Jayb: "They haven't been offered asylum by Australia. They have asked for it. ..."

I should probably have also added the above reeks of: someone saying, without really knowing, that all of those people don't meet the requirements. I could give you an equally logical argument for justifying they are refugees. The truth is neither of us know - we are just arranging the facts to support our favoured conclusion.

We have a well trained and more to the point well equiped, well connected bureaucracy who will spend years if necessary (at least the have in the recent past) to dig out the truth of the matter for each application. Compared to their efforts our our speculations here are just pissing in the wind.

I personally could not condone refusing or accepting a refugee's application on some random's speculation any more than I would want to skip the court process and have someone convicted on some random's say-so. That would be true UNHCR or no UNHCR.

Re RStuart's posts:

“To me the most likely outcome is we will keep the refugees for a year or so until it is obvious that is what is happening, then we send them back home and everybody lives happily ever after”
The only part where –-- ever after --- will come in,is once they are here,they will be here ever after.There is no way in the world that they will be returned once things settle down.

“our speculations here are just pissing in the wind.” ---Yep that’s a valid self assessment.