This family of cheats and liars is old news. They were the only family of illegals whom the Government treated correctly and got rid of, albiet after a long time and great cost to the Australian taxpayers. No sympathy is deserved.

The fact that most 'refugees' are allowed to stay once they arrive here - it's too much trouble for the Government and DIMIA to do the right thing and get rid of them - shows just how bad the Bakhtiyaris really were.

Marilyn Shepherd is a well known serial pest and apologist for people pulling the wool over the eyes of our inept immigration department party and government.

Thanks for the article with some insights into the family and there time in Australia.
I am curious to know how the family is now, and where are they living?

The article was longggg on 'emotion' and very short on fact.
It was also biased.

It was also guilty of selective omission.

I read that the Father was working IN PAKISTAN as a plumber of sparky or something, so... whether they were originally Afghani or Pakistani is moot.. they were NOT ASSYLUM SEEKERS.. because they had it already, and even employment... whats to be fearful about in that ?

If their cousins were granted assylum the most this says is:

They may have come from a threatened tribe in Afghanistan, but.. the cousins probably came FROM Afghanistan to seek assylum. But again, I just ask 'why did they not move to PAKISTAN where Baktiari senior already had work ?

It still boggles the mind how those in the 'refugee industry' can think we are so dull of mind and absent of brain power, that we don't know what a rule or a law is, and when people are flouting it.

Also, I am determined NEVER to be softhearted on 'economic and opportunistic' illegals coming here to wave MEXICAN flags once they get a few hundren thousand..OOPS..no.. sorry, thats the AMERICAN situation.. but people don't change.

No amount of hand wringing, and tugging at our heart strings over this detention centre guard or that one, or Dimia or Vanstone, or the tooth fairy will change these fundamental issues.

I'm happy to be corrected on this, but if anyone does, give the FULL STORY.

On the issue of the West Papuan 'assylum seekers' I have some VERY stern words...

IF YOU WANT TO COME HERE FOR PROTECTION..OK.. (but PNG is a tad closer) BUT DO NOTTTTT COME HERE TO STEP OUT OF PLANES WAVING SEPARATIST FLAGS.. WE ARE NOT YOUR POLITICAL PLATFORM, WE ARE AT BEST A COUNTRY OF REFUGE.

While we may sympathize with your cause, assylum is not about propoganda, its about safety not about your politics. (Christian or otherwise)

footnote...unless of course we want to be increasingly regarded as "The Enemy"..white-anting the Republic of Indonesia.

And they were so badly treated that on the Lateline program the following selected comments from the family....
ALAMDAR BAKHTIARI: The thing I want to say is...first of all I would like to say sorry to the Government. It was all advocates, all the lawyers forcing us to fight against the Government which we were not doing it....
AND
MONTAZAR BAKHTIARI: The lawyers didn't really help our family at all at the end and I just would like to say that whatever goes on from now on, on behalf of my family I would like to say that they have nothing to do with our family anymore and if anything is going on we would like to negotiate with the Government as a family and I would like all the advocates, all of them, not to do anything to the Bakhtiari family anymore because I don't my life to get even riskier and riskier just because of them

SO they still want to come and live in this brutal and rascist country...

Really the tragedy in all this is shallow self interest groups not doing what is best for the family. We do not hear many (any?) investigation of the people involved in getting these poor people to lie and make things worse. Typical leftist media selective journalism.

What Crap,

They need to be middle class to pay to get here in the first place.

They dont need the help, have no respect for our country and then like liars, blame others.

We should have sent them back staright away, not wasted a second, and made an example out of these cheats for all their comrades to see.

[Deleted for having absolutely nothing to do with the topic. Poster has been warned.]