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I want to start this post off by saying that I am no expert on the asylum seeker debate, however just over a week ago I spoke to one, and was surprised at some of what I heard.
We hear a lot about the supposed queues that apparently exist all around the world, almost as if these asylum seekers are lining up to see Faith No More gig. I say Faith No More because if there is one thing that any asylum seeker must be running low on it is faith.
We also hear a lot about the boats that keep on coming from Indonesia, and all the ways we can scare the bejesus out of those people so they don’t try the trip. We can send them to live in a tent city in shocking humidity, or maybe a metal box like a shipping container, all for the sake of scaring other desperate people.
We see them blowing up their boats with gas tanks and throwing their children overboard, their clothes on fire. We see them drowning as their boats are turned into splinters smashed on the rocks in rough seas.
We hear the slogans like “Stop The Boats”, we hear the terms like “queue jumpers” and the completely false and deliberately misleading “illegal arrivals”. We hear the politicians on all sides accuse the others, all pointing the fingers of blame.
Unfortunately, what we don’t seem to see in the papers, see on the news, or hear the politicians tell us are all the facts, only what suits their spin. This is true of all political parties.
We all know that the boats are leaving from Indonesia to come here, we hear about it every time that Tony Abbott forgets to mention to Indonesian politicians his plans to break international laws and turn boats back.
The John Howard Hotel in Nauru. Shipping containers with a lid and window…
I’m guessing that like me you have images of thousands of desperate people waiting to leave Indonesia and head for somewhere to raise their family. What may surprise you is how many asylum seekers we actually take in from Indonesia seeing as it is such a controversial issue. I was absolutely stunned to find out that the number we were taking in was 1800.
1800, is not a lot of people from this apparent ghetto overflowing with desperate people. Even more disturbing, is that 1800 is per decade at the recent rates. That’s right 180 per year, one, eight, zero… kind of makes you wonder if anything is being taken seriously.
You will be pleased to know that now the asylum seeker intake is being increased to 27,000, we will now be taking in a whopping 400 from Indonesia. No, I did not leave a zero off the end, it is actually 400.
You may well be wondering why we keep hearing about the over 10 year waiting list for asylum seekers from Indonesia, that pathetic intake number is why. Currently there are approximately 2,500 registered refugees waiting in Indonesia, and approximately 3000 waiting to be processed and registered, that’s 5,500 which at the current rate is 13.75 years.
If we lifted our intake from Indonesia to just 2000, we would have them here in under three years. So what is the problem?
Well, there are a couple of problems.
There is one person processing asylum seekers in Indonesia currently for the UNHCR, that’s right one. As you can imagine, this causes quite a backlog and a rather lengthy delay.
If we were to send five people over to Indonesia to process asylum seekers there is a good chance a somewhat orderly queue might actually form. If we took in 2000 of our refugee intake from Indonesia there is also a damned good chance that the boats would stop, as a three year wait is bearable, however the prospect of a more than 10 year wait would be an unbearable thought.
Most of the boats that come are filled with families, or a family member being sent out as a scout, this is because it is families that are usually the most desperate. The most important thing to a parent is their child’s future, they will risk anything for that, even death at sea. Families facing the prospect of a 12 year wait to be processed will risk a boat trip, as the best hope for their children is to receive an education. A three-year wait makes it possible for the children to gain an education before becoming an adult, a 12 year wait puts a 5-year-old child at school-leaving age before they even have a chance.
So why hasn’t this happened? It seems Labor are too desperate to look tough and too locked in with the Malaysia idea. The Coalition sure as hell don’t want anything that might work while they are in opposition and are locked into Nauru. The Greens have decided that all offshore processing is evil and won’t even bother to sit down and look at a solution if it doesn’t fit their mould.
So that is where we are, stuck in a rut.
Photos emerged recently that showed the conditions at Manus Island that have caused some outrage, and based on what I have seen I can understand that.
Walking around the block on Manus Island
Photos such as those above and below are quite sensationalist, and I have certainly stayed in far worse conditions than this. So some will say that these conditions are not so bad, after all anywhere can look bad after a deluge of rain. However while these conditions may be OK for a short stay, they are far from OK for an indefinite stay that will be likely to be measured in years rather than days.
The balcony suite on Manus Island
We hear about detention centres being referred to as mental illness factories, and being stuck in these type of conditions indefinitely it’s easy to see why.
If you think Nauru is any better, you are wrong. Just because it’s an island in the sun doesn’t make it a holiday resort. You won’t find asylum seekers sitting by the pool with cocktails there. You have to remember, Nauru was concentration camp John Howard style, desighned to dehumanise and frighten, and despite improvements since, it is still not a pleasant place to live by any stretch of the imagination.
Nauru Refugee Resort
Some have the joy of looking forward to several years stay crammed into a tent in the dirt, others have the joys of walls and a roof. Unfortunately those walls and roof are the exterior of a metal shipping container that basks in the sun all day, too hot to walk on barefoot, but apparently OK to raise a child in.
These places have been described as hot and damp, this doesn’t go near far enough.
The only thing in these hell holes with a higher number than the humidity reading are the suicides, attempted suicides, and instances of self harm. What a remarkable achievement by the country that claims to represent the “fair go”.
I for one am sick of the rhetoric coming from people like Tony Abbott and Scott Morrison about queue jumpers, people smugglers, and illegal arrivals. There is no queue, and it is not illegal to seek asylum, nor is it illegal for someone to assist those seeking asylum, in the Coalition they call them people smugglers, in the real world we refer to them as immigration agents.
Statistically the refugees coming by boat are more likely to be genuine refugees than those who come by air. Still, it looks far better for TV to see a poor, skinny, ragged 17-year-old Indonesian kid behind bars as a people smuggler rather than a Qantas pilot in his captains uniform, despite the fact that more refugee’s arrive by air.
The spokesman for Qantas people smugglers…
In fact 92% of asylum seekers who arrive by boat end up being accepted as genuine, whereas only 40% who come by air are accepted. Still don’t hold your breath on Abbott turning back the planes, or slogans like “Stop Flight QF043”.
Those who wonder why we are part of the refugee convention that serves to better protect those who flee persecution, war, starvation and terror should look up the MS St Louis.
The MS St Louis was a German ocean liner that in 1939 attempted to find a safe haven and new home for just under a thousand Jews fleeing Germany.
Some of the St Loius Asylum Seekers
It tried docking in a few places, but unfortunately for its needy passengers it was headed for places where the government had a “Turn back the boats” or a “Stop The Boats” policy and the boat was refused permission to dock. Those countries consisted of Cuba, America, and Canada.
Eventually the ship ended back in Europe and its passengers back in the hands of the Third Reich. Most of these poor souls ended up finding asylum in a gas chamber.
One of Germanys now disused refugee processing centres
The ship’s Captain, Gustav Schröder is considered a hero and has been given many awards for his humanitarian crusade. Risking ones own life to save others is a noble thing indeed.
Unfortunately here in Australia people like Tony Abbott would regard him as a “people smuggler” and label him the as lowest of the low, someone who should be locked up and despised.
So I guess the question is, what have we learned since 1939?
Apparently nothing.
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You claim Adam Bandt was missing in action on the dirty Nauru deal, here is his speech?
And don’t forget that in WW1 we wanted to murder Turks at Gallipoli in an illegal invasion more than we cared about the Europeans, in 1919 after the war ended we and the Kiwis murdered dozens of innocent arabs at Surafend and in WW11 we wanted at the japs. more than anyone else and murdered 100 New Guineans we accused of helping the japs.
IN those wars we as a nation wanted to help the mother country, this one was left to rot and even after the war we left people here hungry so we could feed the mother country.
Maybe whites killing whites is not specifically racist but why did we join in the massacres of Turks, arabs and others in wars that had nothing to do with us?
And gooks, slopes and others in Nam, Laos and Cambodia? What did it have to do with us?
Millions are dead due to lies and now we have liars telling us we have to torture the victims of war and pretending that it is OK because they are only brown.
The thing is the Indonesian kids were jailed with adults under O’Connor because their consulates were not advised. Then when the consulates found out the law had to be upheld because their jailing was always illegal.
Now the stupid little twerp thinks we should flog refugees here off to Malaysia because refugees died 8,750 km from Sydney after fleeing genocide.
There is no asylum debate, everyone has the right to seek asylum and I will never, ever accept that some poor schmuck thinks he died so I can speak.
That is ridiculous.
That’s not what I said.
I said he was not there when they others stayed until 2 or 3am. That speech is obviously at a different time to what I meant.
I wil look for a clip tomorrow, I’m going out in a bit…..
Marilyn, really don’t want to buy into the refugee debate but you say we only took 1300 from Malaysia
Malaysia wouldn’t even take one of ours {Xenophon}
actually , I will comment.
I support a large intake of refugees {20,000 is fine]
My concern is that everyone that comes by boat, and can obviously afford it, leaves one poor bastard sitting in the danger ,filth, dust and poverty of an African countries refugee camp, with no hope
It would be a very stupid person who would join the armed forces unaware that it may mean they are to go to war, be trained and obliged to kill, and face death themselves. They choose to be there and have put themselves in a position where negative things happen to them and they kill people in countries from which we then have people seeking asylum.
In contrast, a refugee is a person who is unlucky enough to live in a country where their government has put them at risk of their life. They have religious or political beliefs, a particular racial background or a sexual preference that means they are at risk of being injured, tortured, deprived of their liberty or killed. They have every right to come here in any way they can and we have a responsibility to assist them. That is what we agreed to do.
If we actually had the sense of a fair go for all, mate-ship, hold out a helping hand to those who need it, we would still be doing that. It appals me that our government lies about them and shirks their responsibilities to them. Not only that but it is actually colluding with the Sri Lankan government to stop them leaving to seek refuge, and practices refoulement, while ignoring warnings from agencies such as Amnesty International that they are being imprisoned and tortured upon their return. I find it unbelievable that you are actively condemning the Greens for standing up and saying it is wrong for Australia to do that and we should be meeting our international obligations.
I could not vote for Labor again after that and I am proud to to have political leaders who practice decency in the Greens.
I believe in the Burke quote that “All that is required for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing”. Through observing this whole sorry saga, I have become aware of just how German people came to view Nazism as acceptable, and how South African whites were able to excuse apartheid.
Is that an over-exaggeration? No. People are at severe risk and dying because of our actions. Our propaganda machine is in full swing against asylum seekers – largely because they are mostly Muslim in a post-9/11 world, and because John Howard discovered the electoral appeal of dog whistling to a bunch of xenophobes and capturing the ugly-Australian racist conservative vote.
Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott have also learned their lesson well.
I really hate that too Ben. We are the only country in the world to link our onshore and offshore intake. Phillip Ruddock did it under the Howard government abut 15 years ago. Just one more reason I can’t stand the man. It would take a stroke of a pen to undo that decision but Labor hasn’t seen fit to do it.
You are aware of course that you don’t have to be poor to be a refugee?
I know that those volunteering must have a reasonable expectation of going to war, I’m sure they do, that however does not mean they enjoyed to murder people, or for some racist reason as was being implied by others.
I do wish people would not attempt ti put words in my mouth, I am criticising the Greens for not negotiating to produce a reasonable outcome.
It has to be remembered these negotiation came about due to the shocking death of men, women and children off the coast of Christmas Island.
Using the logic displayed by many of those who have commented here I can assume the Greens are racist.
Those who died tragically were mostly Muslim, and were all dark skinned. The Labor Party and the Coalition thought it was tragic enough to negotiate a deal to prevent these deaths in the future as these people did not deserve to die.
Maybe if these people who drowned were white, Christian and European the Greens may have thought it important enough to join the negotiations?
That is the twisted logic being used by many commenting here.
The main difference between the ALP and the Greens appears to be that Labor members have the guts to realise their parties faults and try and address them by being open and honest about them.
The Greens are gutless in this regards, a party cannot be progressive without being able to look in the mirror and admit its own errors.
How do you think people should join negotiations to break the fucking law Peter? What if they wanted to break the law for you?
How would you like it if some petty pollies in another state decided to break their own laws to appease some pissweak mob of racists to keep you out, keep you jailed without cause, keep your babies jailed without cause or legal rights?
The fucking dirty deals done by us with the neighbours are ILLEGAL, THEY ARE CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY.
How dare you be so fucking stupid when I know you are a smart person.
Go and learn something and then tell me precisely how human trading stops people from drowning because you dimwit they have to get here first.
The Greens have wanted to abide by the law, I hope one day you talk to Craig Thomson and find out what it is like when cops and petty morons break the law to appease someone else.
The Greens are not the gutless ones here, it is the bloody racist morons in the ALP who are in the wrong.
Everyone has the legal right to claim asylum, we have zero right to stop them.
And the people who died off Christmas Island died because we let them, just like all the others have.
See sievx.com if you don’t believe me.
And Bowen locked the survivors up for days away from the world, some were denied protection, the 8 year old orphan was flown back to prison and tormented after being flown like a criminal under police guard for his parents funeral.
The ALP have not admitted any mistakes, they simply blame the Greens as you are trying on.
The ALP don’t care if people drown, if they did they would not have waited for days to send out a search party.
http://www.smh.com.au/world/rescued-burmese-in-limbo-after-boat-deaths-20130221-2euci.html
And O”Connor has a whinge about boats missing, but let’s be real. If a plane crashed thousands of KM from here and some people who wanted to come to Australia died would we say stop the planes?
It does not. For gods’ sake, for every tourist who gets here some other tourist doesn’t, for every student who gets here some other students can’t, for every migrant who gets here other migrants don’t.
Read the piece in the library that I posted.
There is no such thing saying we have to accept people who are refugees in other countries and deny asylum to those who are here. What you are saying is that other nations have to do the refugee assessments but we are so precious we don’t.
WE did not accept Malaysians, we accepted Burmese, a few Afghans, Iranians and Iraqis. Why do you have to link Xenophon to refugees though, is he a persecuted person.
@Valentine.
Yes I fully understand that you don’t have to be poor to be a refugee.
All I’m pointing out, is that those who have money do have some options i.e pay for the boats.
The vast majority are dirt poor, and they are the ones disadvantaged by boat arrivals, as it fills up our quota
You cannot accept the fact, Marilyn, that people have to uphold the precepts of documents like the Magna Carta. Try going to Syria now and speaking out against that regimes behaviour – declaring they are racist for selective genocide of the Armeneans and Kurds. You wouldn’t DARE nor last. Oh! But it’s all very well to rant in a free country -isn’t it. Have you ever thought that maybe refugees WANT to come here because of the Freedoms we have. I wonder who ensures those Freedoms are maintained – and not simply taken from us. The more you post the bigger idiot you look dear. We wouldn’t want logic to continue toremain a casualty now would would we dear
You have gone way off track Marilyn I am taking about negotiations in parliament here in Australia and you are talking about deals done overseas. The Greens had a chance for input into a discussion they say is an important issue, they decided it is better to not negotiate and then complain later.
They ignored the deaths of those at sea who had just died thinking it was better to attempt to gain political mileage rather than enter discussions that may actually help the situation. That failed and rightly did the Greens more harm than good. Next time these discussions need to be had I hope Katters Australia Party are a little more interested in putting poor people first, as I can assume that is who will be holding the balance of power next time around.
I don’t think you will find a single Labor MP who has said he is happy with the situation we find ourselves in, not one, including the Immigration Minister who has said numerous times, including when announcing the deal that he was not happy with it. We were forced to do a deal with the devil to stop poor people dying at sea, it would have been nice if there was a third party that could have helped out, but that was not going to happen.
The website you mention is opinion based writing with some facts, it is a good site but not one that never needs to be held to scrutiny. It is also about the only site that supports some of your wild theories, do you have something to do with the site?
The boy who came to the funeral, which the ALP fought for, came under guard for his own protection, in the same way that Justin Bieber has a police guard if he comes here.
The ALP do care if people drown, that is why we entered negotiation to try and stop it happenning, there is only one party who didn’t.
The article you linked says nothing about waiting days to send out a search party, nothing. So unless you have real evidence of it, I can assume that statement is crap.
wow, the flaming gets pretty hot here.
seems like rational debate will get your burned.
Not usually Ben 🙂
seems like your excellent and informative article gets buried by waffle
We accepted 1300 FROM Malaysia
They refused to accept ONE from Australia. being Xenophon
WE can’t be the refugee sanctuary for the whole world.
Take 20,00 yearly but take those most at risk and that seems to be the ones from the African continent
my cousins son was killed in Afghanistan.
He went there believing he was helping the Afghan people.
Maybe that was an unreal expectation.
He most definately did not do there to “murder them”
I find it very offensive that it is stated “volunteered to murder people in their own country”
as one contributed.
He thought he was “serving ” our country and theirs
This post is amazing. I realy love it