" I hope you have met some of the people who come on boats and really understand just some of the predicaments they have faced."

Well said, mellom, but are the millions of asylum seekers that you dont see in a better predicament or less deserving of asylum? Unlike convicts sent here in past times, an escape is being sought, not a penance served. But should that escape be made easier by engaging the services of criminals whose motive for assisting the asylum seekers is the profit to be made from them?

I put people traffickers on the same rung as drug dealers, taking advantage of vulnerable human beings, but able to conduct their criminal activity only because of misguided policy.

Having enclaves for asylum seekers near their source to me seems the best option. As an example of why I think it the best option, I would ask you to consider a scenario where a sudden sea level rise displaces several million people in Bangladesh. Having a body like the UN with the capability to rapidly establish processing facilities would seem advantageous.

Fester, it's just that people keep mixing up seeking asylum and criminals, and yes there is a big difference!
you ask "should that escape be made easier by engaging the services of criminals whose motive for assisting the asylum seekers is the profit to be made from them?" This is where the answer is not black and white. We can't blame people for doing whatever they can to escape but no we don't want to encourage people smuggling activity. It is not the simple issue the tabloid hysteria would like it to be. But punishing the victims can't be an answer.
No the millions of refugees that don't come here are not less deserving, but neither are the ones that come here less deserving. Trying to pit these two groups against each other has caused much damage. But in a strange way there is some good to come out of the nasty debate about the people we do see. At least people who would never talk about refugees or notice them are engaging and for the first time many people are understanding that there are millions of refugees in the world who will never find a home. Trying to get anyone interested in the subject when there are no boats arriving is impossible. When faced with the boats many react with vitriol and prejudice but there are others who really engage with helping refugees.
Enclaves are a good short term solution but thousands of Burmese refugees have been displaced in Bangladesh for many years, they live in appalling conditions, some are in a camp, lots of others are not. This has been going on for many years without resolve. People need permanent solutions. Just look at the camps on the Thai Burma border, people have been there for years. They are horrible places. We have to really start caring about what happens to people. The focus on boats coming here is a bit of an embarrassment when compared to what other countries deal with

for a great analysis on the ignorance on asylum seeker arrivals based on new polling see http://blogs.crikey.com.au/pollytics/2010/06/07/essential_report_as_ignorance/ - says it all really

*but thousands of Burmese refugees have been displaced in Bangladesh for many years, they live in appalling conditions, some are in a camp, lots of others are not.*

Exactly! Now the fact remains that Australia cannot solve the
world's problems and cannot take them all, so we take 13'000
a year.

There is no good reason why we should first take cashed up
Sri Lankan males and similar, who mananged to push their way in
and ignore the people mentioned.

Next we are throwing a billion $ a year at this, which is hardly
taxpayers money well spent.

The 1951 Convention is well out of date. Its time that we took
all refugees from refugee camps, so that deserving women and
children, even if they don't have 2c, have a chance, and not just
relatively rich young males, as now is the case.

But of course our bleeding hearts cannot think past their tv
screens, for any kind of rational discussion about this. They
remain emotionally overwhelmed, unable to reason.

Yabby you are a good example of the ignorance factor in the link posted by Mellom. About half our intake is from UNHCR referred cases, the other more than half have to be sponsored by an australian and pay their own airfare They probably have to come up with or borrow about the same amount as those coming by boat. Refugee advocates are the ones YOU seem to have the emotional problem with, but they are actually mostly the ones with the facts and the most able to reason. People who hate refugees are in a childish battle to get their own way and using emotive statements that have nothign to do with people arriving. It wouldn't matter how many times real experiences and fact are presented to you and other people, you can only hear the sound of your own cemented views. The Sri Lanka males are connected to sri lanka women and children they support, their lives are lived to support their families, and protect their families. There are also women and children on the boats, do you hate them as well?

you can see the mentality in people who keep on with the word illegal as their new swear word. We are all illegal. If you've been fined for speeding you are an illegal, or not locking your car. I'm sure everyone posting on here is not so pure. ASIO forge passports, Julie Bishop told us so, they are the biggest illegals of all.