Keywords: Christmas Islan
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ARTS AND CULTURE
Christmas for crabs; their island blooms with a rare largesse of flesh mashed to pulp on rocks — such 'palatable human refuse'.
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RELIGION
- Frank Brennan
- 09 August 2011
21 Comments
The Malaysia solution has hit a snag called the High Court of Australia. The Government is now in very stormy waters, because the rule of law and the separation of powers do not readily yield to the sound bites of populist sentiment and the fear tactics of politicians.
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RELIGION
- Frank Brennan
- 19 July 2011
12 Comments
This is not a regional solution to a regional problem, but a bilateral attempt at solving an Australian problem. To stop the boats, one needs to engage in measures contrary to the Refugee Convention. Church groups can not endorse something they know to be either unworkable or immoral.
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AUSTRALIA
- Greg Foyster
- 20 June 2011
22 Comments
One day a stranger knocks on the door. 'Help!' he shouts. 'The people in my house are trying to kill me!' Instinctively, you reach for the door handle. A wrinkled hand, old yet firm, grabs your wrist. You look up and see your landlord, a bald man with thick rectangular glasses and bushy eyebrows.
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AUSTRALIA
- Andrew Hamilton
- 23 May 2011
43 Comments
Labor has gone beyond the worst features of the Howard Government by betraying the central principle underlying any ethical refugee policy. One can only imagine what the Coalition Government that will most likely follow the next election will build on this abrogation of principle.
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INTERNATIONAL
- Andrew Hamilton
- 12 May 2011
27 Comments
Anne Frank described a refugee as a parcel that is sent from post office to post office. The 'Malaysian solution' is like solving the problem of overloaded post offices by sending incoming parcels straight to the shredder.
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AUSTRALIA
Last November, a refugee boat was lost at sea en route to Christmas Island. It's presumed the 97 on board perished. Evidence suggests Australia's Border Protection Command selectively chooses to make little or no effort to find and help SIEV boats in possible distress.
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INTERNATIONAL
- Susan Metcalfe
- 07 April 2011
22 Comments
Paul Keating said: 'Governments that wander along uncertain about where they are, looking over their shoulder, invariably get run over themselves.' If Labor doesn't stop looking over its shoulder on asylum seekers, it will miss another opportunity to stand up for what it says it believes in.
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CARTOON
- Fiona Katauskas
- 24 March 2011
1 Comment
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INTERNATIONAL
- Kerry Murphy
- 22 March 2011
6 Comments
The reintroduction of the Complementary Protection Bill to Parliament this week ought be welcomed. Given the protests in Christmas Island, it is clear that the mandatory detention policy is also overdue for reform.
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INTERNATIONAL
- Andrew Hamilton
- 21 March 2011
37 Comments
Those who defend the humanity of asylum seekers are often dismissed as bleeding hearts. It is tempting to respond by referring to those who defend the existing regime of detention as bleeding minds. The recent events in remote detention centres are deplorable, but predictable.
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INTERNATIONAL
- Arnold Zable
- 22 February 2011
6 Comments
SIEV X survivor Amal Basry died of cancer in 2006. By then she had received her permanent visa and was able to return to see her children, grandchildren and father in the Middle East one more time. When she returned, she expressed a wish to be buried in Australian soil.
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