Dear Susan, following is a copy of an email sent to Migration Minister.
Dear Senator, how can Tamils excuse themselves travelling all the way to Australia when their HOMELAND is just 'across the water' in India?
Tamil Nadu
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia.
Is their Homeland rating them as terrorists?
Are you countermanding the Hindu's of India with you religious views?

Will you all stop arguing with each other and keep your comments on the article, or exchange emails to carry on with each other.

The most desperate and vulnerable refugees in the world are single women and children who live in abject poverty in squalid refugee camps in Africa and Asia. They are forced to deal with hostile locals, an almost total lack of economic opportunities, frequent gender based violence, high rates of crime and food shortages. However, as a group they are not represented among the clients of people smugglers as they are obviously unable to pay the many thousands of dollars required.

The greater number of asylum seekers using people smugglers coming from Afghanistan are able bodied men having access to substantial financial resources. They are able to pay $10,000 to $15,000 per person to people smugglers, even though Afghanistan has a per capita income of about $800 per year or around $2 per day.

Refugee advocates frequently cite racism or xenophobia or anti-muslim sentiment as the reasons for so many Australians being strongly against “queue jumping”, but could it not be that many Australians have great sympathy for the women and children refugees in squalid camps who cannot afford to pay people smugglers, and could it not be that it offends the sense of fairness of many Australians that able bodied men coming from countries where the per capita income is $2 - $3 per day can pay many thousands of dollars to people smugglers and thus deprive desperate and vulnerable women and children places in Australia’s refugee resettlement program.

"2007–08
3 Boats
25 People

2008–09
23 Boats
1033 People

2009–10 (to 10 March 2010) 7 months
64 Boats (projected 110)
3011 People (projected 5162"

In late 2007 the Taliban starts a resurgence in Afghanistan. In late 2008 through to May 2009 the Sri Lankan Civil war enters its final stages and comes to an end. Three hundred thousand people are held in refugee camps where there are reports of rapes, murders and disappearances.

What would a rational human being do? They would try to flee. Why couldn't the Sri Lankan Tamils just go to Tamil Nadu? Fair question. But if they did they would just wind up in another refugee camp. And if you think Australia is over-crowded take a trip to Chennai.

Why is it mostly men who come as boat people? Well in Asian culture its usually the men who go on ahead and fix things up before the women and children join them. Sometimes its the young men who do this for the family.

Why do they have 15K etc? The money that they spend on people smugglers represents their family's entire savings and assets. How much money would you have if you sold your house and possessions etc?

Let them in under a balanced and fair migration scheme. We can take a certain amount, and we need to balance competing considerations like people in the camps etc. Lets do that. But lets do it without the cheap point-scoring

franklin: << ...could it not be that many Australians have great sympathy for the women and children refugees in squalid camps who cannot afford to pay people smugglers, and could it not be that it offends the sense of fairness of many Australians... >>

Indeed it could, and undoubtedly is the case for some, particularly if they're exposed to that kind of disingenuous spin. However, I've noticed that when this argument is deployed, it's invariably trotted out by people with far more insidious motives.

Well said David Jennings (as usual).

Why can't we all just hold hands,
join together and sing Kumbaya?