Well the stupid 4 Corners program will be a lie and a crock. People who once helped other people come to Australia have been getting refugee status for a decade and it has been assessed over and over through the AAT that Arricle 1f of the refugee convention does not apply to those who simply help out others.

CATCHWORDS
IMMIGRATION - Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees of 1951 - Australia's obligations under the Convention - whether the Applicant is a person to whom Australia owes obligations under the Convention - whether the Applicant committed a serious non-political crime outside his country of refuge - people smuggling - examination of the events surrounding the conviction of the Applicant for "people smuggling" - found that the Applicant had a lesser role in the operation and did not initially know the purpose of the trip - held that the Applicant's conduct could not be considered as of such a serious nature to negate any protection obligations towards him - decision of the Respondent is set aside - Applicant is not excluded from the provisions of the Convention by reason of Article 1F(b) of the Convention.
Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees 1951 Article 1F

And there are no people smugglers using any children to get around any law because there are no people smugglers.

I wonder how many children will be wrongly jailed and how many people will be killed before our braindead media read the conventions and protocols we have ratified and which I have written about for almost a decade now and understand that it is not people smuggling, no-one is being smuggled because it is a legal right to come here.

It's not rocket science.

And again on Breakfast on ABC we have two journos interviewing each other and proving they don't read or listen to anything.

It was proved by the Sun Herald that 108 people drowned on their way here because WE as a nation refused to send help so our illegal spy was not exposed.

Then we dropped charges against the non-smuggler and had him sent home so he couldn't blow the whistle.

So who did Fran Kelly blame? They Afghan we had deported so he couldn't tell the truth.

then they have a babble about Malaysia as if letting people arrive here and then sending them to Malaysia will stop one person from coming here or save one life, it was us as a nation who drowned the 108 people in October 2009 and no-0ne else, then they covered it up and lied about it.

Just like with SIEVX.

Then Fran Kelly claims we have a family reunion program that we don't have at all. We have a non-legal special humanitarian program that is zero to do with actual refugees.

And she claims the problem is massive yet for the three months of this year logged already there have only been a few hundred Iraqis.

Aaah Marilyn. No people smugglers, just good honest folk helping others come to Australia out of the goodness of their hearts?

In fact working at 2 or 3 legitimate businesses here and overseas so they can fund their philanthropic work ....

I suppose since so much of their money is being diverted into this honourable cause, they need the public housing and other assistance less worthy Australians are missing out on ...

The fairies at the bottom of my garden just verified this so I believe everything you have written ... Yeah, I do ..

Nuff said.

There are no people smugglers for the very simple reason that people are not smuggled into Australia.

Why is it that Australia has to complicate the most basic of human rights - everyone has the right to seek and enjoy asylum from persecution - with stories about smugglers and other nonsense.

Not one other country jails people for helping refugees, most countries think it is a good thing to allow refugees to escape death.

But in the last 12 years we have this delusion about it and we are too gutless to admit we just don't want the refugees.

As someone who spent significant time observing and 'rescuing' many of the illegal immigrants that came into Australia, via our northern shores in the late 1980's and early 1990's I can attest that our Government/s have an agenda and we do control our borders more than most would realise.

Quite often, whilst under surveillance, many 'refugee' boats would immediatley begin to sink once an Australian warship or chartered civilian vessel came into visual contact, almost a pre-ordained occurence.

Not withstanding the inferences made about the people in the article, security remains an issue when dealing with individuals who proclaim 'lost papers' etc etc.

I do not support indefinate detention, but do support the need to find a sensible, value-for-money solution to our current 'refugee' issue.

I recall an interesting period where the then Prime Minister, Paul Keating, called the then leader of Malaysia, Dr Mahathir Mohamad, a recalcitrant - shortly thereafter the AFP and the Royal Australian Navy provided a convenient and covert opportunity for a couple of Australian (? Malaysian) children, then known as Mrs Jacquieline Gillespie's kids, to travel, via means unknown by the general public, back to Malysia, to ensure that Australian/Malaysian trade would continue. Don't ever assume that what you see or read is what has actually happened.

I also recall incidents whereby Australian "Fisheries Officers" would make radio-telephone calls to the then "Dept of Foreign Affairs and Trade" and discuss whether or not to intercept vessels, depending on location, status and who or what was likely to be onboard the vessel.

I am sure things have not changed that much and our Commonwealth forces remain in a grey-cloud as to what is actually legal and illegal in terms of whom or by how someone comes to this country.

We do have a geo-political problem, and the article only scratches the surface on issues of illegal detention, resources and the political ramifications of binding ones allegiance to the current UN charter.

Geoff of Perth, you are flat out lying. No refugee boats arrived here in the late 70's and early 80's and certainly none sank.