Comments on: Debating refugee credibility

By: Five language myths about refugee credibility - Language on the Move

Five language myths about refugee credibility - Language on the Move — Tue, 05 May 2020 22:28:19 +0000

[…] a world where public debates about refugees and asylum seekers often focus on whether they are telling the truth, it should probably come as no surprise that government processes for evaluating asylum claims […]

By: Nazzia

Nazzia — Fri, 15 Nov 2019 12:23:51 +0000

It is really sad to read the way this case proceeded and it goes to show the role social media and language play in perceptions about one’s credibility. Depends on which side of the refuge situation you are on, reading people’s opinions can greatly vary. I hope that there is a better solution on how situation such as the one discussed in this paper are managed fairly.

By: Sasha Sunshine

Sasha Sunshine — Fri, 15 Nov 2019 11:48:55 +0000

This article is very interesting. It discusses different resources which ultimately distinguishes who has more power within communication. Those with power want to retain it and therefore go to lengths to maintain their status. However, all individuals deserve to be heard and given opportunities to express themselves. With social media as a platform for self-advocacy, people will share more to be heard publicly. However, it needs to be ascertained if the information they share is credible. There is also the chance that they may not get the response they are looking for. This is definitely an area that would benefit from further research.

By: AK

AK — Thu, 14 Nov 2019 15:10:56 +0000

Thank you Laura for sharing this post, it is really interesting and sad article at the same time. I did not have any information about refugee credibility here in Australia before. However, now this made me feel how language can control a person’s life and future. I am not sure what is the best solution to this problem, but the Australian government have to create more opportunities for refugees to assist them overcome these difficulties.

By: Rajendra Prasad Kandel

Rajendra Prasad Kandel — Tue, 05 Nov 2019 05:58:39 +0000

This article makes me realize the power of identity, language and communicative resources in the fighting for justice. Public hear those who have a stronger ethos and sound proficiency in the language with rhetoric skills to present the argument effectively; eloquent statements presented in the easily accessible platforms such as online news portals, official institutional websites, newspapers, etc, do have more chances of getting public endorsement. Moreover, power can create and control the discourse; it can make the credibility of the refugee thoroughly vulnerable. I am thinking the pathetic condition of Abyan whose voice is deemed it’s because of her refugee identity, poor command on the English language -the language of the court and public communication in Australia, and rare access to standard communicative resources. Thus for the justice of linguistically marginalized people, the judicial or extrajudicial bodies where each word used by the parties has the decisive power whether they win or lose the case should employ bilingual law practitioners.

By: yofa

yofa — Mon, 04 Nov 2019 12:12:19 +0000

The fact that social media now has been developing as a platform of self-advocacy is interesting. However, self-advocacy is a crucial matter that I believe is quite sensitive and private to be brought up in social media. This action can potentially lead to great success or complete failure (e.g. depression if the person seeking support does not find what he looks for via social media). Nevertheless, the digital era is an era where a private issue can easily become public consumption and I can only hope that those asylum seekers can gain their rights without seeking virtual support.

By: Saichon

Saichon — Mon, 04 Nov 2019 11:53:01 +0000

I found this is really interesting article. After reading this article, I found that social media and language are powerful. This topic is still controversial. To be honest, I do not know how the government can check the credibility of refugees, and if the refugees intentionally do that to get attention – that can be because they seek for a better place. If we focus on the national security, refugees can be a huge problem. However, in term of humanity, we are ongoing looking for a better solution in this regard and how to manage this properly. And it depends on case by case.

There are lot of people who use social media as a platform to against the political issue in my country (which the political issue is sensitive), yet they ask for the asylum and they are successful. Luckily, if you grow up in the country which values the liberty of expression, that is fine. But not, should these people be left behind or considered as a undercurrent just because they do not value the same thing? However, I feel like this article is very interesting and it cannot answer too black or too white. There are still lot of things to take it to the consideration.

By: Irene Nguyen

Irene Nguyen — Mon, 04 Nov 2019 11:39:09 +0000

Thank you for this sharing. I sincerely feel sorry for Abyan. I think human was born to get their equal right to pursue their happiness, identities, cultures, and languages. Abyan’s case is calling for the fact that the refugees must be listened to and cared more, then get more actions done for their life improvement. Also, it seems to me that media nowadays is eventually ending killing people’s trustworthy since it fails to send the credibility and real value to its users.

By: Katy D

Katy D — Mon, 04 Nov 2019 10:10:21 +0000

In reply to Mary Burr. Thank you very much for sharing such an informative post. In my mind, the term "refugees" is always associated with difficulties, obstacles and inequalities in life. In this case, it's linked to language barrier. And this case helps open my eyes about the super power and value of language. With those whose first language is not English, their words and voice are powerless and underestimated. I hope refugees from non-English-speaking countries will have more chances to be literate in English, helping them overcome the language barrier.

By: Teufeld

Teufeld — Mon, 04 Nov 2019 09:34:08 +0000

It is not strange that when a government department and an individual state same thing, most people choose to trust government. The background of individual mostly influence people’s choice, so when the individual is not a native speaker and not able to express well, it is hard to get the public’s belief. In terms of platforms, government department has many media platforms so its statement can spread quickly, then the public read it and form an intrinsic impression of that thing, it makes the individual’s statement less powerful. However, as an ordinary person, no matter what the background it is of that person, it is hard to compare with a government department.

By: Ben Nguyen

Ben Nguyen — Mon, 04 Nov 2019 06:06:45 +0000

I feel sorry for the female mentioned in the debate. I am convinced that the language have a significant impact in determine people’s identity and power. The comparison in the debate is really interesting to follow because it makes a great contrast between a powerful and a powerless person. I personal avoid social media due to some personal reason, which makes me lack one of the important communicative sources. But it’s okay to me. I can train my communicative skills and language to increase me own power.

By: Yongqi

Yongqi — Mon, 04 Nov 2019 05:58:02 +0000

Hi Laura,

Thank you for sharing. Your thoughts on the refugee’s credibility bring a point that I believe is worth to be noticed. People tend to believe in people with higher credibility, however, as you mentioned in the article, credibility is affected by many factors, and there is inequality in achieving credibility. It may lead to a situation where people with higher credibility say might not be true but the public chooses to believe whereas people with less credibility receive less trust in what they claim. We cannot simply believe in the government’s statements due to its deemed high credibility and the refugees should not be considered as less trustworthy. Therefore, the media should make sure that they are reporting in a fair position with substantial information collected from various aspects to report the truth, and the audiences should also perceive the news with a critical mind.

By: Thi Thanh Huyen Do

Thi Thanh Huyen Do — Sun, 03 Nov 2019 14:28:23 +0000

The view I raise from your writing is that communicative resources affect the construction of credible texts and identities in a public debate on Australia’s treatment of a refugee. There are four levels including exploring the parties’ respective linguistic, material, identity, and platform resources, and how these impact their statements’ creation and reception, and their participation in discourse creation more generally. Additionally, there are inequalities on all four resource levels that largely undermine the refugee’s ability to present a credible text and identity and challenge mainstream discourse on refugees. This demonstrates how a multi-level analysis of communicative resources can challenge assumptions about participation and uncover inequalities invisible in the prevailing discourse.

By: Xin Zhang

Xin Zhang — Sun, 03 Nov 2019 05:47:41 +0000

Thank you for your attractive post. I feel sorry about the story of Abyan. In fact, i did not read many articles about refugees. This post indicates difficulties of refugees because of linguistic usage. People who cannot speak English are less likely to obtain asylum from the government. They have serious challenges because of the language. It is true that materials, platforms and language have enormous differences for the government and refugees. The unequal between refugees and medias needs to be solved. With the development of technology, refugees need to be provided more opportunities to express their opinions in different modes, such as medias. Governments all over the world can provide more resources to help refugees, including learning English or providing interpreters.

By: Mia

Mia — Sat, 02 Nov 2019 04:12:14 +0000

Hi Laura, thank you for your sharing. I feel sorry for Abyan. When language, identity, material and platform resources are not equal, refugees do need to listen more. In fact, there are a lot of cases where this is not the case. As a window for the public to know the facts, the media should ensure that they are in a fair and just position, report the real situation for the public and provide an opportunity for the vulnerable groups to express themselves fairly.

By: Stacey

Stacey — Wed, 30 Oct 2019 14:30:26 +0000

Hi Laura, thank you for sharing this interesting article. The term “refugee credibility” was very new to me and probably this was my first time to read an article discussing refugee’s right to speak. I felt sorry to know and was astonished by Abyan’s experiences. It seems that she hasn’t had equal resources to present an argument or version of reality, thus couldn’t make her experience convincing enough. I also believe that this inequality exists in most countries between the authoritative and the disadvantaged groups. However, I agree that people can use social media to publish articles or make comments on news, to challenge the authoritative who intend to control the dominant discourse.