Dear Veronika.. duty first.. welcome to OLO.

now..work..

You said:

<Well said Spikey. Many people fail to realise that almost all of the boat arrivals were genuine refugees.>

Could you please put some framework around that agreement with Spikey?

Assuming you believe all or most of those arriving on our shores are genuine refugees.. does this mean you would accept all those who manage to arrive here.. simply because they are 'genuine'?

Could you indicate how you would control the numbers?

Do you believe that once 'word' get's out that now Australia is an easy touch.. that many more will now attempt to make it here?

May I ask by what criteria you would decide "Enough is enough"?

Would it be when 100/month.. 1000/month.. 10,000/month arrive here?

Banjo,

I was referring to a real-life story I saw on a current affairs show on the ABC about a week ago (can't remember now which one) where, I believe, 400 Iraqis that were interpreters for the ADF in Iraq were brought to Australia in order to save them from almost certain death once the Aussie troops left. I suppose you could call them both asylum seekers and legitimate arrivals.

The Iraqis' main complaint was that things in Australia were nothing like they were led to believe from the ADF. They were struggling to make ends meet and I suspect they felt rather isolated. I'm using this example to illustrate my point that bringing people here too quickly raises its own problems, which in turn leads me to suggest that a 'quarantine station' of some kind be created where such people are not just thrown in at the deep end. This could take the form of more humane detention for those that are deemed a danger to themselves or Australia or perhaps placing the "safe" ones in camps in the country where they can slowly acclimatise and perhaps help build up a particular industry.

I know my parents, who came here as migrants after WWII, were placed in Bonegilla and Benalla in Victoria for some years. They made pocket money picking fruit in the orchards as teenagers, until the family was allowed to leave the camp and make it to the big cities. What's wrong with reincarnating such a model?

People who disrespect Austrlaias immigration laws and try to enter Australia without proper authority deserve one of two things

1 to be turned back there and then

2 To be detained and returned once their origins have been ascertained.

No free-passes
No excuses

Wait in line with every other migrant.
Accept and respect the right of Australia to determine who is an acceptable entrant.

Australia is not a dustbin of humanity.

Australia has something worthy about it.

Whilst it does others will clamour to get here but as Polycarp rightly points out, how many people should we be expected to assimilate in any given time and of those, do we take everyone or only those of good character?

I do not want Australia to be invaded by a bunch of criminals, like Cuba did with its refugees into Florida.

A “genuine refugee” is one who has received an appropriate visa for entry, not someone who simply washed up on Aussie shores, having first gone through other intermediary nation-states, away from the point of danger.

Col Rouge

I salute your wisdom .

There HAS to come a time when someone calls a halt ..."Enough!" to this pandering to the social conscience of headline grabbers.The country will suffer the consequences.We are essentially a desert country that has severe water problems.On a map Australia looks massive and anyone would think that there is enough space to let millions of more immigrants.But ONLY the coastal fringe can support and sustain life and allow for a way of lfe that is our birthright.

The social engineers might equivocate and plead for only another million.Then next year the cry is renewed.There is NO CUT-OFF POINT for them. They have their own political agendas well-concealed.

And by the way if must take in more asylum seekers and refugees, then why not visit the refugee camps throughout Africa and take in only those who have gone through hell and lost loved ones and all their possessions.They are the REAL DESERVING ones.We've let in those who no sooner in when they prove most ungrateful and show the real reason why they are here.Their demands encroach on our laws and way of life.They seek to subvert the social-political order to forcibly implant their own.Their presence in Australia is now a constant source of threat that makes us very vulnerable.

socratease

It seems that those who are so up in arms about the detention centres
are not bothering to understand that asylum seekers can only be those
that fit the UN definition which roughly means someone who has fled
their country because they feared for their life or liberty.

They seem to be a minority of those arriving illegally.
Strictly speaking only asylum seekers who are Indonesians can really apply here.
Asylum seekers that have arrived in other safe countries first should
apply there for asylum. That was the rule, was it changed ?
Many seem to have traveled to Malaysia or Indonesia by air.
One report I saw showed that they had sold their house and car before
they left their home country. Hardly asylum seekers.

Those that arrive by boat are trying to escape detection and should
not be allowed to stay but should be supplied with fuel and food and
sent on their way. Thats what the Indonesians do.

RobP,
I did not see that TV show but I vaguely recall something about some Iraqis that worked for our ADF in Iraq and them migrating to Aus. If the ADF did not inform them properly about our society then Immigration should have, before issueing visas.

Your suggestion of a quarantine place or halfway house for migrants would not work. For example we get 160000 plus migrants per year so where would we house that many until they got used to our society and the cost would be enormous.

Over the years many migrants have said it is not like they were told here and I think we have been lax in this. Some have been shocked by the skimpy clothes worn at or near beaches, and revealing clothes in the normal street wear. Others by the fact that young women go out unaccompanied to work or education, for examples. There are many cultural matters that potential migrants should be made aware of BEFORE they commit to migrate here. I would even include pictures of scantily clad beachgoers, lone girls driving and nativity scene displays at shoping malls.

I understand information regarding this was being prepared, in various languages, to be given out to those applying for a visa. This was just prior to the last election and now that is under review along with the citizenship test. I await this review, particularly the information to be issued.

Bazz,
I understand you to be correct in what you say. Also we never had any forced detention. Detainees were free to leave the detention centres, and Australia, if they forewent the asylum claim.

I think we need to curtail the appeals process and inform applicants upfront that any attempts to mislead or incorrect information given will immediatly cancel the application. That would shorten the process.

Further, Idon't believe we strictly adhere to the UN criteria for asylum. I have a feeling that we let many in by bending the rules to accomadate them. 80% of boat people accepted as refugees seems very high.