Compassion fatigue had not yet set in when our family arrived in Australia.
It is widely acknowledged that the most comprehensive, and arguably the most successful, effort to integrate the Vietnamese people was made by the Australian government. Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser led the country at the time — his campaign represented a radical break from the once notorious White Australia policy, where the colour of a person’s skin determined an immigrant’s chance of selection. When we arrived, the government housed us at Westbridge Migrant Hostel — a place in south-west Sydney especially constructed for new migrants and refugees. It provided a supportive environment to help set us up for the difficult transition into an alien society. These days, the hostel lies empty next to Villawood Detention Centre — a colourless, compassionless place where hundreds of asylum seekers from across the world are locked up behind the razor wire of prejudice and bureaucracy.
