Refugee Speech

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All children in Australia have a right to education. Under the Convention on the Rights of the Child, Australian governments are required to provide, as a minimum, primary education that is 'compulsory and available free to all' and secondary education that is 'available and accessible to every child'. Refugee children don’t always get to go to school and sometimes when they can they’re too scared to. One kid said “I will not go to school because… the education is really bad and the teachers swear at us. It is not safe for us here”. Another said a girl offered him sex for money. The detention centre school in Nauru is being closed down and the kids have to attend school with the children that live there outside of the centre. The way the refugee kids are treated in that school is appalling. Some have been urinated on, some have been sexually harassed, others have been threatened with knives and have teachers swearing at them. It’s obvious that this school isn’t safe for these kids yet the government is still shutting down the one in the camp. The school where they can be safe. These children are lucky compare to others because they actually get education, but some would argue it’s not worth it if this is the way they are treated.

Our treatment of refugees is atrocious and it needs to stop. We are letting these people be raped, bullied and be threatened, and it’s Australians doing it. We are the ones that are letting it happen and it goes by unnoticed because not enough of us informed about it. We need to take a stand and put a stop to these actions. We need to change our ways.