Subject:
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Re: Views on asylum seekers?
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.off-topic.debate
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Date:
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Wed, 5 Sep 2001 00:56:03 GMT
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Viewed:
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318 times
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In lugnet.off-topic.debate, Dave Low writes:
> In lugnet.off-topic.debate, Ross Crawford writes:
> > We can only
> > build and operate so many detention centres, so that accomodation suddenly
> > disappears, and the refugee who's applied legally has to wait even longer. I
> > don't think this is fair.
>
> Why not just let them all live in the community at large? Why should they be
> locked up like criminals?
WHERE in the general community? Tents? Caravans? Maybe some can afford houses,
but the houses still have to be found. There are currently many thousands in
detention centres in Australia, and I dare say many thousands in other places
waiting on their applications to be processed. Even if the government helps
with costs, the accomodation still needs to be found. And you can bet if this
policy was implemented, the numbers would swell drastically.
> > > > I'm happy to accept genuine refugees,
>
> Of course, a lot turns on how you define the word "genuine". The present
> Australian government would like a definition that is a lot more restrictive
> than that of the UN treaty.
>
> > > and if they make their application before entering the country, even though • they may
> > > have to wait a while,
>
> I think a life-threatening journey that puts the few remaining members of
> your family in debt for years would be an awful prospect: I suppose living
> in a displaced persons camp on the Afghani-Pakistani border is just that
> much worse. I'm not sure that filling out the correct forms and taking the
> luck of the draw in a Western-government approved quota is too high on the
> priority list.
But many still do. Should they be dis-advantaged?
> > > > it allows the government to plan the extra accomodation needed. People who • jump
> > > > the queue in my book deserve no sympathy, refugee or not.
>
> I'd be interested to see where this rhetoric of "the queue" first appeared.
> It implies some sort of calm, orderly process, where pushing, begging and
> desperation are a little unseemly. "The queue" sounds like a pleasant
> alternative to the squalor of a refugee camp or detention centre.
The "queue" I'm alluding to is not a queue in the strict sense of the word, but
the process performed by the immigration department to look at the refugee
applications.
> > > What if they're starving or something? Don't some people have a valid • reason
> > > to jump queue or otherwise expedite the process?
> >
> > I find it hard to believe they'd be starving if they've just paid several
> > thousand dollars for a place on one of these boats.
>
> Leaving aside the question of economics, I can think of a few reasons why
> even "wealthy" people might want to leave their home. Religious and ethnic
> persecution come to mind.
But I don't see they should be allowed to "force" their way in ahead of "less
wealthy" people seeking asylum for other reasons.
> On a more constructive note, hopefully, I think that these massive
> migrations of people reflect the lack of opportunities that are afforded
> them in their home countries. If developed economies put some more of their
> effort into economic and humanitarian aid, there might be less of a need to
> patrol borders so rigorously. I think Vietnam and South China are good
> examples. As burdens of social repression have lifted people have not been
> driven to other countries in the hope of finding a decent life.
Agreed.
ROSCO
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Message has 1 Reply:
 | | Re: Views on asylum seekers?
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| (...) I'm sure the building industry would be delighted to find room and resources to accomodate new Australians. As for the cost, how about a $14000 new home buyers grant? Seriously, the government is spending a massive amount of money on refugee (...) (23 years ago, 5-Sep-01, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | Re: Views on asylum seekers?
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| (...) As I understand the situation, Australian search and rescue informed nearby ships (including the Tampa, a Norwegian cargo freighter) that an Indonesian vessel was in distress. The Tampa picked up the refugees from their sinking boat in the (...) (23 years ago, 4-Sep-01, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)
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