Getting a grip on our asylum seeker whingeing

Australia! Australia! so fair to behold- While the blue sky is arching above; The stranger should never have need to be told, That the Wattle-bloom means that her heart is of gold. And the Waratah's red with her love. Henry Lawson. God is with those who suffer and not with those who inflict the suffering. He is free only when they are free.

Thanks Caz, a good article that strikes a new practical note. Of course it all has to start with an ethical understanding that asylum-seekers are fellow human beings, and people of value who deserve respect and care. I think that for Caz thus is a point so self-evident that it does not need making. Unfortunately for many Australians - including some in our media and political spheres - the point is not so obvious and needs to be affirmed.

This may be stupid thinking but could not Australia announce that all overseas aid will cease for say two years because as a priority it needs the billions currently spent to build and establish the asylum/refugee housing as a viable free reception area which could then develop as a municipality.

The one faintly respectable argument that government and Libs put up for being nasty to sea-arriving asylum seekers, is that the sea journey is so dangerous that they need to be put off by whatever means. Many have in fact died, and there must be something in this official case. The Malaysia solution was probably a major way to go, but look what happened to that!

One of the problems with temporary protection visas is that recipients are not allowed to work and have to depend on "Charity" in order to exist. one is reminded of the era of post war migration when refugees were welcomed and formed the backbone of the work force that built such projects as the "Snowy mountain scheme".

This story is just bare misinformation. Australia is one of the countries which has taken in more refugees and migrants than most other counties on earth. We have to face the fact that we have a multi-billion dollar people smuggling industry which has its tentacles in many welfare organisations and churches. We know that the people in the people smuggling industry and their well meaning naïve supporters are guilty of causing the death of hundreds if not thousands of people. Whilst open mass killing is condemned by everyone, supporters of the people smuggling industry trying to paint a pictures of themselves as “well meaning good people”.

The latest UNHCR report I could find reported an estimate for 2011 of 1500 refugee deaths at sea in the Med and 58000 refugee arrivals in Europe via that route. That 2-3% figure of reported deaths is not far removed from the 5% quoted by the the government last year for Australian boat voyages. According to the Australian Parliament background note of Jan 2013, over 17000 boat arrivals in 2012, not far off our annual Humanitarian Program intake and with no obvious sign of a decline so far in 2013. So how do we prevent the deaths at sea? Any advances on the Malaysian Solution?

The father is a great benefactor. He is well regarded in the community and is feted in the town hall. He opens his lands and uses his wealth and hires contractors to help those deemed needy settle down. In the meantime he expects his own children to carry their own weight and contribute to his wealth. Some of his children are hungry, some are homeless and some need help in coping with illness and disabilities. Why should I not whinge when I see my siblings in such a situation. Let's get the priorities right. We don't mind helping the disadvantaged; but we only encourage the business of people smuggling by accepting those seeking to circumvent the system by getting onto boats or flying in and throwing away their passports. We ask the question...why don't they settle in Malaysia, Singapore or Indonesia? We ask why take in the gatecrashers when productive 457 visa holders are sent back. I am a simple man and I understand only simple things. I don't see the light my more comfortable siblings do.

A timely article from Caz. How many Australians are aware of the asylum policies of countries such as those she and her team have researched? Their humane treatment and care of so many desperate people is a strong lesson for our federal government and opposition, both of which are intent on keeping the boats away or heaping arrived asylum seekers onto other countries far less able to cope. Mainstream newspapers would do well to publish this article also.

We need to treat people as per the refugee convention and stop this incessant whining about how to avoid it.

Donaldo, it is not people smuggling and never has been, it is people quite legally paying for transport to a safe country. We are the only country so dumb we use a protection instrument as a tool to punish the innocent.

Beat,our 750,000 over 65 years is almost nothing in the scheme of things. Jordan has taken in 1.2 million Palestinians alone.

It is not only embarrassing but also sad and unjust when there are so many genuine refugees legally waiting in refugee's camps for their turn to be accepted in our country. The problem is that our present government allows the people smugglers business in Indonesia to flourish. All we can do is to be patient, after September 14 things will be back to normal and we will be able to hold our heads high helping genuine refugees, as Australia has done since the end of World War two.

Thank you, Caz, for this broader perspective. Living in this remote, obsessed place, full of fear stirred by the majority of our politicians, it is hard to imagine the struggle that faces places like Jordan. Australia get people gifted to it but treats them like unwanted presents.

Caz's article is an excellent reality check for those who wish to see it. And 'getting a grip on our asylum seeker whingeing' is far more accurate than 'border protection' to described the asylum seeker issue. Unfortunately this controversy has become such a political football that a dispassionate, coolly developed strategy for a practical and humane resolution based on the examples Caz quotes is just not politically possible in Australia today.

To Marilyn: Please don't use figures which are highly incorrect. Australia has taken in refugees and migrants in their Millions over the past 65 years. Australia, Canada and the USA combined have done more for refugees than maybe the rest of the world combined. We are still doing a lot and we could do a lot more if it would not be for the multi-billion dollar people smuggling industry bleeding the goodwill of the people of Australia. I know that people supporting this industry are guilty for the death of many hundreds, maybe thousands. I don't know how these people can sleep at night!

"All we can do is to be patient, after September 14 things will be back to normal. . . ." and such other comments display a complete lack of understanding the reality of the situation described in this article. I prophesy that the promise that he can "turn back the boats" will come back to haunt him for the rest of his life.

Beat, migrants are not refugees. Ron, there is no right for any refugee in any other country to be resettled here, it is a fiction invented by lazy Australian pollies to hide the fact that we only have an obligation to those who can get here. And there are no people smugglers. Asylum seekers have a 100% legal right to cross borders to get to safety, who they pay and the transport they use has zero to do with it.

And actually Beat the third world does more for refugees than the first world ever will. Taking in a few thousand a year as migrants doesn't help anyone much and thousands, millions a year die of starvation and disease and war because they can't find a so-called smuggler to help them.

Australian taxpayers do not need to be given a lectured rhetoric on what we as Australians should be doing (or letting the Labor Government do with our taxes) to better manage boat arrivals. European countries are suffering all sorts of social issues because of short sighted policies that have failed their own people, culture and way of life. Services to Australians all around the country are being cut while the Asylum Budget explodes out of control. The boats should be stopped and our present failed border security reinstated with powers to stop boats rather than provide a water taxi service to assist them. These boats do not sail to Singapore as Singapore is not stupid enough to fall into the trap of letting people smugglers and like dictate to them as White Anglo Western democratic countries do. What Australia needs is strong Government with strong policies that firstly protect Australian's best interests while providing humanitarian assistance that is controlled and within Australia's financial capacity. Deficits of $6 billion plus is not in Australia's best interests to pay for people to walk around the streets on benefits for 5 years++++. Finally Australia's national security is placed at risk due to the current weak policies that do not effectively deal with and deport all people that pose a risk or have posed a risk. The sooner Labor is voted out the better.