Misanthrope,

Do you know what your psuedenom means? It means " a person who dislikes or distrusts other people or mankind in general." So why would you claim to care about people. And, if you intend to call people racist, you should learn to spell the word first!

The size of of Australia (2/3 uninhabitable) has nothing to do with allowing people to come just because the wish to. People should be trying to bring about peace in their own countries, not crowding ours and bludging of the hard work of Australians.

ttbn I know what my special word means perfectly well, its racest people like you that I don't like very much or trust very much. You should learn to be very kind and share all this beautifuil lands we have in Australie instead of been a greedy person. Been rude to me doesn't worry me from where I come from in Albania where we live in fear for years and years. You should be grateful you did not have to live in fear like me and my family, as well as all the people who get out of Africa countrys who run away from guns and bad men causing death. Instead of been greedy and stoping all the people from Africa country from coming here with peace.

Misanthrope,

Well, if you know what the word means, you don't even like yourself. It just doesn't mean disliking some people - it means everybody. As you come from Albania, you poor spelling and English is excusable. But don't call me racist (please not the spelling) sport. As an Albanian, you are probably a white European the same as I am.

You mention Africans. I have nothing against Africans. They, at least, are bone fide refugees SELECTED by the Australian Government to come here. Some are probably bone fide migrants who applied through the correct channels.

The topic, which I actually STARTED, is about illegal arrivals in Europe. But oh, no: Mr.

Name-calling Misanthrope has to go off topic and waffle and insult his hosts.

You need to learn about the geography of the country you apparently wish to live before you start blathering about how many "millions" we should be taking in and supporting because there are not enough jobs for the people already here.

Foxy, you said
"I am not evading anything. I have tried to point out the big differences that exist between Europe's treatment of asylum seekers and the way in which our government treats them."

Re-reading your posts I fail to see where you have pointed out any examples of the big differences, other than they haven't announced how they plan to stop the boats. Don't pretend Europe doesn't want to stop the boats, they are looking for a way to do it without appearing to do it.

In all honesty I don't know what you are hanging onto other than the belief Australia's policy cannot possibly be okay.

To call people who have fled their homes ‘arrogant invaders’ reveals meanness and a lack of compassion which in my opinion is all too prevalent in our society. Compassion is in order. Compassion is always in order.

There are around fifty million refugees in the world today. Poverty, war and oppression have caused them to flee their homes. There is no pressure on me to leave my home because I doubt that I would be better anywhere else. I sympathise with those who are not as fortunate. The government of Australia has passed laws who penalise people who have worked at or observed what goes on the detention centres and write or speak about what is happening in those centres. It is reasonable to think that conditions there are deplorable. Why else would the government want to prevent those conditions from being made public?

We can only take in a small portion of the refugees, and we can only alleviate the conditions that cause the situation to a limited extent.

However, we are not doing what we can do. Foreign aid wisely applied can alleviate the conditions which cause the flow of refugees. The Abbott government has cut back on foreign aid. Returning refugees to the source of their oppression will condemn some of them to more oppression and even death. The Australian Navy has turned Tamils fleeing Sri Lanka over to the Sri Lankan Navy. The Australian Labor Party has concurred in the actions of the current Australian government. The Australian government and the Labor opposition share a lack of compassion.

We can try to get together with other fortunate nations to change the situation. We can try to alleviate the desperate conditions in some countries. Limiting the flow of arms, population control, education – especially for women and equitable sharing of the earth’s resources are some of what can be done. Instead of seeing how tough and mean we can be let’s do what we can to make matters better.

CH,

"In all honesty I don't know what you are hanging onto other than the belief Australia's policy cannot possibly be okay."

Maybe because of things like this:

http://www.theage.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/more-asylum-seekers-have-died-on-manus-island-than-have-been-resettled-report-shows-20150716-gidi1b.html

"More asylum seekers have died on Manus Island than have been resettled, gay detainees are mistreated and refugees released from detention are not allowed to work or move freely, a human rights report says."

"Since then, not one has been resettled. This is despite Australian immigration officials confirming 129 detainees have been deemed genuine refugees.

Two asylum seekers sent to Manus have died – one killed during riots that swept through the detention centre and one from septicaemia after cutting his foot.

I can't see Europeans wanting to pursue a record like that.