Well Alan, I would certainly not provide them and all their extended families, cushy benefits forever, at the expense of my family.

I would give them temporary help and temporary protection, and return them to the part of the world where they originated from. Unless you of course are claiming that those parts are full and overpopulated
already. In that case, you seriously need to address my earlier
point, of some serious family planning in those countries.

After reading through all these posts all that I can say is that Alan's arguments seem trivial, bias and most of all have no real basis in reality. Alan you need to get yourself educated.

Alan,

Of course I would offer assistance. But your little scenario is quite unrealistic.

This is how it is much, much more likely to play out:

Imagine you’re a Christmas Island Detention Centre employee on his lunch break and you’ve gone for a stroll on the other side of the Island. Whilst walking along the beach you see a boat approach. When it gets to within 50 metres of the shore, a young man on the boat (there are about 100 of them all told, all young men) calls out to you: “Hoy mate, can you tell me how to get to Christmas Island dock (he holds up a new apple iphone) my batteries have gone flat and can’t call the naval taxi service number which the Ozzie bleedin hearts have emailed me”. You tell him it’s just around that promontory. And boat motors-off. But as you saunter back up the beach you hear a series of splashes. Fearing someone has fallen over board you run back to the water and wade out towards the boat just in time to see a hodge-podge of papers float by . You pluck some of them up.They are a combination of IDs showing the owners as coming from India, Iran & Yemen, receipts that show they overnighted at the Jakarta Hilton, and petty cash vouchers signed by the chief Ayatollah of Iran.

You make your way back to work arriving just in time to see boats passenger disembark. You’re somewhat nonplus since the formerly composed passengers are now crying and blubbering and telling horror stories (whilst they line up to make their free calls home).

Shortly afterwards, they are all “found to be genuine refugees” and transferred to the mainland. And you lose track of them till one day while holidaying on the Gold Coast you meet up with them again as they are coming our of the Gold Coast Hilton.You greet them and ask how they are fairing. They tell you how good it is to finally live in free country. Since settling they have all sponsored their families over. He introduces you to his aunt, his uncle, his mother & father, his grandmother & grandfather & his eldest brother (another six brothers are still luxuriating in the spar upstairs) and his eldest brother's four wives. A little envious you ask how he can afford to stay in such expensive accommodation. He smiles as says: “no probs,Oz is a free country, I have government certificate that gives me free hotel,free housing, free transport, free medical, free university and even free TV & Xbox. You say your goodbyes and book into the YMCA.

After a week your recreation leave and money have both expired. And you need to leave, but the asylum seekers are still enjoying the sights. At Coolangatta airport you have a life changing moment. You phone through your resignation to the detention centre,withdraw what meager saving you have left and book a flight to Broome. There you buy a Urdu phrase book, steal and old Indonesian fishing boat (awaiting destruction for illegally fishing ) , and sail south to Christmas Island.

You just forgot one thing, SPQR. The present Govt, encouraged by the
Greens, are booking all this up on the Govt credit card, for future
generations to pay off. Perhaps Alan wants us to land up with a semi bankrupt Govt, just like France.

Alan,
in respomse to your question

'Australia has already accepted its quota of refugees for this year.

So what do you do?'

I'd do mostly what you suggested earlier

'If he is a genuine asylum seeker he will be sent to whichever country has not filled its quota. If not, he goes home. If all quotas are full, he will stay in detention until they are revised. If quotas are not revised, he will likely commit suicide as have so many other asylum seekers under Australia’s jurisdiction recently.'

Of course I'd have a proviso or two, simi-lar to those of the UNHCR, before resettlement, he'd be able to supply appropriate paperwork or proof of origins for identification.

And in my detention centers, unlike yours, I'd make sure services were available to ensure no further attempts at self harm, either deliberate or as a result of unintended comsequence, like perishing at sea in a rickety boat, were allowed to occur.

Your pleadings are becoming circular Alan. Are you sure you're not masquerading as Julia?

'