“I understand them getting on the boat”
A woman who once said of refugees "Serves you bastards right" is now far more empathetic to their plight after travelling to refugee camps for the SBS doco Go Back To Where You Came From.
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“When the boat crashed coming into Christmas Island I thought, serve you bastards right. Come the right way and it wouldn’t have happened,” Adelaide resident Raye Coleby, 63, once declared.
Now having participated in SBS’ ground-breaking documentary series Go Back To Where You Came From, she has a much deeper understanding of the plight of refugees and isn’t as unforgiving.
Coleby was one of several ‘average Aussies’ recruited by producers Cordell Jigsaw after she spoke out at a town meeting against a Woodside detention centre near Inverbrackie, South Australia.
“I hated the Detention Centre, the people that ran it, the people that lived there, and it possessed me. I felt like I was losing control of everything and I couldn’t get any answers. It seemed that here in South Australia there was a bit of a gag policy on everything. No-one would give you answers, it didn’t matter who you contacted,” she tells TV Tonight.
Unsatisfied with bureacratic red tape, her forthright philosophy towards authorities was:, “If you think I’m going to believe what you’re telling me, you will also believe that I believe in the Tooth Fairy.”
Her passion made her an ideal candidate for the SBS series which sees six ordinary Australians undertake a 25 day journey to witness immigration raids in Malaysia, Kenyan refugee camps slums in Jordan, and to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Iraq.
Coleby admits she thought her age would preclude her selection but was “over the moon” to learn she had made the final cut. All participants underwent a psychology test before embarking on the arduous journey which began with a leaky ‘people smuggling’ style boat off Darwin, followed by a mid-ocean rescue.
“I thought if I could make this trip and get some answers for myself then I would have a proper understanding of why these people get on boats, why they come to Australia, why they’re so demanding and why they protest when we help them. What’s going through their heads? Maybe I could understand and get some answers.”
What she witnessed shocked her, and now resonates with her on a daily basis. In Malaysia she saw people struggling to exist without even being afforded any status.
“The government in Malaysia don’t even recognise them as refugees. They give them nothing: no food, no shelter, no medical, no education, they’re not allowed to work, they’re persecuted if they’re caught. It’s just horrendous what goes on over there,” she said.
At a Kenyan refugee camp she came face to face with families suffering amongst 84,000 other refugees.
“The people in that camp stay there for 20 years onwards. It’s not unusual to hear someone say ‘I’ve been here for 18 years now.’ The torture they go through before that makes them flee to the refugee camps,” she says.
“One of the people in the refugee camp in Kenya told me, ‘Raye when I go to sleep at night and put my head on the pillow, the only thing I can ask God for is tomorrow. That will stay with me forever. But that’s as far as they allow themselves to dream. If you can’t dream in your life, how sad is that?
“One man’s wife was raped, his two daughters were raped and murdered in front if him, then he was tortured and had one if his testicles cut off. And that brutality is common.
“How can people be so cruel to each other? I don’t understand.”
Last year alone only 900 were resettled worldwide from Kenya.
But while she now has appreciation for African and Burmese refugees, her position on Middle Eastern asylum seekers hasn’t changed.
“The Middle Eastern people are fleeing a war whereas the Africans and Burmese are fleeing persecution. That’s how I see it. The Middle Eastern people have the finances and paper work and ability to get themselves here by boat. But the Africans and Burmese don’t have any opportunity. They don’t have papers or money, there’s no way, shape or form they could even dream of getting anywhere near a boat,” she explains.
Ongoing protests at her local detention centre frustrate her because there is much greater anguish suffered by others who are unable to reach the accommodation supplied in Australia.
“There was an article in our paper where a woman was complaining of mental trauma from being detained from 11 months. And I’m thinking ‘Well try 20 years!'” she says.
“These people have got no idea. They don’t know what confinement is. They don’t know what losing all your rights means.
“I don’t hate them. I understand fully why they’re here. I understand them getting on the boat. I understand all of that now. But I’m frustrated that they’re taking everything here for granted, complaining about everything. Nothing is good enough, nothing is right, we can’t do a thing that satisfies them and yet there are people overseas that would give anything to even have a portion of what they’re getting.
Coleby now believes processing of refugees should be  conducted off shore to make the process fairer and equal to all. But she no longer subscribes to her previous position of ‘serve you bastards right.’
“I’d like to be able to tell the people in the detention centre here to please be grateful for what they have. Look at the documentary, look at what’s happening over there and put yourselves in their shoes like we did and then tell me if you have the right to complain?” she says.
The SBS series, which airs as a television event across three consecutive nights next week, is intended to ignite debate on the subject.
For Coleby the experience was deeply personal and while she still sending gifts to families in Kenya, she can’t help but see her own home in a new light.
“I come home here to a country that is just magnificent and drive up my driveway to see my horses in the paddock and the beautiful green pastures and my dogs here to welcome me, a bottle of wine in the table and a hot meal…. and I feel guilty.”
Go Back to Where You Came From airs 8:30pm Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday next week on SBS ONE.
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26 Responses
jack. Entering Australia with out the proper papers is illegal. that is what they are trying to do. So therefor they are illegal immigrants. No matter how much your poor heart bleeds for them, they are still criminals. Every time one of them is allowed to stay, someone who decided t o do the right thing and obey our laws gets rejected. I know who i want here. Someone who is prepared to respect our laws and do the right thing rather than someone who just thinks they can barge past everyone else because they feel they have this feeling of higher self entitlement. Then cause a riot and threaten to kill staff when the don’t get their way.
Watching this preview as I write this. I think if someone told me to hand over my papers or be killed, I too would hand over my papers. I hope you watch this show.
Daniel, thank you for speaking about your experience, what a brave family you have – I’d love it if more people considered what they would do to protect their families from persecution or the day to day trauma of living in a war zone.
Seeking asylum is not illegal, no matter how you arrive, asylum seekers have not therefore committed a crime, yet they are detained without trial, sometimes for years, in often subhuman conditions (yet people smugglers awaiting trial are afforded the legal rights of any criminal in the justice system).
Over 90% of boat people are found to be genuine refugees. Countering this, the 9/11 bombers apparently had US Visas, and arrived by plane, first class.
I could go on, but people, please, try to learn more about the realities of this issue, and encourage intelligent, and compassionate debate.
Get a clue monk, there’s nothing illegal about seeking asylum.
Whilst I appreciate she has a newfound attitude to some asylum seekers (she still seems to have a problem with middle eastern asylum seekers) is she unable to conduct her own research? If she wasn’t getting answers, couldn’t she get informed like most people. I think it’s a great concept for SBS.
This still hasn’t changed my mind. They are still illegal and still shouldn’t be allowed. Who cares if the boat is leaky. Who cares if a few left winged lackeys had a change of heart.
@JasonD: “Generous pull factors”? Being locked up in mandatory detention indeterminately? In any case, respecting our obligations under the Refugee Convention hardly seems “generous”.
The problem is, thosed who should be watching this show won’t. Dancing With The Stars or Master Chef will be their fodder.
@Daniel, you rock.
Thanks David, my bad and yes it is great that we can get some more informed debate because some people so desperately need to be informed rather than inflamed.
@Jason D: I fear these “illegal” immigrants risking their lives on boats are used by the government as a big distraction from their out-of-control “legal” immigration policy that is creating cultural ghettos where immigrants have no motivation to assimilate into the wider community or even try to speak our national language, English. The assylum seekers are brave and deserve to be treated quickly and with dignity … I used to think “stick them back on the boat and send them home” … I now see that I was very wrong!
10 years ago I was against boats coming in and so called illegal immigrants. But now as Im older I can see why people want to flee these countries. I could never imagine what they have to live through day to day.
I would want to flee to. I think this show is a brilliant idea to make people realise just what they have to entail. Hopefully it opens there eyes and they wont be so harsh to criticise. I will record it and will be interested in watching it. Great idea SBS.
This week’s TV Week seemed to give away the only 100% bigot still standing. Nice to see some at least changed their minds a little.
i was 2 years old. one night mum packed 1 bag…just 1… for me (i only had singlet with a nappy and a necklace of a cross.., my dad, brother and sister… people in my former hometown were being kidnapped… tortured…being held ransom….money was given but they were never returned. so we left iraq, went through to jordan in the dead of the night. we fled to Greece…. we walked around a mountain for 2 days! and then at the age of 5 i got on a plane and fell asleep and woke up in my new home… i once asked mum why did we flee (i dont remember any of it), she said this is the land of freedom and of hope….i was 10 then…and now im 22…. and i am so thankful! so thankful the we didnt have to flee on a boat! who knows what could have happened! but i do thank god everyday that im in Australia…. i love this country, its my home, my past, my future… i would gladly fight for this country….its brought me so much joy and happiness..so i do understand why people go to such great lengths to get here any way possible… it still is the land of freedom and hope that it was all those years ago!
You mean to tell me she was totally uninformed beforehand and just spouting off whatever lies she had heard in the media and now after a few facts and some education she realises what the truth is – shock horror!
Goonies: Not quite. As the story indicates, she was seeking answers at local meetings, but frustrated by being given none from authorities. But it’s good this is generating discussion, passion, debate, which is the intent of the show.
This woman isw narrow and lacks empathy. Unless her nose is rubbed in it, she can’t small anything.
To me a refugee is a refugee is a refugee … I can absolutely see why people would be fleeing Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Syria, Lybia and any other number of Middle Eastern territories. Persecution certainly has and continues to take place in all of those countries. People don’t just leave their lives behind and risk everything to start up a new life elsewhere on a whim. I too sincerely hope this program is seen by many and changes even just a few minds.
@Jack!
People also risk their lives to cross the borer from Mexico into the USA, however, that doesn’t mean they’re fleeing persecution. Coming from SBS, I think the show will portray all asylum seekers as being genuine, when in reality, it’s not the case due to generous pull factor incentives brought about by the Rudd government. I don’t mind asylum seekers, but there is a need for proper processing to weed out bogus claimants of asylum too. The underlying agenda or bias from Greens/Refugee advocates anyway is to let as many people in as possible, regardless.
After all that experience she sounds sounds only slightly less horrible.
She’s very genuine about Kenyan and Burmese refugees, but less tolerant of those who have the finances and supposedly complain about living conditions. I think her point is more worthy refugees just can’t even reach our shores. In any case it should put a lot more info on the table.
I can’t see how a few “Boat People” can be a problem for us when we have such massive “legal” immigration. If people are so desperate to risk their lives like this to just have a chance at a sense of safety, how dare we deny them that … put more resources into faster processing of their claims and reduce the need for long term detention.
That should be Inverbrackie, South Australia.
This series sounds fascinating. Shame it takes such dramatic circumstances to make people take a perspective. Can’t believe anyone could say “serve you bastards right” after witnessing that footage.
Something like this has been a long time coming, fingers crossed it pulls a good audience and doesn’t end up just preaching to the choir.
Yeah it’s sad that some people are so quick to judge and don’t understand others until they are actually in their shoes.
when I saw the ads for this I was floored – what a fabulous idea, and for Raye it seems to have given her a greater perspective. Hope it does the same for others. Can’t wait to watch this.