For Griffith Car Wash's Russell Mozafari and Farid Aliakbar, the constant threat of mass-murders and bombings were a "normal" part of everyday life.

The Griffith men have been proud members of the community for almost ten years, but are saddened by the political point-scoring surrounding asylum seekers, boat people and migration.

"The Griffith community has been very welcoming and supportive towards us, and we are very lucky, it's perfect here," Mr Mozafari said.

"But sometimes I feel very bad when I see the current debate in the media and politics, and I do hope people can be a bit sympathetic. As a child, in our town many, many people were killed. Five-year-old children were beheaded. But as a child, you just think it is normal when it is all you've ever known.

"I was in Afghanistan a few months ago, and I was in an area 20 minutes after a huge bomb blast that killed over 200 people. Innocent people are dying every day."

Liberal candidate for the Riverina Andrew Negline said that while he believed there was a time and place for migration, it was important for the correct process to be followed.

"It's a big issue that we need to take seriously, and I believe we need a balance between humanitarian obligations and the needs of our growing population. We want people to come in the front door, and stick to the fair and appropriate process," Mr Negline said.

But local man Peter Leonard urged the community to be wary of the politics surrounding these issues.

"The topic of boat people and asylum seekers has become a political football, and the way both major parties have used the issue is shameful," Mr Leonard said.

"The boat people and asylum seeker issue has nothing to do with our overall population, or our migration total, and for the boat people, there is no other way, they are just trying to get to safety, and I think that is pretty understandable."

Last year, Australia received just 1.6 per cent of asylum applications made across 44 industrialised nations. Since 2001, the number of asylum seekers arriving by boat has never passed 4 per cent of Australia's total migration intake.