TPVs back in vogue?
THOUSANDS of asylum-seekers could have their bridging visas cancelled and be returned to immigration detention under a tough new asylum-seeker policy the Coalition is set to announce.
Opposition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison and Tony Abbott are expected to outline plans today to deal with the more than 25,000 asylum-seekers already in Australia, but whose refugee claims have not yet been processed.
The TPVs would allow refugees to work but would prohibit family reunion rights, a feature critics of TPVs have argued creates an incentive for men to bring women and children on boats with them. One of the biggest changes proposed by the Coalition relates to refugee processing in Australia, which was suspended from August 12 last year, when the Houston expert panel on asylum-seekers handed down its report, until last month. During that time more than 25,000 asylum-seekers arrived, creating a massive backlog most in the field expected would take years to clear.
Since Tuesday, three boats carrying 252 asylum-seekers have arrived.
Home Affairs Minister Jason Clare said the plan was simply a rehash of a discredited Howard government policy. He said boat numbers had dwindled since Labor announced its PNG offshore resettlement policy on July 19. Dwindled to three boats since Tueday! Yeah…right Jason and I presume the “discredited Howard government policy” that actually stopped the boats is what you are referring to. Can’t lie straight in bed!
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Some idiot from KAP thismorning telling us what KAP would do about the illegal entries was spruiking that neither ALP or Coalition had a solution, and only KAP had a solution.
What was it that Howard did again? It worked!!
I sent this to Tony Burke and Ian MacFarlane (local member) today. Just sharing….
I’m writing to you to ask you to take my concerns about asylum seekers to your party in an attempt to change the bipartisan brutality which is now a feature of the policies of both major parties.
For the first time in my life, I am ashamed to be an Australian.
On today of all days (the anniversary of the battle of Long Tan) I am deeply saddened by these shameful policies which cater to the ignorance and fear that unfortunately dwells in the hearts of a minority of my countrymen.
This is not the kind of freedom and justice that two generations of my family fought for.
After the war in Vietnam we successfully settled about 137000 Indochinese without any of the hysteria and bigotry that is being exploited by both Labor and the Coalition in this campaign.
There is absolutely no reason multinational cooperation, such as the Comprehensive Plan of Action, authored by the UNHCR in Geneva in 1989, could not be used to create an orderly pathway for these people to seek a better life.
Under the Plan, the UNHCR provided humanitarian assistance to the asylum seekers and countries of first asylum. Extensive monitoring procedures were also established in the countries of origin, and financial assistance was provided to the returnees and to the communities which agreed to accept them back.
After 7 years, the plan was declared ended on March 6, 1996. At that time, all the refugee camps for Indochinese boat people in South East Asia, such as Galang Refugee Camp in Indonesia, were effectively closed.
This is where our efforts should be directed, in a bi-partisan approach to the nations of the region and the source countries, instead of trawling the lowest depths of our national psyche to garner the votes of the racists and xenophobes.
1735099 I guess the recipients of your communication will give it as much attention as those who read this blog.
You seem to be the only one who doesn’t understand that an asylum seeker that arrives at a safe haven and then begins a second leg of a journey ie Indonesia to Australia, becomes an illigal immigrant on arrival. If they arrive by air papers can be checked. If they arrive by boat and papers have been either destroyed or cannot be produced checking becomes onerous, as evidenced by lengthy stays in detention.
Numbers, It must be really tough being a self important wanker who likes to comment without having done sufficient research to make your comments actually worth reading.
Here, this will sort out your problem (the whining about queue jumpers, not the being a self important wanker, you’re stuck with that).
Article 1.A.2 of the UN Convention Regarding the Status of Refugees states
Any person who: owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality, and is unable to or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country.
Economic migrants are therefore not asylum seekers.
Article 31 indicates that states that are party to the convention may not penalise refugees arriving DIRECTLY from their country of persecution. As the indons are not picking up passengers from the countries they flee from it is open to Australian authorities to refuse refugee status. Indonesia grants asylum to refugees andthen they choose to make a further journey to Aus., the land of cream and money. This second leg is interpreted as illegal immigration when they turn up without the relevant paperwork.