troops? Why did this war happen at all? Edited and introduced by bestselling author Raimond Gaita, WHY THE WAR WAS WRONG includes the work of leading Australian writers, lawyers, historians
and philosophers. Accessible, persuasive and passionate about our responsibilities to our fellow human beings, it is a book of paramount importance.
More information www.textpublishing.com.au or ask your local bookshop or go to Gleebooks http://www.gleebooks.com.au/


Australian Focus on Issues: Refugees
by Jessica Perini
Publisher: Watts Publishing Australia and New Zealand
Unit 32, 45-51 Huntley Street
Alexandria NSW 2015.
Telephone. (02) 9565 5114
ISBN: 0 86415 460 7
This book is part of a series for children (10-15 years old). The book covers the history of the plight of refugees from the first refugees in Australia (the Prussians) to today's atrocities.

Dark Victory
By David Marr and Marian Wilkinson
Allen&Unwin 2003
Ask your local bookshop or go to Gleebooks http://www.gleebooks.com.au/

Asylum Seekers: Australia’s Response to Refugees
By Don McMaster
Melbourne University Press 2001
Ask your local bookshop or go to Gleebooks http://www.gleebooks.com.au/

The Tyrant’s Novel
By Tom Keneally
Doubleday 2003
Ask your local bookshop or go to Gleebooks http://www.gleebooks.com.au/

Mahjar
By Eva Sallis
Allen&Unwin 2003
Ask your local bookshop or go to Gleebooks http://www.gleebooks.com.au/

Boy Overboard
By Morris Gleitzmann
Puffin Books 2002
http://www.penguin.com.au/puffin/
Ask your local bookshop or go to Gleebooks http://www.gleebooks.com.au/