★★★★★ 0/5

Go Back to Where You Came From

Six ordinary Australians are tested on their views of asylum seekers in a daring social experiment, that asks who we are as a nation.

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Go Back to Where You Came From is one of the most ambitious television projects undertaken by Australian television.

It is compelling television, remarkable for what it is attempting to undertake, for its execution and for its drama.

Producers Cordell Jigsaw (Bondi Rescue) have pulled out all stops to personalise the issues involved in giving asylum to refugees, demonstrating extraordinary access in hostile situations. Witnessed through the eyes of six ‘ordinary’ Australians, the drama and emotion is undeniable and the lessons are deeply confronting.

The decision to send not just a documentary camera crew on a journey to refugee camps, but opinionated Aussies, is inspired. It results in a hybrid between Reality Television and Documentary filmmaking that drives its message home.

 The six Australians, from various walks of life, arrive with a cross section of opinions. The most extreme is 21 year old Raquel, unemployed from western Sydney, who doesn’t accept Africans in her suburb and says we should not accept any refugees.  “Australia for Australians. “Africa for Africans.” At times she resembles a young Pauline Hanson.

At the opposite end is 39yo Gleny from Newcastle, who believes Australia should show more compassion.

Four others share varying opinions on the subject, most of which involve reducing or stopping our intake entirely.

All have voluntarily agreed to participate in the exercise for 25 days, without knowing what Producers have in store. It’s pretty safe to presume none would have agreed to it had they known what lay ahead. It is an arduous, often intolerable, social experiment all under the unforgiving glare of a television camera.

The sometime-host for the series is case worker and researcher Dr David Corlett, who has worked with refugees since 1998. In a Big Brother-like ruling, he denies them passports, money, phones and IDs -the same instruction made of refugees who board boats bound for Australia. Instantly the six begin to feel they are losing their identity, unable to even give a last goodbye to family.

From there they are transported to a mystery destination -not Indonesia, but Albury or Liverpool in Western Sydney- to spend a week living with families from the Congo and Iraq who have resettled here. They learn about the hardships -poverty, disease, rape, death- they have overcome to begin a new life. They struggle with the food and customs. They bond with families previously viewed as faceless statistics.

But it is the second and third episodes that deliver the most compelling television when they witness Immigration raids in Malaysia (refugees have no status here and are herded up like cattle by police). In Kenya they share tin-shed accommodation in a refugee camp of 84,000. One woman, 64 year old Raye Coleby -who had originally said refugees deserved to see their boats smashed on the rocks of Christmas Island- cannot hold back the tears when faced with smiling children in the face of desperation. Watching Raquel, previously so blind to African people, is fascinating, if uncomfortable television.

Another group travels to Jordan where they meet children and adults who have endured life-saving operations or lost limbs from the Iraq war but are filled with spirit. Both groups are given a further, traumatic challenge that will test their character and compassion.

The overall effect of the three nights is draining but life-affirming. Some scenes will leave you close to tears.

At any given point you expect some of the Australians to say “I quit” (indeed some do) but they pull together as a group, and they feud as a group. Yet the internal conflict is dwarfed by the real-world conflict that constantly surrounds them. We should be indebted to the six for perservering with what was asked of them in order that we better understand the issues behind the catchphrases of “boat people,” “queue jumpers” and “illegal refugees.”

If viewers were outraged at Four Corners showing cattle being sent to Indonesia, how will they feel about the government sending humans to Malaysia?  

The series is also the kind of television SBS should be producing: volatile stories that force us to ask who we are as a nation.

Go Back To Where You Came From is one of the boldest pieces of television SBS, or any Australian network, has ever made. Don’t miss it.

Go Back To Where You Came From airs 8:30pm Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday on SBS ONE.

41 Responses

  2. It seems like even when discussing a TV show that aims at breaking down the barriers people put up to the truth in a matter, we still have to deal with ignorant attitudes. I don’t blame anyone for having a poor opinion of refugees, especially seeing as it has become a buzz topic for self interested political parties and current affairs programs that don;t have the courage or patience to do any real research on the matter and would rather pith their doctrine of hatred at the lowest end of the market. If people bothered to look at the statistics when it comes to immigration and asylum seekers, not only for their numbers (and it’s interesting to compare those number to say the US) but also for their contribution to society, then maybe we could have an interesting and informed debate. As you said ‘Fred’ don’t believe everything on TV. This includes political and media propaganda. There is no ‘them’ but just brothers and sisters who have not had the amazing privilege we have had to be born in a country that values our voices, opinions, health and lives.

  4. @ James R H

    The constant electronic pop-ups or whatever you call them got to me. They make me want to flick off the channel. So as mentioned it succeeded in putting me off it. It was way too much although I’ll admit one is one too many. But every programme and every show I saw had them after the ads including the news and was extreme overkill. It might have been worth watching. I was interested until they killed it by ruining all other shows on their channel over it. Sorry but if that’s how they are going to operate then I’ll watch something else ironically it was the ABC. And they had their annoying pop-up that was wrong by saying QI was on next. When are they going to get rid of them? Because they just annoy and make some flick over. Those that don’t care probably don’t notice. So it doesn’t make people stick around.

  6. It was brilliant and thoughtful. The ignorance of some of these people were quite sad but they’re probably being mislead by the media.

    @Gonnies: apparently acting on climate change and science is a leftist propaganda too.

  8. @A what on earth are you talking about? It was such an amazing show. Well done to SBS. Looking forward to tuning in tomorrow. Number one trending topic on twitter.

  9. As I’ve said before I normally would of watched this or at least the first episode. All they had to do was not put it on Thursday and advertise it during the adbreaks. And stick to that. But instead someone decided to be cute and ruin all their other shows with electronic graffiti after the adbreak. Including the news. Therefore sending the message don’t watch new shows and especially not this one we’re advertising as we like putting graffiti on our programmes. So you sold me on the idea that I shouldn’t watch it. Congratulations on turning away some or at least this viewer. All I want from TV channels is for them to respect their shows like they respect their ads. Both should be considered sacrosanct. If you don’t do this then I will choose someone else to watch or do something else.

  12. This will be interesting although it seems to me like another pile of leftist propaganda that the SBS is so fond of dishing up to the Australian viewing public.

    A human experiment with carefully selected victims that will give the desired reaction to further the cause.

    The conclusion of this series is inevitable and obvious.

    Just because it is on the TV don’t believe everything you see.

  13. @ The Dueling Cavalier… It is not illegal to seek asylum. So any asylum seekers no matter how they get here, are not illegal. They take whatever means necessary to get safety. Most the only option they have is to risk their life on a boat.

    @Fed Up. Only genuine refeugees are allowed to stay in Australia. Those that are not are sent back. The one’s sent back don’t get reported in the media, just the sensationalist headlines that “the boats are coming”. There’s a process, eeryone goes through it no matter how they got here.

    Hope people watch this cos it looks like fascinating viewing. Might also make people think more humanely when discussing this issue

  14. @Trix – you beat me to the draw as usual 😉

    Unfortunately I don’t think there is an easy solution for this refugee problem, but
    shows like this will hopefully remove a bit of the us-and-them mentality that exists in ‘straya these days. I’ve been lucky enough to see quite a bit of the world and one tends to find exactly the same mix of sweethearts and d#*kheads whatever country you are in.
    Who knows, with Global Warning and such-like, our children may find themselves wanting to escape from Oz to somewhere less disagreeable in the not too distant future.

  15. @Fed Up. You said “The ones that are genuine have all my support, but they are very few and far between.”

    How do you know this? That the genuine refugees are very few and far between? All the statistics I have read indicate the opposite – that the vast majority of asylum seekers are genuine refugees. You’re welcome to your own opinion, but not your own facts.

  17. Wow, Fed up, that is a truly awful, uninformed rant. Whenever I hear the term “these people” and “our country” I just feel sad for the people saying it.

  18. I agree with Fed up, the problem is how to separate and identify those spongers from the real refugees if all htose asylum seekers coming here by boat would throw all their documents and identificaiton in the sea so that they can’t be traced.

  19. Having worked in immigration for a number of years I can assure you that unfortunately the majority of full of bull*t which is not fair on the minority who so desperately need our help. We are becoming a country like the UK – full of spongers who do not need to be here because they were the ones causing the problems in their countries and now they have come here and are increasing crime in our perfect country. We need to stop being so scared to say ‘no’ to these people. The ones that are genuine have all my support, but they are very few and far between. What is the purpose of allowing all these immigrants into Australia – that just means that even the ones who are genuine end up in the same country as the people they were fleeing from! Probably better off staying where you were cause the evil, crime committing people are now here destroying us!

  21. It’s not the genuine refugees seeking asylum in this country that’s the problem; it’s the people that come here illegally in a seemingly uncontrolled flow. And it’s not just happening in this country.

  25. “If viewers were outraged at Four Corners showing cattle being sent to Indonesia, how will they feel about the government sending humans to Malaysia?”

    I said the exact thing!

    Now just waiting for an ad with people in place of the cattle being loaded on to ships and such.

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