Is it not true that illegal people movements drop around the world in the same period?

Excellent article Alan.

As an expat from the UK, I feel able to give have a perspective on the social effects of the different illegal immigration laws in use in the UK and Australia.

In the UK there are around 80000 illegal immigrants awaiting their asylum applications to be processed. If rejected they have the right to appeal - if unsuccessful most just disappear. Many law firms have sprung up just dealing with these cases, and have become very, very good at delaying the process as long as possible. To prevent the south eastern port towns of Kent being overwhelmed the labour government uses a dispersal scheme to shunt illegal immigrants around the country, with ghettos springing up in nearly all major cities and towns.

The social effects of this system are horrendous. An entire slave economy has sprung up with asylum seekers working for no pay all the hours on building sites and fruit farms. These workers pay no taxes, receive almost no pay, and are hugely abused.

Illegal immigrants have no interest in learning the English language or about British culture - because of the fear of detection and removal their societies are hugely insular and are in no way assimilated. This leads to intense fear and resentment from mainstream British society - the growth in the vote for the British National Party (BNP) is evidence - they polled 200,000 votes at the recent election. The drain on resources is also enormous - immigrants must be housed, fed and receive medical treatment.

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Australia, on the other hand, just simply does not have these problems. Those who break the law by coming to this country illegally are detained, and rightly so. The system works - why change it?

As a legal immigrant I had to go through a long and drawn out process to emigrate as the partner of an Australian citizen. I am not entitled to any benefits outside of basic Medicare for two years from my date of arrival. And rightly so. Why should I assume that Australia owes me anything? It doesn't. I believe need to earn the right to support from the Australian state by paying taxes, contributing to the community and becoming a citizen.

Coming from a country where immigration policy has failed so completely, I hope Australia does not follow the UK and Europe down the same path. Australia has an excellent system.

Finally, I think the UN treatment on refugees needs to be revisited. I think the 1951 treaty does not recognise that most refugees are economic migrants, not real refugees. For example, to get to the UK all refugees need to pass through many other countries, all of which they could have stopped in, and would no longer be persecuted. The UK is seen as an easy option because of the welfare system and free healthcare. How are refugees who reach the UK not economic migrants?

Just my two cents

It is clear that the Leftist moles in the Liberal Party realise that they won't get any more preselection so they have broken cover, determined to do as much damage to Australia before they are delected. Keith

Alan Anderson continues with his oft-expressed views from the far right, but that does not mean that they are right. It is true that the Labor Party introduced the mandatory detention policy for asylum seekers - they also once had a "white Australia policy" - but Howard's application of the policy has a distinct smell of racism about it.

After the "Tampa" and SIEV X incidents and the scandals at Woomera and Baxter it is hypocritical in the extreme for Howard to claim that his policy is "working". The white Australia policy also "worked" but it was still wrong.

I can't help but wonder what Alan Anderson and others of his ilk would be saying if there were a boat full of Brits seeking asylum off our shores. I can hear their silence already.