Watching the promo of Go Back to Where you came from had me at the edge of my seat, especially when I heard ‘I don’t like Africans’ (I can’t seem to find the promo which has that line, but if you watch the first episode you will hear it loud and clear). The first episode of the documentary aired on late June, and for three nights I watched either with my in fits of laughter, frustration, anger and heartbreak!
Go Back to Where you came from is a 3-part documentary featuring six ordinary Australians who agree to challenge their preconceived notions about refugees and asylum seekers by embarking on a confronting 25-day journey. Tracing in reverse the journeys that refugees have taken to reach Australia, they travel to some of the most dangerous and desperate corners of the world, with no idea what is in store for them along the way. Deprived of their wallets, phones and passports, they board a leaky refugee boat, are rescued mid-ocean, experience immigration raids in Malaysia, live in a Kenyan refugee camp and visit slums in Jordan before ultimately making it to the Democratic Republic of Congo and Iraq, protected by UN Peacekeepers and the US military. All but one of the six Australians were initially quite ignorant and unforgiving towards to whole refugee issue. I must admit, when I started watching the series, there were a few in the group I wanted to give a piece of my mind to!!!
As I kept watching, It was interesting seeing how some perceptions changed and some didn’t.
This documentary gives a little insight into the whole refugee issue in Australia and around. It’s alot bigger than this documentary, but it at least opens us up to what is going on – why people risk their lives sometimes with children and get on a boat in the hopes of reaching a safe haven? Or why people need to seek asylum in the first place? Their stories and what they go through.
To read more or watch the episodes, go to SBS.com.
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