Amnesty International
Watch Dog slams Israel Rights Abuse; Australia below-par on human rights; US leads global attack on human rights.
Well, such are the headlines. I’ve always wondered why the MSM don’t draw attention to the real human rights abuse in Ten or so little shithole countries in Sub-Sahara Africa, Iran, North Korea, Russia and all of her *stans, Vietnam, all of the Middle East and half of the countries in South America including the champion of all, Cuba.
Of course, we get into trouble for our locking up fortune seekers arriving on our shores. As Australia welcomes tens of thousands of refugees every year, Amnesty must be talking about the few who arrive by boat claiming to be bona fide refugees after having conveniently divested themselves of any papers or ID that could prove otherwise .
“Amnesty has maintained for a long time that the Australian Government must support the rights of of refugees to seek asylum, rather than punish them for it,” she said.Australia doesn’t punish refugees but we do contain unidentified boat people until we know who they are, what their background is and where they come from. That seems fair to me. Amnesty refers to the case of asylum-seeker Peter Qasim, who has entered his seventh year in indefinite detention. Peter arrived and made claims that when checked proved iffy. He says he is Indian but the Indian government are refusing to accept him back. Therein lies the rub. Amanda Vanstone argues that;
…he has failed to fully cooperate with the immigration department to resolve his nationality, and that his story has been inconsistent and some times contradictory.I would just as soon we didn’t lock these people up for too long..it tends to give oxygen to the left but by the same token, if we let everyone in on their word alone we take a risk of becoming a soft target. I posted last year on the Amnesty report, Not much has changed
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I agree with you. There is no need for for the extended detention circumstances many of the detainees have been forced to suffer. Additionally, there is absolutely no call for children to be detained as they currently are, over the extended periods which are occurring.
Amnesty does have a point, however, with regard to the Australian Government’s treatment of refugee/asylum seekers in general. We have obligations under UNHCR provisions which simply haven’t been adhered to. If a refugee turns out not to be a refugee, then deport them, by all means, but process them quickly and expediently. Don’t lock them up behind razor wire in excess of three years.
A succinct, practical yet fair suggestion. Hear, hear Niall.
I agree we shouldn’t hold them for so long, or more to the point, they could just stop appealing every visa refusal and then we wouldn’t have to hold them so long. Too many of them have inflicted detention on themselves and their kids by refusing to accept the umpires decision. The authorities don’t want to hold them behind razor wire but when they continually appeal unfavourable decisions then they put themselves in limbo. Of course, the legal profession have nothing to do with it…bastards, they have cost the country millions.
If they’re legitimate refugees then I welcome them with open arms. If they come by boat, without papers, they can go back home.
Indeed, Kevin, but remember, not every circumstance is as simplistic as you’re portraying it.