Comments on: Swimming against the tide: Australia’s new asylum-seeker package

By: Victor Jay

Victor Jay — Fri, 17 Aug 2012 05:07:58 +0000

If one cannot go to the university and become a doctor, get a forged certificate and practice as a doctor! And call it perfectly legal…

By: Ravana

Ravana — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 23:31:33 +0000

Dr. Roberts fails to identify another stream of thought/feeling in Australia regarding the refugee issue. It is not that the Australians are not in favour of refugees coming there. It is a mater of equity when they know that there are 15 million refugees languishing in camps all over the third World, there should be attention given to providing Australia’s quota for those poor refugees in favour of those who can afford a plane ride to Indonesia and a boat ride to Christmas island (have a look how close Christmas island is to Indonesia).

The aim of Australian legislation is simply two fold;
1) To save lives
2) Deter attempting to arrive in Australia by boat (secondarily achieving the objective number 1)

What is required is faster screening and processing procedures which which would permit the genuine refugees (clearly a majority) to obtain entry to a nation which can afford them.

I personally believe that Australia should actively engage refugee camps throughout the World and accept such refugees (who are probably the most traumatised). It is not that I do not have sympathy for the majority of refugees who arrive by boat (many of them are probably political refugees).

With regard to the issue of importing labour, Australia has clear entry criteria based on skills. This favours in particular those from western nation but not exclusively. There is a clear and ongoing bias for migrants from the UK. However, this will not discourage people from Asia who are migrating in increasing numbers.

Many Sri Lankans are using legitimate means of migrating by using the Student Visas to obtain Australian qualifications (Some third rate Australian institutions have taken advantage of these students), skilled migration or business migration. The minority of economic refugees who attempt to queue jump and then obtain “pensions” at the expense of the Australian tax payer is frowned on by other migrants as well as Australian residents.

I think Michael is being a bit harsh on Kevin Rudd without producing good evidence for him being a “control freak” (please don’t produce mainstream media crap). The principal mistake made by Kevin Rudd was akin to that made by Gough Whitlam in the 1970’s. Whilst Gough attempted set Australia on a course of being truly independent (CIA could not have any of that! but Gough’s legacies including the most equitable health system in World still remain) of the UK/US, Kevin merely attempted a more modest task of attempting to make Australia independent of Mining Companies. Oh! I just realised – mining companies = rulers of US!!

I think it’s unbecoming of Michael to jump on the “Let’s Bash Kevin” band wagon.

By: justitia

justitia — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 12:49:33 +0000

People are constantly attempting to escape from Cuba to the USA and the cuban navy,army & airforce are engaged full time in preventing this – our armed forces do the same.
The reasons for these attempts maybe the same as those which cause such attempts to ‘escape’ from sri lanka – political & criminal repression,unemployment,poverty,social,racial and religious discrimination,injustice for which remedies are costly and/or
denied/prolonged.The 50,000 army deserters and thousands who pass out of universities with unmarketable ‘skills’ and school dropouts with no skills, too, are attempting/would like to,to ‘escape’.
The average sri lankan – except the very rich – likes to migrate.
Thousands of women from the poorest of the poor familes too
go for employment in the middle east knowing well that some of them will be tortured,raped & made pregnant,not paid full/all wages by the cruel employers,& that some may not return at all.
People are constantly in motion from one country to another,all over the world.
Let there be more & more migration.
Let the ‘body of migrants’ in the ‘fertile’ west assist/sponsor/induce
/financially support more of their kith & kin to ‘escape’ and join them.
The developed countries benefit from them as they have to work really hard to exist,after migration.If some rely on handouts,why not?
It is for the ‘host’ countries to decide.

By: Happy Heathen

Happy Heathen — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 05:32:55 +0000

In reply to cyril.

I agree with you Cyril, but for me the crux of the problem is the concocted tales used by them to enter through the back door.

The ‘story’of ‘Alex’ Kuhendrarajah is one classic example. A thug deported from Canada claiming that he was persecuted in Sri Lanka.

By: cyril

cyril — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 23:11:38 +0000

So-called illegal migrants are seeking a better price for their labour. I believe Michael Roberts migrated legally to Australia for similar reasons. The difference is the ‘illegal’ migrants are so-called merely because they’re unable to migrate through legal channels. If capital can move freely seeking cheap labour why cannot labour move freely seeking a better price?