SPECIAL REPORT

R*geerea
Giving six typical
Australians the
n reality shows such as Ihe
Amazing Race and MasterChef,
itt standard practice to
separate participants from
oppoftunity to friends and family, confiscate their wallets
and mobile phones, and throwthem into
experience life as a ."i,"r#'r'"'
an unfamiliar situation with people they've
*'lJl',iJo":
refugee, the new But no program has done this quite
like Go BackToWhereYou Came From,
SBS series Go Bock which premieres on SBS thisTuesday as
part of Refugee Week. The new three-part
To Where You Cqme documentary series thrusts six ordinary,
strongly opinionated Australians into the
From promises to well-worn shoes of refugees and asylum
seekers to challenge their preconceptions
be eye-opening about the plight of displaced people living
of three and sent to spend a week living
with reallife refugees, before witnessing
the refugee experience first-hand in Kenya,
Jordan, Malaysia, the Congo and lraq.
Theyalso meet residents of theVillawood
Detention Centre in NSW the site of recent
contentious riots.
The immigration debate is a hot topic
in Australia today, and this, says executive
producer Michael Cordell, is precisely
the reason he teamed with SBS to make
the series.
"lt's one of the biggest issues facing the
nationi he says.?n election campaign was
partly fought over it, and every day there
are headlines about refugees, boat people
and asylum seekers.We were intrigued by

television viewing in detention centres and refugee camps

around the globe.
Led by Dr David Corlett, a researcher
with the lnternational Detention Coalition,
the participants are split into two groups
the idea of creating a social experiment
that immersed ordinary Australians into
the very heart ofthese issuesl'
Michael, a documentary veteran who's
also part ofthe team behind Bondi Rescue,

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think most Australians could be
much better informed about the j
issues facing those being held i
in detention facilities around
the country."l thinkthere's a lot
of misunderstanding, a lot of ill-
informed opinion, and attimes
a bit of racismj'he says.
With that in mind, the six people
selected for the Go Backjourney were
chosen for the diversity of their beliefs and
their utter conviction in them.
Cronulla lifeguard Adam Hartup,
2Q was a prime candidate. A volunteer
at the time of the 2005 Cronulla riots,
Adam came to the journey with
zero tolerance for asylum
seekers."The way I saw it
was that we were paying
for these asylum seekers
and refugees to keep
landing on our shore
&e
.#:
v't*-,!7
* to someone you
x and to trust them
when we should be worrying about
our own populationi' he says. "l saw the
boat landings as illegal, and it sort of
offended mel'
On the other end ofthe spectrum,
Gleny Rag a 39-year-old country music
singer and part-time teacher from
Newcastle, NSW, has always held the
view that Australia has more than enough
room for refugees."We should take in
even morej'she says.
None ofthe participants knew
exactly what they were in for when
they met up with the produciion team
on the first day."l knew we'd be kept
in the darkiGleny explains,"in orderto
try and recreate the situation refugees
find themselves in - no knowledge of
the future, the inability to make plans,
dislocation from family and
from the homelandl'
For Adam, the
taste of what it
mustfeel liketo
be an asylum
seeker was a
big wake-up
call."lt's really
hard to hand
your life over
don't really know
THEWAY
ThIHYWERE
The other participants came away
from the experience with new
insight on the immigration debate.
HereS how they fu lt going in...
RayeColbey,63,
a retireewho lives
opposite a detention
centre in the Adelaide
Hills, believed too
much is spent on its residents.
"They get given everythingi' she
said."All they do is complainl'
RoderickSchneider,
29,afinancial planner
who lives in Brisbang
questioned what drove
asy'um seekers to get
on the boats in the firct place and
sai4"llrere are UN camps on the
way.llVhatb so bad aboutthem?"
Darren Hassan,
42"afatherof turo
fromAdelaidgisa
practising Chdstian of
Muslimdescent Hefelt
"people who come here without
any documentation by boat should
be immediately orpatriated'i
Raquel Moore,21,
fromWestern Sydney,
NSW, is a jobless, self-
confessed racist.She
believedweshouldn't
allow in any refugees at all.'You
don't know what diseases they're
carrying;'she said.
lraqis whose heads have been completely
deformed by bullets or shrapnel fire/'
she says."They're still able to sing and

r with everythingi
he says.
dance, and you thinb'Wowilt makes our
lives feel very easy, and it makes me feel
iI Both Adam and extremely appreciativei'
Glenywere blown Michael hopes that Go BackToWhere
away bywhatthey You Came From will help to inform opinions
learned, and both say across the country."lt puts a very human,
it's changed their lives emotional face on the whole issuej'he says.
I
for good."Seeing what "This series, on the one hand, is extremely o
F
refugees go through entertaining, but also is really worthwhile =
o
z
first-hand gives you in contributing towards an important
a realJife experiencei' debate. We truly believe it's making the =
Adam says."lt was most of TV's potentiall' 6
pretty humblingl' z
Glenyfound plenty ss ffietrK T* wp.tsffifr
to feel gratefulfor, YSU #effig Fm$ffirf
too."ln Jordan, we SERIES PREMIERE
i#b visited some young Tuesday -Thursday 8.30pm, SBS ONE

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