I would welcome all people fleeing from threat of death in other counties.
They should come straight to the Australian mainland and be processed in our community.

Binoy Kampmark & Raise the Dust, two over emotional people who cry if a mosquito dies.

Why should Morrison have to resign. He is at the end of a chain & at the mercy of people who are protecting their ar$e$ & the Media who sensationalize everything just to sell papers.

I watched the Senate enquiry on the ABC & the ducking & diving, deflecting done by the Public service was disgusting. So how the Minister is supposed to get proper & correct information is beyond me.

If you want to sack someone sack the people who feed the Politicians "Politically Correct" information.

Since when has it been considered compassionate to support a policy that enriches human traffickers and leads to about 100 drowned refugees per year.

This is an excellent opinion piece. The militarisation of processing Asylum Seekers is a ridiculous and cruel project mainly for the consumption of News Corp readers.
The simple truth is, we are signatories the UN Convention on Refugees, we are a rich and democratic nation and should be dealing with asylum seekers as members of an international community.
The current approach, not too different to the ALPs, puts us at odds with our neighbours and is counter to the greater good.
We are not a cruel dictatorship and most of us come from somewhere outside Australia. The notion of 'border control' is laughable, particularly when as Mr Morrison becomes so hairy chested on asylum seekers, but when Chinese military ships weave in and out of our seas he simply says nothing. These are classic tactics by bullies and I believe that with the right information and the facts, most Australians would not be acting as bullies.
The idea that we are at 'war' with 'people smugglers' and 'their cargo' is equally insane - it undermines the position of the Australian Defence Forces making them political pawns in a cynical propaganda game.
Fraser had the best approach - simple and cost effective, stop the boats by increasing the number of refugees we take and provide those we accept with all the human rights applicable to all of us

Why is it unmentioned in so much of this discussion that Australia has a policy that allowed 20,000 humanitarian places to be filled in 2012-13?
We are not ogres.
Those currently in detention on Manus Island rolled the dice and lost. Take the offered plane ride home and think again.

We do not fulfil those 20,000 places. It was suggested in the report of the previous Angus Houston’s expert panel on asylum seekers that we extend our commitment to 20,000 plus, and at the same time work with our regional partners, Indonesia and Malaysia to stem the flow of boat arrivals. We simply do not fill the quota of 20,000 and many of the 13,000 of so we do take in have been on temporary protection visas for a long time. Again, a genuine open and transparent discussion, with the government not withholding information, would develop better policy on this issue.

Hi Binoy,

Your last article on Indo border incursions bombed disastrously because you “omitted” the fact that even the Indo’s have no idea where their maritime borders are.

This time your outrage conveniently ignores the fact that Refugee Advocacy Policy under the previous government resulted in the deaths of 1,100 men women and children.

If you supported such policies you are just as culpable for these deaths as those who implemented the policy.

You can squawk as much as you like but the majority of Australians voted to end the murderous people smuggler business. If you don’t like saving lives and you don’t like our democracy, then why don’t find a publicly funded University in another country to hide in whilst you throw hand grenades at their electorates?

Those seeking more operational information from Sovereign Border activity have one single purpose, to discredit a policy that embarrasses the Left because it is working and meeting an electoral promise.

If you really believe that 1,100 deaths can be dismissed on your “moral/value” judgments then I doubt Australia is the place for you. Why don’t you try this in Indonesia?

@FOTIS, Posted on Wednesday, 26 February 2014 9:43:31 AM
I agree that we need a completely open discussion on this entire issue.
I also think that if we say we will take in 20,000, then let's take in 20,000. The world is awash with refugees. It shouldn't be that hard to fill a quota we set ourselves.

Let me ask a question Fotis, Rust in the dust & Kampmark. If you had say, 3 children under 6, & had a mouse problem. Would you scatter Rat poison everywhere & let you children play around the area?

We have a great country, very little violence especially over religion. Everyone gets on fine. Now you want to scatter a religion into Australia that has a record of unsurpassed continued violence that stretches back 800 years. A religion that demands that Australia pay the Jizyah Tax to Islam in the form of AID. A Religion that is creating havoc through out Europe to force them to convert & you want that to happen here. My mother said they'll see how wonderful it is in Australia & convert to Christianity. This seems to be the same delusional outlook shared by many of the do-good Politically Correct people in Australia. Believe me, it ain't gonna happen.

Yes Christians did it for about four hundred years, but we don't do it now, as a matter of course. Except for a few isolated incidences in the Balkans & Ireland, but even that has stopped.

Fotis,

What happens in international waters is not covered by the UNHCR charter.

The navy and customs have always been militarised, the emphasis has shifted from being a water taxi to interception and turn around.

The trail of Peter Cohen for the murder of Daniel Morecombe shows how police investigations work covertly, and how the early release of information would have scuppered the investigation, yet I don't hear the yelps from the left whingers for immediate release of confidential information.

As Willie Wonka says, "So tell me. How sending an Indonesian boat with an Indonesian crew back to Indonesia is an invasion of Indonesian Sovereignty?"

I notice, even to day, a week later, the Public Service can't get a straight answer from anyone on Manus Island. The people on Manus including the Detainees are all protecting their Ar$e$. So how is that the ministers fault. Or is it the Politically Correct do-gooder, Greenie News paper reporters just stirring the pot?

Raise the Dust Quote "I would welcome all people fleeing from threat of death in other counties.
They should come straight to the Australian mainland and be processed in our community."

How do you intend to determine who is real and who is an economic invader.
More importantly where will you get the money from to support the 42 Million refugees at the moment, when the refugee convention was inacted there were only 1.5 million.

GREAT!, we've finally found a president for the bleeding hearts brigade.

Now all you lot have to do, is get together, put in YOUR OWN MONEY and sole this problem so that we, the Aussie tax payer can go on providing for the services we are missing out on due to these uninvited inttruders.

The world is awash with refugees. It shouldn't be that hard to fill a quota we set ourselves.
halduell,
How about we take in 20,000 refugees who denounce religion & no further questions asked. You'll find that you won't get any because there aren't any from non-muslim countries.

The issue is islam.

The illegals coming on boats are in the main muslims who reject the Australian culture. In addition these illegals disguise their identity and are part of a criminal enterprise.

They are not refugees.

The hypocrisy of this author is astounding. Real refugees are rotting in camps. They are ignored by the bleeding hearts who support insurrectionists.

Australia must take refugees but not those who would depose our democracy.

The word traitor must be used to describe those who support any other plan.

I find it extraordinary how little know about Islam, its almost identical to Christianity and Judaism - all three come from the same source. And if it was the case that Muslims wanted to turn us all into Muslims, they'd fail miserably given we are a secular nation that loves to drink. It wasn't so long ago that Protestants were deeply concerned about Catholics and their allegiance to the Papal State. And only up until the early 80s the Irish were still fighting between themselves - no Muslims. I can almost guarantee that all those that attack 'bleeding hearts' and muslims, are soft white boys who have never had a bloody nose. When did justice equate to bleeding hearts? Justice takes real balls! Whining dopy internet shock jocks who hide behind fake names and pray to the god of bigotry. I am a proud atheist and I've never shied from a fight, nor have my family and many of my cohorts. As far as 'publicly funded university' geez, how many private ones do we have here Einstein? I have never met a racist or a bigot who wasn't an unsophisticated, poorly read, wimp ! And at the end of the day many Australians disagree with the border protection policies and we also pay tax, possibly more than some of the bigots that support it.

FOTIS we know quite enough to be quite sure the only good place for one, is back where they damn well came from, thanks.

Hasbeen man is that the name you chose for yourself? Clearly you never were! Maybe you should go back to where you came from. Muslims have been here since the first fleet, when did you blow in?

This is a much-vexed issue, causing many of us much grief, whatever side of the fence we may be on - whether willing to welcome as many refugees as possible, or those who prefer we accept none.

No easy solutions; but Manus, Nauru, Christmas Island, or mainland detention are not acceptable solutions; and 'turning back the boats' is at best a temporary 'stop-gap'.

We know there are many millions of refugees (and/or displaced persons), and their numbers are growing as strife swells around the globe, in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Egypt, Syria, Myanmar, Sri-Lanka, Central African Republic, the Congo, and elsewhere. Millions living in terrible deprivation, or barely surviving in refugee camps with the help of the UNHCR and various NGO's and charities.

'We' cannot take them all, the 'developed world' cannot take them all - or at least is unwilling to do so.
I can see only one solution - all displaced persons should be accommodated in acceptable conditions in refugee camps established in their 'home' countries, or in those adjoining countries to which they have fled. All in the same 'boat'; all being catered for by organised international agencies, and under reliable UN protection, until such time as the strife in their home countries can be resolved, or until alternative 'resettlement' can be arranged.
No 'queue jumpers', no forced diaspora, no favoritism for those who can afford to pay bribes.

All displaced by life-threatening strife should be assisted to reach the safe-haven of the nearest internationally-maintained refugee camp, and the full thrust of international intervention be focused both on the maintenance of those camps and on the diplomatic or, if necessary, the armed resolution of the foundational causes of these displacements.

On this model, 'unconventional' arrivals would be processed quickly, with those fitting 'refugee' criteria found immediate resettlement places, and all others rapidly deported to the most appropriate international refugee camp.
Indonesia and Malaysia could adopt similar arrangements.

My rationale: provide equal treatment to all, equal compassion, equal opportunity - with genuine hope for a better future, for all.
(And, let's not wreck the planet by overpopulating, please.)

FOTIS your naivety is striking. It is not about the similarities or not between Islam and other religions.

The issue is Australia is a secular society. Unlike other religions Islam wants to change Australia into a religious society where sharia prevails.

That is an indisputable fact. How many times do muslims have to say that's what they want before people like you accept that muslims are not like other immigrants; other immigrants did not want to get rid of Australia's secular democracy. Muslims do.

We know Islam will inevitably cause conflict in every Western society it infiltrates because in EVERY Western society in Europe and elsewhere when the % of muslims reaches about 5% then enclaving and pronounced conflict occurs. In England for instance there are whole suburbs and villages given over to sharia and which have effectively become no go zones.

Every time an attempt is made to discuss islam and its threat to democracy along comes the religious comparison and the "moderate muslim" myth pops up; for a rebuttal of the "moderate muslim" myth see:

http://theclimatescepticsparty.blogspot.com.au/2013/12/the-moderate-muslim.html

FOTIS, "Muslims have been here since the first fleet, when did you blow in?"

Before you I'd reckon, but who cares about that? We have enough great Ozzies who are first generation, & quite a few just off the boat, just none of them are Muslim.

Hasbeen, I have to SLIGHTLY disagee, as there are decent Musilms here, it's just that the religion they follow, also harbors the hatred that the extremists from that faith feed off.

My solution is, ban the religion and, if Muslims want to live here, in our peace loving nation, then they must leave their baggage behind.

Either that, or, don't come here, or leave if you are already here.

As for Abbott and co, of cause it must hurt any labor lover to see just what can be done if you use actions, not words.

The fact that this young man was killed, while tragic, could have been prevented had he chosen to be a refugee and not an illegal entrant.

It truly is that simple, and to lay blame on a person, who is simply trying to work with a mess left by incompetents, just shows that those doing the finger pointing really can't accept that their incompetent mob, were in fact, incompetent.

Jay and Halduel, hitting that nail on the head again I see. Well said! As Spindoc notes, another 'bombed' article.

Jez Binoy

Why do you prefer drowning people on the high seas?