Seems to be an outsourcing issue yet again: Back back in the early two thousands the Howard government outsourced the detention centres to organisations like Wackenhut, to keep government accountability at arms length and advance an ideological privatisation policy that applied across society (eg, Centrelink, Telstra etc ).
Now, in the light of the unwelcome history of since, detention has been off-shored to Nauru, then Xmass Island and inevitably, Indonesia and Malaysia; countries already under stress as to service provisions for their own citizens.
The politicians dimly realised there were problems, altho these were more political than practical, But they forgot that much of the offence taken by many people to the detention centres was not so much to do with their (announced) task of holding asylum seekers for identity and health checks, etc, but the unpleasant ways and conditions imposed of stressed people while those tasks were carried out.
What they forgot, when they offshored to Indonesia , was not that people were offended with detention in a minimalist form, but the suffering arising from a clumsy system and its administration.
Moving detention/ warehousing offshore to Indonesia still doesn't adress the original issue: the suffering of the refugees.
Is it more a question of EQ deficiency than IQ deficiency?
Am glad this has been paired with KC Boey's article. If our leaders could be depended on to run the country sustainably, especially re "development", there would have been exponentially less mistrust for them and their actions, particularly including influxes of refugees and immigrants.

“Compared to most other wealthy countries the number of asylum seekers arriving in Australia by boat is small, and absolutely miniscule in comparison to the number of refugees hosted by many developing nations.”

As they say, it’s the principle, not the money. Same applies here. No number of illegal arrivals should be acceptable. The debate is not about “a couple of refugee boats seeking to get to Australia.”

As for conditions in Indonesian settlements for illegal arrivals – tough.

The refugee business is just a scam on the same scale as the proposed carbon tax. Both will do us more harm than good.

Processing asylum seekers in a timely fashion should be a more humane and less costly solution than confinement for years.

There needs to be a review and trials of different processing procedures including financing of potentially better solutions.

However I also think that potential host nations should not be held to ransom by asylum seekers.

All refugees should be given information sheets at a private interview to tell them they must be cooperative and provide certain information that enables fast processing of individuals or families at one of a number of accredited detention centres where they will be taken immediately after the interview.

If that is not achieved at that time the person is taken to a separate holding place till all the others have gone thru the process and taken to their respective processing centres.

The decentres can then be interviewed again telling them that in order to help as many refugees as possible there must be no trouble or they will be retuned in order to give someone else a chance.

If they then agree the are then warned that any delays they cause with processing can also result in deportation.

Isn't it obvious that the Australian govt. should be targeting the leaders of countries to provide safe, stable conditions in which its citizens can live and thrive without discrimination and not escape to some foreign land!

I imagine people in similiar situations number in the millions. It is hard. I remember when we came to Australia and lived in a migrant hostel. Was hell, I mAan nothing except a bed and a few chairs and awful canteen food. Then we moved into a shed on a newly divided orchard sat on a dirt road. Took ages for Mum and Dad to work like 4 jobs between them to get the land paid for so they could build a house. Meanwhile our bathroom was a plastic tub dragged out of the corner. My father lost all but of his entire family to war, his father actually in WW1 when he was not born yet. My mother lost her father when he was doing blackout patrol.No health cover, no mental health specialists, no nothing really when we arrived. We survived without bitterness, though was hell, truly was for a while. Never thought to blame the government, times have changed.

It is almost an obscenity to demand for a special few grand detention centres because millions do with worse, have done with worse in the past and will in the future. You cannot single out a few for special treatment because they grabbed your attention.

I do agree we need to finance UNHCR to much greater level and have no isSue with increasing intake, doubt mnay would. But my main concern would be with those in Afghanistan, I would prefer to be in Indonesia I am sure. At least they are safe. Someone else may want to help Africans. Many letetrs sent every week with personal stories to immigration hoping for compassion. There are millions of people that live below your standard and it is too much for us solve. Bagging Indonesia just ends in tensions like what some are trying to create with Sri Lanka. As bad as the interfering US.

The Missus has a point that indicates after processing, refugees need help to learn skills to make friends, get a job and a house etc.

However refugees are fleeing war or famine etc and need a large area annexed under international law to provide help protection etc in their own country where initial processing can occur if necessary

Ideally the cause of the problem needs to be resolved and the refugees resettled through an international agency like Red Cross with the finance and backing of the international community.