Although District 9 is a fictional movie, many aspects of the movie relates to real life situations. Everyday, countries must handle situations in which the state must decipher a way to handle desperate refugees that come to seek a better life. In District 9 however, Aliens are found in a spaceship that hovered above Johannesberg for 20 years. Inside this spaceship, malnourished, ill, and suffering Aliens were found and eventually moved to a placement camp by a large corporation called Multi-National United (MNU). District 9 later turns into a disastrous slum. The main character, Wikus Van Der Merwe, who is also the field operative of MNU, experiences an incident where his DNA merged with the Aliens. As a result, Wikus begins to empathize with the Aliens. If analyzed metaphorically, one can find the similarities of this movie with the real world. In Canada on the year of 2010, 492 Tamil immigrants from Srilanka were smuggled across the ocean for three straight months and were brought to British Columbia. According to Stewart Bell, a news reporter from National Post (2013):
“Passengers said food and water was scarce and crewmembers committed “abuse of power” by withholding provisions as punishment. The report did not explain why some passengers were punished. Even those so dehydrated they could not pass urine were denied water, it said. One man died during the crossing and several were hospitalized upon arrival in B.C. Almost three years later, many have little to show for the effort. As of March 14, just 80 of the Sun Sea passengers had been accepted as refugees, while 82 had their claims rejected, according to the Immigration and Refugee Board. Another 26 had been ordered deported, either for being crewmembers or former LTTE rebels”.
The plot of District 9, although for entertainment purposes, still depicts the way refugees are treated and brought to certain countries such as the MV Sun Sea case. Consequently, this film review will therefore explore refugees and discrimination through the lens of District 9, as it is a microcosm of the wrongful acts happening to civilians around the world every day. Currently, there are many people and countries that experience arrivals of refugees, usually due to causes of warfare. Countries such as Pakistan, Iran, and Syria host the most refugees in the world today. According to Madison Park of CNN (2012), “Pakistan hosts the most refugees with 1.7 million.” Usually countries that consist of many refugees try to supply them with food, water, and common welfare in order to give them a better life as it is usually for the purpose of fleeing a disastrous country. Caitlin Craven, a professor at the University of Waterloo (2015), explains the Dadaab Refugee Camp in Kenya. She states that Somalian Refugees were provided camp houses from 1992 to this present day. Programs such as WFO provide food, medical care, and common social services. Although these camps were initially meant to be temporary, it has become a permanent place for the Somalian refugees to live in. Due to the fact that they could not grow food on their own, an increase on the dependency of Kenyan services emerged. The refugee camps have since been at fault for terrorism and violence. Similarly in District 9, violent behaviour began to abrupt when the alien’s population began increasing. Inhumane behaviour was also portrayed in District 9, this is especially portrayed when the MNU captures Wikus and forces him to kill an alien. As Professor Craven (2015) explains, governments should consider humanitarianism and social justice because there are ethical obligations to treat asylum seekers with dignity. Discrimination was comprehensively portrayed throughout District 9. During the movie, many dehumanizing words were used towards the aliens. The Aliens were nicknamed as “Prawns”. Creating derogatory names for the Aliens thus removed any value of the Aliens, making it easier to treat them inhumanely. Correspondingly, the term “Popcorn” was used for young aliens because the MNU would set them on fire as an attempt to discontinue reproduction. Clearly, objectifying and degrading their existence was a way for the MNU to portray their revulsion of the Aliens. These exploits in District 9 can be largely related to the Rwandan Genocide of 1994. In Rwanda, a subgroup named Tutsis were named “cockroaches” as they were portrayed as filthy pests. According to Kennedy Ndahiro of Kwibuka (2014):
“In the years leading up to the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, the government used all its propaganda machinery to spread bigotry and hatred of the Tutsi. Tutsis were now called inyenzi (cockroach). The term became ingrained in the public sphere as almost every single Kangura edition, hate radio RTLM and outspoken politicians claiming to defend Hutu power referred to human beings as cockroaches”.
As a result, profound similarities can be found within real world events and District 9. Professor Craven (2015) explains that scientific discrimination is based off physical appearances. The studies attached positive characteristics to those of European backgrounds and negative characteristics to African American people. This injudicious theory was therefore used to justify slavery. Likewise, in District 9, the aliens were raised as workers; they were also depicted as slaves.
The attribute of discrimination with the association of refugees and civilians living under asylum is largely interpreted in District 9. The Aliens in the movie represents many human beings in the world today that must seek security by fleeing their homeland, only to be treated in similar conditions from what they once fled from. As observed through the MV Sun Sea case, Dadaab Refugee Camps, and the Rwandan Genocide, cases of unethical asylum and discrimination have occurred throughout history thus making District 9 a representation of the world events occurring today. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948 state that:
1) Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence 
within the borders of each state. Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country.

2) Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries 
asylum from persecution. 

3) Everyone has the right to a nationality; no one shall be arbitrarily neither deprived of his nationality nor denied the right to change his nationality.

Creating restrictions and limitations for human beings when crossing borders can therefore create a serious impact of an individual’s living conditions. Security must be implemented when crossing borders, however the right to seek refuge should be a right given universally for all human beings. Depriving ones right to do so should be considered merciless and inhumane otherwise. Following the footsteps of Wikus in District 9 can therefore teach the audience of creating understanding and inclusivity for those who we may deem as “different”.
For this purpose, many countries should begin implementing the rules of the UDHR as a way of creating a peaceful, more humane approach towards refugees. If violence and discrimination continue to pursue, similar actions such as the ones portrayed in District 9 may occur in the future thus resulting in acts such as warfare.
Reference List
Bell, S. (2013, March 15). From port to port: Newly declassified document shows the '
Horrible’ voyage of the MV Sun Sea. Retrieved June 16, 2015.
Craven, C. (Director) (2015, June 15). The Camp and Detention Sites. Lecture conducted from, Waterloo.
Craven, C. (Director) (2015, May 12). Mobility. Lecture conducted from , Waterloo.
District 9 [Motion picture on DVD]. (2009). Metropolitan filmexport [éd.] :.
Ndahiro, K. (2014, March 14). Dehumanisation: How Tutsi were reduced to cockroaches, snakes to be killed. Retrieved June 16, 2015.
Park, M. (2012, July 5). Which countries take in most refugees? Not the West -
CNN.com. Retrieved June 16, 2015.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, UDHR, Declaration of Human Rights,
Human Rights Declaration, Human Rights Charter, The Un and Human Rights. (n.d.). Retrieved June 16, 2015.