Villawood riots escape my understanding

Few of those born in Australia understand what it was that recently drove asylum seekers in Villawood to the extremes of riot. I don’t.
I do know that they would be confused that a country portrayed as free, fair, democratic, liberal and generous appears to be few of those things.

Villawood rioters make
 their point in the only
way they can.

After months of waiting to see evidence of those claimed traits, those at Villawood, their patience exhausted, resorted to all a denied person has left, violence.
Reaction to the riots has been varied; some, who deserve our praise, have turned out in numbers to protest on behalf of those in Villawood and some have roundly condemned rioters, arguing they should simply be sent back from whence they came.
Considering the latter view, it is important to remember that these people came here in the belief, and hope, that Australia was a better place than that they left.
The riots suggests those beliefs and hopes have been dashed and so it is time we looked to our supposed qualities and considered whether they are real or imagined.
Shepparton has a strong history of assimilation of the other, of blending cultures and holding open the door to a better life, or at least a life that is secure and has promise.
Although that maybe the case in the Goulburn Valley, something some would argue about, those at Villawood see only promises denied, hopes dashed and security of the wrong sort.
A few things about people, whatever their race or culture, are constant, but their way of life embeds patterns of living and habits making them different and often that does not sit well with others.
It is a belief of mine that nothing is neither better nor worse, just different and so before criticizing Villawood rioters, we need to consider how we would behave if confronted by such striking differences.
Not only is life different in the extreme for the Villawood internees, the length of their imprisonment has little by little, drip by drip, eroded their hope.
So consider for a moment that life in your birth culture and country has, for various reasons, often beyond your control, become impossible and despite the threats and dangers to your wellbeing, you, brimming with hope, choose to get to Australia as best you can.
The journey made, the risks endured you arrive at your new home only to be effectively thrown in jail and the unspoken promises made by this wonderful, democratic and generous country prove to be an illusion.
Armed with only patience and civility you wait, and you wait, and yet the promised decency and democracy seems to be only for those walking free on the other side of the razor wire: what would you do?