By Molly Magennis
The Asylum Seeker Resource Centre (ASRC) has released a new book capturing the stories of those who have lived experience of seeking asylum.
‘Seeking Asylum: Our Stories’, features stories from asylum seekers who explore aspects of their lives from growing up in a refugee camp, coming to Australia by boat and surviving detention.
Fundraising, marketing and enterprise director Alan White said the main reason for creating this book was the ASRC’s priority in making sure people seeking asylum are at the very heart of the organisation.
“ASRC is an organisation that doesn’t just want to support people seeking asylum or people who have got permanent protection with their needs, we actually want to make sure they are centered at the very middle of our organisation and that they are the people whose voices are heard and amplified,” he said.
“Us actually providing the platform and the stage and letting people actually claim that stage and claim that story, and us moving to the side … that’s what the role of an ally is.”
The motivation behind getting these stories out there was to build an engagement with the wider Australian community.
“I think giving a human element to an issue that is often politicised and weaponised by certain members of government and in policies and so for us it gives a human side to that,” Mr White said.
“We want the Australian public to gain a great understanding of the refugee experience … and build an emotional connection to those people.”
Everyone that contributed had full editorials rights over their story and were fully remunerated. All proceeds from the book go directly to the ASRC to support and empower people seeking asylum.
You can purchase Seeking Asylum: Our Stories in bookshops, or through the ASRC website: shop.asrc.org.au
