ozzie: << In exactly the same way that you probabaly feel the majority are not fakes, you cannot prove this. >>

Feelings have nothing to do with it. Australian Immigration authorities have consistently determined that the great majority of asylum seekers who arrive by boat are genuine refugees under the UN Convention. Some are found not to be, and they are not granted refugee status.

If you're going to vilify refugees, please do so on the basis of facts rather than feelings - whether they're yours or your friend's.

socratease: << How many times do I have to keep repeating myself. >>

Yeah, we get it. Your problem isn't with boat people, it's with Muslims. So are Sri Lankan Tamil asylum seekers OK?

Who do you think the majority of boat people are? Long before the Sri Lankans joined the arrivals they were pouring in.Who is it who poses the greatest risk? Everyone of these "sleepers" come costs you and me $82,000.Every boatload costs us $4 million. I dont mind paying this bill if we weren't also buying trouble.That is my main objection.
Those who come without demands will always be welcome.But why do we need to buy trouble like will happen if a packed Football stadium during a footy finals becomes the target of bombers; or Lucas Heights get close scrutiny or army barracks get targeted?? Do we need to buy corpses of innocent Aussies?
What is there in this post that is objectionable?

And be that as it may with the majority of genuine asylum seeker and being given residency, the question is what of those who aren't?
I mean, what do we actually DO with them, which is what the article actually seems to be about?

socratease: << What is there in this post that is objectionable? >>

Besides your clear inference that Muslim refugees are all potential terrorists, nothing I guess.

You didn't answer my question - what about Sri Lankan asylum seekers?

Hazza - as I understand it, "failed" asylum seekers are deported. What's your point?

There are two different problems:(1) failed applications for asylum and (2) Sri Lankans...in part same as (1) but also..

Those Muslims who have failed must be put on the next flight back to Kabul or destination of their choice.

We mustn't forget what made the Sri Lankans boat people in the first place.
These are a radical people who tried to tear a chunk of their own country apart demanding their own homeland. They do not represent all Sri Lankans most of whm are happily still Sri Lankans and proud and loyal. One of them actually rose to be their Foreign Minister whose time of office was cut short when he was assassinated ...by a Tamil Tiger, ofcourse!
These Tamils gave the modern world its first suicide bombers. We have to let some Tamils into the country on the basis that they may have been coerced. Im not sure how we ascertain that. In Australia there are many Sinharas (Sri Lankans who belong to mainstream Sri Lanka in the south and Buddhists,too) who hate these usurpers who wanted to tear the country apart illegally. Even now the Tamils are fund raising for the Tamil Tigers who are lying low in Sri Lanka who will regroup for another attempt at homeland building. We have to be very careful what they are really up to in Australia. many pose as being good Christians.

Socratease

CJ
"Hazza - as I understand it, "failed" asylum seekers are deported. What's your point?"

No worries CJ- I'm just not picking up the specific issue in the Asylum seeker debate, as not that many people seem to be actually mentioning specific aspects other than Australia being unfair on asylum seekers arriving by boat- which I think is a media beat-up.

As far as I can tell, the issues are failed applicants, or PENDING applicants spending unusual lengths of time in detainment before being let in- raising the issues of where to place them during this time, what kind of facility or environment to place them, and why the application period takes so long- and also what criteria we use to determine them safe or unsafe to house in the community, in a more quarantined facility or to be denied entry.

I'm just trying to get everyone else to analyze the points and start separating the issues- instead of "For refugees" or "against refugees"- and to actually elaborate based on the above considerations (or any of their own).