Give them their boats back!

As it stands, Australia is a shameful pirate gang which hijacked those people on the high seas and locked them up for years.

Whether they live or drown is nobody else's business. If they die, at least they will die free!

Give them their boats back, with hefty compensation for their suffering and incarceration.

The last thing we need, Binoy, is another subversive like you, telling lies to promote the baseless assertion of interests of the illegals defiantly, and without justification, remaining on Manus.
Your dishonesty is typified by your baseless comparison of the legal process of squatting on rural crown land in Australia ,with the baseless actions of the illegals on Manus.
There is no excuse for the malicious nonsense in your article.

Yuyutsu, they do not have any boats.
They arrived in boats belonging to people smugglers, who are welcome to make application for return of the boats if they can show any legal right to possession. The government would no doubt appreciate them submitting to our jurisdiction.

Dear Leo,

I wonder whether the boats were rented out or sold to the seafarers or whether their owners ever expected to have them back - but that's a private matter to be settled between the seafarers and the original owners of their boats.

The bigger issue is, that those unarmed people, while travelling on the high seas were taken hostage by mighty Australian navy ships and locked up for years. There is just no excuse for this piracy!

What those travellers do once they get their boats back, with compensation, including how they settle with those who gave them those boats (assuming they stay afloat), is none of our business.

What gave you the idea, Yuyutsu, that removal of vessels which have illegally entered Australian waters, by the Australian government was an act of piracy. The lawbreakers are the owners and people in control of the vessels, who are liable to be dealt with as authorised by our laws, which may mean not only that they have no right to possession or control of the vessels, but no longer any right of ownership.They have a right to a trial, if the government pursues its case against them, for their illegal actions.

The recalcitrants on Manus, are flouting the law, and are liable to be dealt with accordingly.

Dear Leo,

While we could discuss the validity of the concept of "Australian waters", in this case the boats in question were hijacked 1000's of kilometres away from Australia, in fact quite close to the shores of Indonesia. There was no justification whatsoever why those seafarers should have been subject to your laws.