@Marilyn,

<<There has never been any law that says refugees have to stay in the first country, exactly the opposite>>

Ok, Marilyn I'll see yah.
Please reference where "it" says the "the opposite"

I am not racist and believe every man woman and child has a right to freedom but I do have concerns with the number of refugees arriving on our shores whether by way of lawful or unlawful means.

Can our governments and their policies justify and sustain the numbers of refugees arriving here in Australia when we do not have the following
1. Employment to guarantee they can work and earn a sufficient income to exist and not be a financial burden on the Australian tax payers?

2. Afford affordable housing when many Australian people are now homeless and many others facing homelessness.

3. Adapt to and abide by the Australian traditions, customs and laws.

Our Australian governments Federal and State by their wisdom NOT elected to privatize many of our manufacturing industries, utilities, public transport and infrastructure to foreign investors, this has seen a decline in employment and we are witnessing mass redundancies of Australians becoming unemployed, this has led to people and their families being evicted from their homes.

As reported in the Herald Sun news paper 12/09/2012 most of Australian governments are broke and getting further in debt every day, so they are forced to generate more income by way of taxes and penalties on Australian taxpayers.

In my opinion just on the above we cannot justify or sustain the refugee intake as we are now doing regardless if they are housed offshore or in Australia

Gypsy, you are a sad little person aren't you? Australia is the richest country in this region no matter now many people whinge and pretend otherwise.

To claim we can't cope with a few thousand refugees is beyond ridiculous.

dering that the Charter of the United Nations and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights approved on 10 December 1948 by the General Assembly have affirmed the principle that human beings shall enjoy fundamental rights and freedoms without discrimination,
considering that the United Nations has, on various occasions, manifested its profound concern for refugees and endeavoured to assure refugees the widest possible exercise of these fundamental rights and freedoms,
considering that it is desirable to revise and consolidate previous international agreements relating to the status of refugees and to extend the scope of and
protection accorded by such instruments by means of a new agreement,
considering that the grant of asylum may place unduly heavy burdens on
certain countries, and that a satisfactory solution of a problem of which theUnited Nations has recognized the international scope and nature cannot
therefore be achieved without international co-operation,
expressing the wish that all States, recognizing the social and humanitarian
nature of the problem of refugees, will do everything within their power to
prevent this problem from becoming a cause of tension between States,

Well yes Marylin, 1948 and well out of date. Not dealing with the
swarm of economic refugees which now exist, the law needs updating.

Slavery and Hitler were the law once, those laws needed updating
too.

The law needs to be relevant in 2012, not 1948, or you land up with
exactly the debacle that we have now.

Marilyn Shepherd - What drugs are you on Australia is $161 Billion dollars in Debt Indonesia is in Surplus.
It is a few thousand within 1 month alone.
Remember 85% of the refugees that had been here over 5 years were still on welfare after 5 years.
Even the UN has said a lot of these are ECONOMIC refugees.

If a beggar turned up at your door and wanted food accommodation etc and you were kind enough to give it to him, he uses your phone and calls all the other beggars who arrive in taxi's and now want you to support them how many will it take before you lock the door and kick out the one you helped first.

Marilyn Shepherd - if you wish your point of view to be respected, even if the vast majority have a differing opinion, you should refrain from addressing people as "sad little person" and similiar insults.

It fails to enhance your argument