The camps within our borders

April 25, 2001
Issue 

Picture

SYDNEY — "Naw?", asks the woman at the big desk. "Nawi to ciea?", she waits, pen poised above a sheaf of papers. "Walamai prsirako bdarawa!", the man next to her barks, "Nawi kasakaw sabay ziarat ciea?". Someone in the queue behind comes to the rescue: "They want to know your name and the purpose of your visit."

This is not immigration control but front of house at the latest production by western Sydney's Urban Theatre Projects. Asylum is a show about refugees and the public debate about how Australia should respond to them.

"Australians like to think we have a proud history of welcoming refugees and migrants", says Asylum's director Claudia Chidiac. "There are warm and fuzzy images of old migrant hostels. But times are changing — now we greet new refugees with detention centres in the middle of nowhere, razor wire and years of waiting."

Chidiac has researched the show extensively, speaking with detainees inside the Villawood detention centre and people who have been through the lengthy and difficult process of gaining refugee status.

"People don't leave their homes and families and travel to the other side of the world for no reason. They've left because their lives were in danger. But to gain asylum, to be allowed to stay, they need to prove that to the immigration authorities," Chidiac explained.

"They have to keep telling their story over and over again. Every detail is checked and challenged. So they become wedded to their story — it's their passport and only chance of survival, but it's also a burden. They have to keep telling and keep living what may be very traumatic events. They become their story and they become performers. That's the kind of uneasy relationship we want to bring out in Asylum."

Asylum is performed by an ensemble of six performers, some of whom have experienced coming to Australia as refugees. They come from Algeria, Iran, Vietnam and Kurdistan.

Video components of the production are by Denis Beaubois and Rik Rue provides a soundscape inspired by his visits to the Villawood detention centre.

Asylum is is to be presented at a secret location in Bankstown over two weeks from May 3. Admission is free but call (02) 9707 2111 for details and bookings.

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