According to Franklin, the Swiss actually got a vote on the matter of asylum seekers. We Australians had not say whatsoever. Franklin also reminds us of where this you beaut refugee convention comes from: a different world, with different people - far different from the country shoppers we now have.

Anansi,

Good luck to your children; but they are not doing anything other kids have done and, being Australian born, they have probably learned more from their peers than they ever did from their not-very-pleasant parent.

It's interesting to hear that two of them have removed themselves from your clutches, and the third one is also looking forward to doing something overseas.

They have every chance of turning out fine, despite your poor attidude to the country whic took you in.

Anansi “Not make up weird fantasies about the posters.

ColR can do that too.”

No fantasies, except expecting you to justify your claim to the ability of refugees exceeding all others… my fantasy to expect you to validate your arrogant and unproven comment.

“How many different passports can you and Col have?”

I have one passport, Australian and could apply for renewal of my English passport, if I wanted to, but cannot be bothered. “Citizenship” in UK is, to those born in England, not a government award, it is an irrevocable birth right and the history of Australia and UK means different rules apply to ex-Britons versus non-Britons.

“How big were your hoops? ….”

My initial qualifications are English and recognized the world over, including Australia and I have since added an Aussie qualification to them. But I still had to wait for 7 years for my ‘skills’ to be in demand.

I came with wife and 2 ½ year old daughter too… I do not ponder the relative difficulty of my passage, other than, I was greeted by the Migration Officer with the words “3 of the chosen people”.

BUT I was not given a “free pass” (like the boat folk) and have never expected one.

Those who wash up on the shore have gone through NO HOOPS or tests to their “suitability” as applicants, I DID.


By trying to evade migration services they have proved their bad character, making them “unsuitable for settlement”.

And might well be the sort of individual who we would reject because of criminal past or contagious disease anyway.

I remember Castro, that old left wing piece of scum when he opened his borders to those Cubans who wanted to leave to go to USA cleaned out his gaols too and let the thieves, drug peddlars and murderers out among those who were upright citizens.

And my children are both tax contributors to the commonwealth. They expect nothing for free and do not go around in gangs, stabbing people, as is common with some of our Somalian and other ethnic minorities.

Col Rouge says of his children:

"They expect nothing for free and do not go around in gangs, stabbing people, as is common with some of our Somalian and other ethnic minorities."

If they did, would Col Rouge put it down to their race, national background or ethnicity?

Since they don't, is Col claiming that's because they are members of "the chosen people"?

Gary Klintworth is a former member of the Refugee Review Tribunal and wrote an informative paper entitled “Woomera: Hell Holes and Mandatory Detention of Illegal Immigrant”. An exert:

“Most Australians want order and control over the illegal immigration business. And it is a business. The illegal immigrants detained in Woomera, Port Hedland, Curtin or elsewhere in Australia are part of a people smuggling racket estimated at $US10 billion per annum. Some illegal immigrants are fleeing oppressive regimes. Most however are seeking a better way of life and are prepared to pay a lot of money to get smuggled into desirable destinations like Australia, Canada, the United States and countries in Western Europe such as Britain.”

“According to Afghan community leaders, many Pakistanis coming to Australia falsely claim to be Afghanis. They said the Afghan community in Australia did not want positions for genuine Afghan refugees to be filled by people from other countries claiming to be Afghans. Mean¬while, some who claim to be from Iraq are in fact citizens of other countries in the Middle East.”

The paper can be downloaded at:

http://elecpress.monash.edu.au/pnp/cart/download/free.php?paper=45

Investigative journalist Russell Skelton spent some time in Afghanistan and wrote articles on Afghans, people smuggling and the Bakhtiyari case. An exert:

“The story is all too familiar. Ayub's uncle switched identities before leaving Kabul on false travel documents for Indonesia: a new name for a new life. Asked why so many people had left the district, the 28-year-old hotel owner said: "It was for a better life. The drought had finished them, crops had failed too many times and there was no food. Talibs were a problem, but the real reason was that there was nothing left for them; those with money had to find a better life. My uncle said the Talibs had wrecked Kabul and made it impossible to make money."

Note that seeking a better life is not recognised by the 1951 Refugee Convention as a reason for the granting of protection as a refugee.

The article can be downloaded at:

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2002/08/22/1029114162991.html

Mr Right. What the hell is wrong with you?

While your remarks to me were quite unfathomably over-reactionary, your last comment directed at Anansi was unforgivable and way, way out of line.

Is this some kind of game to you, perhaps? Do you not realise that while your ego might be comforted by sitting down after a hard day and trying, like a nasty child, to push your boundaries, the other end of that big box you are playing with is connected to other peoples lives?

What do you think singles you out from other mature adults and gives you the right to ignore all the societal codes which are ingrained in the rest of us? Where on earth do you get the idea that you have the right to behave like a five-year-old and just blurt out the first inane and childishly spiteful thought which comes into your head? For gods' sake, man, show some maturity.

Your comments to Anansi were pure playground-talk and I, being a grown-up, know what pain they would have caused. Act like an adult man and aplogise and stop being so bloody silly.

Romany,

There is nothing wrong with me, and you don’t decide what is “forgivable” and what is not. I will not be lectured by a renegade living in China, with the arrogance to make any comment at all about Australia.

As I said, you are a country hopper, without identity and allegiance, but with a huge mouth and a belief you can plonk yourself down anywhere and dictate terms. You are the one playing the games; and calling an elderly man “childish” and “immature” shows just what a loose-lipped ratbag you are.

That, and your allegation of my supposed ignoring “…all the societal codes which are ingrained in the rest of us…” seeks to paint me as someone less that human, and is the abusive hallmark of an arrogant person who has run out of arguments and throws a tantrum in sheer frustration.

For someone who has smugly trumpeted in the past that she doesn’t “bother to respond to…” you certainly turn nasty when you are cornered, and seem very willing to react to anybody not fooled by your holier-than-thou attitude.

I have no intention of bothering with you again. But anytime you wish to vent your spleen, I suppose a person like me – lacking societal codes adhered to by the great Romany and “the rest of us” – is a good target for you. So, be my guest: use me as the baddy or black hat to make yourself feel good. You need all the help you can get