Last week, a boat with 49 Afghan men on board, caught fire off the coast of Australia. The people on board the boat were asylum seekers. An asylum seeker is someone who wants to live in another country but is not an official refugee. This is an illegal way of entering a country. Usually, asylum seekers pay a lot of money to people smugglers who find them a boat. These people came to Indonesia then managed to find a boat to take them to Australia. They were six weeks on board this boat and had very little food. The Australian navy stopped the boat and started to tow it to Christmas Island where they have a place for keeping asylum seekers.
Australia is close to Indonesia and Malaysia. Many people who suffer from war in their country want to live in a peaceful country. In 2001, a boat on the way to Australia with asylum seekers on board had trouble at sea and the people were rescued by a Norwegian ship, the Tampa. Australia refused to allow these people into their country. New Zealand helped to solve this difficult situation. (See December 10th 2008 for information about the Tampa.)
The fire on board the boat last week killed three men. Two others are missing and probably drowned. The other people on the boat were burnt, seven of them very badly. All those with burns are now in hospitals on Australia, receiving treatment.
The Australian government said that there is another boat on the way from Indonesia. The navy will stop that boat too.
Australia takes more than 13,000 official refugees from UNHCR, a United Nations agency.
From Chris Mahoney, English Language Institute, VUW
Listen to the news passage and answer the following questions.
A True/False/Make it right
Circle the correct answer (T or F). If the statement is false, then make a small change to correct it.
1. The Australian navy assisted the boat people’s journey to Australia. T/F
2. Asylum seekers rarely pay people money to smuggle them to a new country. T/F
3. Many asylum seekers who want to go to Australia end up on Christmas Island. T/F
4. The main injury suffered by the boat people was burns. T/F
5. There were no women on board the boat. T/F
B Numbers
1. How many Afghan men were on the boat? _________
2. How many weeks were they on the boat? _________
3. How many people died in the fire? _________
4. How many are missing, believed dead? _________
5. How many official refugees does Australia allow into the country? _________
C Vocabulary
Find single words in the text which are synonyms for each of the following.
1. unlawful __________
2. were able __________
3. difficulties __________
4. lost __________
5. getting __________
D Questions for Discussion
1. What are some reasons why people might want to flee their own country and seek asylum in another country?
2. Should peaceful countries accept refugees from other countries? Why/why not?
3. Do you think the Australian government was right to turn away these asylum seekers?
4. In the 1960s/1970s many Vietnamese people fled Viet Nam as refugees. Why did they leave? Which countries did they mainly go to? Do you agree they did the right thing?
To be used in conjunction with article Boat people try to enter Australia, on http://www.eslnews.org.nz
© ELI, Victoria University of Wellington
CMM/2009