Thread: Finally the Aus Goverment have started showing some balls!

^^

I recon Mid and David Manne get it on behind the dunnies in there lunch break.

Dirty pair of blighter's.

Originally Posted by terry57

The people of Australia have given Labor a mandate to Govern and we have a situation where it all goes tits up because of 7 tossers sitting in the high court.

I get your point Terry, but I'm guessing that Australia has a similar checks and balances system of gov't. that the US has and, though it can be frustrating at times, this is generally a good thing since it keeps one branch from exercising too much power.

BTW, does Oz have a party similar to Britain's BNP?

Originally Posted by Agent_Smith

I get your point Terry, but I'm guessing that Australia has a similar checks and balances system of gov't. that the US has and, though it can be frustrating at times, this is generally a good thing since it keeps one branch from exercising too much power.

Precisely and it's the same in any true democracy and a necessary safety mechanism which although its often open to debate when High Court Judges are seen to be out of touch and over the hill.

Saying that judges are there to interpret the law as it is written (nothing more), unfortunately for all of us those laws dreamt up by politicians and written into law by self serving greedy lawyers!

^ ^

I do understand that Governments need to be held accountable as it would not be long for corruption to set it in if they ruled absolute but in situations like this where we need to check the flow of Illegal Immigrants its maddening.

We are only trying to halt the Illegals and not all refugees, in fact the legal refugees are welcomed by most.

Sorry, cant answer your other question but I'm sure some other Aussy can help you.

Government defends cost of Malaysian solution
October 17, 2011


The shelving of the Malaysia asylum deal means the Government will not increase its yearly intake of asylum seekers by 1,000.

The Federal Government has defended the cost of its failed Malaysia asylum seeker swap deal at a Senate estimates hearing, which was told $4.6 million was spent on operational costs linked to the plan.

The Government backed away from the policy last week after failing to secure enough support to change the Migration Act in response to the High Court's scuttling of the Malaysia plan.

Department officials say the total cost of the shelved policy is yet to be finalised, but the cost of the High Court challenge amounted to more than $300,000.

More than $400,000 has been spent on accommodation for refugees in Malaysia.

Attorney-General Robert McClelland says costs were incurred because the Government believed the policy was ready to implement.

"These things aren't pulled out of the air. They are prepared on the basis of advice. The preparations were at the stage of it being ready to roll," he said.

The issue of asylum seekers continues to cause problems for the Government after a weekend newspaper report claimed Immigration Minister Chris Bowen tried to persuade his Cabinet colleagues to agree to the Coalition's plan to send asylum seekers to Nauru.

This has prompted Prime Minister Julia Gillard to remind her colleagues that Cabinet discussions must be kept confidential.

Mr Bowen told Channel Ten he would not speculate on who leaked the account or whether it was true.

But Health Minister Nicola Roxon says Cabinet leaks are not helpful and only benefit the Opposition.

"I am a strong believer in Cabinet solidarity and Cabinet confidentiality, and I think that all Cabinet colleagues want those Cabinet discussions to be forthright," she said.

"We want to argue through a range of issues that are important to the nation. The community would expect that, but as a Cabinet when those decisions are made then we are all bound by them."

Towback option

Meanwhile the head of the Immigration Department says towing asylum seeker boats back to Indonesia was effective in deterring people smugglers in the past but will not work today.

Andrew Metcalfe says about six or seven boats were towed from Australian waters under the Howard government.

The Coalition says towbacks should remain a policy option to stop people smugglers.

But Mr Metcalfe says the policy will not work now because of the possible danger to Australian crew or the passengers onboard.

"Leaving aside the law, I don't believe that towbacks are operationally feasible," he said.

"Indonesia has made it very clear that they do not welcome towbacks. There is no agreement with Indonesia. Indonesia is of course not a signatory to the refugee convention."

Mr Metcalfe also suggested the Coalition's policies of reopening the Nauru detention centre and re-establishing temporary protection visas would also not be as successful as they were previously.

And he says the Opposition's amendments to re-establish offshore processing in countries that have signed the refugee convention would not provide the Government with legal certainty.

"It's my view that the government of the day, regardless of which political party is in power, should have the executive authority consistent with our obligations under international law and Australian law to be adaptable in the way it responds to people smugglers," he said.

"And the Government amendments were the way that was most effective in achieving that."

Mr Metcalfe also confirmed the Government will not increase the yearly intake of asylum seekers by 1,000.

Under the Malaysia asylum seeker deal, the Government would have raised the overall annual intake to 14,750 people.

Mr Metcalfe told the estimates hearing the agreement with Malaysia will be honoured, but the annual total intake will not increase.

"We will continue to increase our resettlement from Malaysia by 1,000 places," he said.

"That will inevitably mean a lower number of people coming from other parts of the world to fit within the 13,750 total."

Plan B

Mr Metcalfe says an alternative plan to the Malaysia solution had been discussed with the Government but would not reveal details of the plan publicly.

"It's not appropriate for me to discuss that with you," he told Liberal Senator Michaelia Cash, who used the hearings to grill Mr Metcalfe about the Government's contingency plan.

But Opposition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison is calling on the Government to reveal its plan B to deal with asylum seekers.

"This Government has more plans than you can shake a stick at," he said.

"I call on the minister to get the homework done, to bring the timetable forward, to get himself into Parliament and start detailing what the costs will be of the Government's new solution in the weight of their many other policy failures."

Mr Morrison says the cost of developing the policy is another example of Labor bungling.

"This Government's policy without even seeing the light of day has cost $5 million. This is a Government who has taken spending in this area to a level unprecedented," he said.

Meanwhile Mr Metcalfe criticised a bid by a media organisation to fly an unmanned aircraft over Christmas Island to try to get images of the detention centre.

The department restricts media access to detention centres but says it is close to releasing a new policy on journalists access to asylum seekers.

Mr Metcalfe says it would have been dangerous if the drone had crashed.

"Fortunately it didn't crash and hurt anyone, so it was quite a irresponsible thing to do quite frankly to fly an unmanned vehicle, even if it was fairly small, over a place where people are present," he said.

xxx.xxx.xx

Taxpayers wear burden of 60,000 illegal immigrants
Peter Mickelburough
November 21, 2011


The biggest groups of illegals are Chinese, Americans, Malaysians, Britons and South Koreans, documents reveal.
News Limited

AUSTRALIA has enough illegal immigrants on the loose to populate a large regional city.

A Herald Sun investigation has found that nearly 60,000 people - one in every 390 - is in the country unlawfully, sparking renewed calls for a crackdown.

The 58,400 foreign citizens hiding illegally among us easily outnumber the populations of Mildura or Shepparton - Victoria's fifth and sixth biggest cities.

And they dwarf the 4700 asylum seekers who arrived by boat in 2010-11.

Documents released to the Herald Sun under Freedom of Information also reveal the biggest groups of illegals are Chinese, Americans, Malaysians, Britons and South Koreans.

More than half have been here for five or more years; 20,000 for a decade or more; and two in three have evaded authorities for more than two years. (The figures do not include visitors who overstay visas by less than a fortnight.)


Ethnic Communities Council of Victoria chairman Sam Afra said illegal residents attracted little of the outrage associated with boat people, despite taking jobs and housing, using public services, and not paying tax.

He said it was far too easy to stay here if you knew how to "work the system".

"It's shocking," he said.

"To have one in three who have been here more than 10 years (suggests) something's wrong with the system."

"Nobody's talking about it. It is a problem, and the question is, don't you think the damage justifies putting more resources in (to find them)?"

He said the involvement of illegals in criminal and other dubious activities also sullied the reputations of legal migrants.

Jailed terrorist cell leader Abdul Benbrika lived illegally for years after arriving on a visitor's visa in 1989. Three months after marrying in 1992, while still an illegal, he successfully applied to stay, living on welfare with his wife and seven children until his arrest in 2005.

Illegal immigrants have also been involved in drug cartels, sexual slavery, and fraud. Illegals accused of guarding marijuana crops in Melbourne and regional Victoria were among 43 people arrested last year in raids focusing on a $400 million crime syndicate.

A charter flight to deport 76 illegal aliens from Malaysia and Indonesia, busted picking fruit in Mooroopna last year, cost taxpayers $100,000.

Australian Human Rights Commission president Catherine Branson, QC, said it was important to remember many more overstayed visas, or arrived by plane and sought asylum, than arrived by boat.

"Another misconception is that people who arrive by boat are illegal immigrants. Australia is obliged to assess asylum seekers' claims."

There were 10,600 more illegals at June 30 last year than in 2005.

heraldsun.com.au

Originally Posted by Mid

AUSTRALIA has enough illegal immigrants on the loose to populate a large regional city.

Originally Posted by Mid

And they dwarf the 4700 asylum seekers who arrived by boat in 2010-11.

how's them apples ?

Aussies are well known for giving most people a fair go but beware when our hospitality is abused.
We now as a country look piss weak and I dislike the Politicians and legal parasites and do gooders who have contributed to this.
Gillard obviously is enjoying her position in leading the field with the unnecessary carbon tax, it is a pity she did not have the courage to go against the tide with the Illegal Immigrants.
Doesn,t affect me personally as I live most of the time now here in Thailand but I shudder to think how these decisions will affect my kids and grand kids in the not so distant future.
A litle touch of F........K U Im alright by our politicians in regard to this might not be inappropriate in regard to how we are going to be forced eventually to take in the droves of Muslims.

Originally Posted by Aussie Tigger

beware when our hospitality is abused.

Why?

You don't seem to do any thing about it other than inane political posturing and media spin with scare tactics about boat people invading the country.

Sure this gets the great unwashed into a primitive passion ranting on about the invading hoards, but then they're mostly ..... no let's not go there.

Read Mids post above. Number 257.

The points made therein were made a long time back in this debate.

They are self evident.

Originally Posted by kermit

Originally Posted by Aussie Tigger

beware when our hospitality is abused.

Why?

You don't seem to do any thing about it other than inane political posturing and media spin with scare tactics about boat people invading the country.

Sure this gets the great unwashed into a primitive passion ranting on about the invading hoards, but then they're mostly ..... no let's not go there.

Read Mids post above. Number 257.

The points made therein were made a long time back in this debate.

They are self evident.

I am just a voter Mid and until election time comes around I like Millions of other Aussies can only complain to vent our frustrations.
Mid's post was further evidence thoughwhy Aussies are getting pissed off at inept Politicians who play at games instead of attacking the problem.
I admit I was not aware to the extent of the number of people who have evaded the correct procedure until I read Mids post.

Australia begins releasing asylum seekers from overcrowded centres
Nov 25, 2011 4:07PM

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — The Australian government will free more than 100 asylum seekers a month from overcrowded detention centers that are being overwhelmed by new boat arrivals, an official said Friday.

The release on Friday of the first 27 Afghan and Sri Lankan men to live on temporary visas with family and friends in Australian cities while their refugee claims are assessed has been welcomed by human rights and refugee advocates.

“This is the initial batch of bridging visas,” Immigration Minister Chris Bowen told reporters of the 27. “We estimate that at least 100 bridging visas will be issued each month.”

Australia’s prison-like detention centers now hold 3,800 people who are either waiting for their asylum claims to be assessed or are appealing against rulings rejecting their claims.

Asylum seekers — mostly from Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Iran and Iraq — have been heading to Australia on rickety-boats in greater numbers since August, when the High Court ruled that a government plan to deport hundreds of new arrivals to Malaysia was illegal.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard attempted to revive the plan by changing the law. But she shelved that legislation last month when it became clear that Parliament would reject it.

Bowen said his department would choose who would be freed on visas based on how long asylum seekers had been in detention, how well they had behaved and the ability of family and friends to house them.

The Australian Human Rights Commission, a government-appointed watchdog, welcomed the new policy as a more humane way to treat people seeking protection.

“We hope to see as many people as possible granted bridging visas and removed from detention as quickly as possible,” Commission President Catherine Branson said in a statement.

The Refugee Council of Australia, a nongovernment advocacy group, described the change as an important first step toward ending the suffering of thousands of vulnerable people experiencing extended and needless detention.

“Australia has been alone among industrialized nations in subjecting asylum seekers who arrive without visas to detention for the entire period taken to determine their refugee status,” the council’s chief executive Paul Power said.

Amnesty International, a London-based rights group, described the release at least 100 asylume seekers a month as a significant victory for refugee rights.

Australia introduced mandatory detention for asylum seekers who arrive by boat almost 20 years ago. However, children and their mothers are usually accommodated outside the razor wire of detention centers.

The mandatory detention regime has been widely criticized by rights groups as punitive and has blamed for suicides and psychiatric problems among detainees. However the regime remains popular among Australians who regard the increasing boat arrivals as a major political issue.

asiancorrespondent.com

Australian government blasts plan to turn back boatpeople
(AFP) – 4 hours ago

SYDNEY — The Australian government Saturday blasted as "highly dangerous" plans by the conservative opposition to order the navy to turn around asylum-seeker boats and return them to Indonesia if it gains power.

Though they come in relatively small numbers by global standards, asylum-seekers are a hot political issue in Australia and dominated national elections in 2010 due to a surge of almost 7,000 arrivals.

Most arrive via Indonesia where they link up with people-smugglers for the sometimes deadly sea voyage to Australia.

If elected prime minister, opposition leader Tony Abbott said he would tell Jakarta that Australia would impose tougher policies to secure its borders, which could have implications for bilateral relations.

"This is a test of wills and Australia has lost," Abbott was quoted as saying by The Australian.

"What counts is what the Australian government does, not what it says.

"It is time for Australia to adopt turning the boats back as its core policy."

His comments come after an overloaded vessel, carrying about 250 mostly Iranian and Afghan asylum seekers heading to Australia, sank off Indonesia's eastern Java last month, killing all but 47 people on board.

Canberra has tried to deter boatpeople by setting up offshore processing, intending to send up to 800 asylum-seekers arriving in Australia by boat to Malaysia, in return for accepting 4,000 of Kuala Lumpur's registered refugees.

But the proposal was scotched in August by the High Court, which said Australia could not guarantee their safety with Malaysia a non-signatory to UN refugee conventions.

It placed all offshore processing in doubt, and Abbott's party has so far effectively blocked new legislation to allow it.

The Australian said Abbott's proposal would involve an increase in the number of naval vessels to force the boats back.

This would include having the capacity to remove asylum-seekers from deliberately sabotaged boats before repairing the vessels to enable the boatpeople to be returned to Indonesia.

Immigration Minister Chris Bowen called the plans "not only impractical but highly dangerous".

"I don't think treating people in a brutal way on the high seas and risking the lives of them and Australian personnel is the way to go," he said.

"He (Abbott) says he's going to turn them back to Indonesia, indeed, he's going to put them on Australian naval ships and take them back to Indonesia.

"One little problem with that: Indonesia has said repeatedly, 'Forget it. We're not going to take them.'"

Labor Prime Minister Julia Gillard currently rules a national coalition government which has a slender majority in Canberra with elections due in 2013.

google.com

from UK patriot alawson911's Channel demonstrating who Aussi gov't answers to,


This following speech from Aussie patriot Kevin Bracken who sparked the national flap ^, is given in San Francisco CA, about post-911's effect on working people worldwide. Near the beginning, he tells the story of how the Aussi gov't conspired with big business to import a bunch of scabs they'd trained in Dubai ("refugees" in other contexts) to break a strike.

Uploaded by brightpath on Dec 19, 2010
Key Note Speaker: Kevin Bracken, Kevin Bracken is the Secretary of the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) Victoria Branch and President of the Australia Victorian Trades Council Hall, which represents 400, 000 workers will be speaking (In a personal capacity) on "Corporate Media, The Trade Unions, War And 9/11". Bracken is one of the leading trade unionists in the world, who has publicly challenged the US official explanation of 9/11, and the political use of "terrorism" by governments internationally to escalate the attacks on democratic rights and repression of the labor movement and working people around the world.

Architects & Engineers:

Solving the Mystery of
World Trade Center Building 7

^

off topic shite you fokin one trick pony

Boat with 125 asylum seekers stopped
Saturday February 11, 2012



The Navy has intercepted a boat carrying 125 asylum seekers north of Christmas Island.

HMAS Maryborough, operating under the control of Border Protection, intercepted the boat on Saturday morning.

Two crew members were also aboard.

The suspected asylum seekers will be sent to Christmas Island for security, identity and health checks.

skynews.com.au

Asylum seeker pressure group turns up heat in NT

Jane Bardon
March 07, 2012


Asylum seeker children being held in immigration detention are attending schools in Darwin.

Northern Territory Chief Minister Paul Henderson says it is appropriate that his government investigates allegations from refugee advocates that asylum seeker children are being harmed by being held in immigration detention by the Commonwealth.

The claim has been made by the Darwin Asylum Seeker Support Network, which says 26 children being held in Darwin's Airport Lodge are distressed by their detention.

Mr Henderson says it is proper that the Families and Children's Services Department investigates all such complaints.

"Families and Children's Services have a responsibility to act on any complaint in regards to potential child neglect or child abuse," he said.

"They are the professionals and I will wait for them to determine whether those complaints are substantiated or not."

The asylum seeker pressure group also says it is appalling that a second detainee has attempted suicide in the Northern Immigration Detention Centre in Darwin within two weeks.

Detainees say a Burmese man tried to kill himself on Sunday but was prevented from doing so by other detainees.

Spokeswoman Fernanda Dalstom says the Burmese man was in the same North 2 Compound as an Iranian who attempted suicide last week.

"The North 2 Compound is where detainees are kept in solitary confinement with nothing to do and no opportunity to have contact with other detainees," she said.

"This is just one more example of the profusion of self-harm and suicide attempts in this notorious detention centre."

An Immigration Department spokesman says the detainee was treated at Royal Darwin Hospital and then returned to the centre.

xxx.xxx.xx

Indonesian FM dismisses Abbott boat plan
Adam Gartrell
Thu Mar 15 2012

The federal coalition's controversial plan to turn asylum seeker boats back to Indonesia has suffered another blow, with the country's top diplomat labelling it "impossible".

Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa says origin, transit and destination countries need to work collaboratively to prevent and disrupt people smuggling.

"It would be impossible, and not advisable even, to simply shift the nature of the challenge from any of the continuum to the other," Dr Natalegawa told reporters in Canberra on Thursday.

"So that's where we are coming from in terms of approach and I think that provides a hint ... of how we feel about policies that simply pass the nature of the problem to different faces of that chain."

Dr Natalegawa is the latest in a long line of Indonesian and Australian officials to raise objections to Opposition Leader Tony Abbott's turnback policy.

But Mr Abbott is persisting with the policy of turning boats around "where it is safe to do so", arguing that it was done under the Howard government so it can be done again.

He also wants to reopen the immigration detention centre on Nauru and resurrect Temporary Protection Visas.

Dr Natalegawa was in Canberra for the first so-called two-plus-two meeting of Indonesian and Australian foreign and defence ministers.

Foreign Minister Bob Carr said the meeting was the highlight of his first week in the portfolio.

"What happens in Indonesia and how Indonesia sees the world is hugely important for Australia," he said.

"If we fail to get this relationship right and nurture and develop it, the whole web of our foreign relations is incomplete."

Dr Natalegawa, Senator Carr and defence ministers Purnomo Yusgiantoro and Stephen Smith discussed a range of foreign policy and security issues.

Asked if Indonesia had any concerns about US plans to rotate marines through the Northern Territory, Mr Yusgiantoro said the Americans had satisfactorily explained the reasons for the decision.

"We don't have a problem at all with the placement of the United States Marines in Darwin," he said.

Dr Natalegawa revealed Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono plans to meet with Prime Minister Julia Gillard in Darwin in May for their annual talks.

Senator Carr concluded the press conference with a "modest symbol" of bilateral cooperation.

"Marty and I have exchanged mobile numbers," he said.

"His mobile number's now lodged in my telephone as is mine in his."

news.ninemsn.com.au

Australia asylum-seekers fall, bucking global trend
27/03/2012

The number of asylum-seekers arriving in Australia dropped last year according to UN data released on Tuesday, bucking a global trend that saw a spike of 20 percent to other developed nations.


This file photo shows police blocking refugee supporters during an immigration protest near Sydney, in 2010. The number of asylum-seekers arriving in Australia dropped last year according to UN data released on Tuesday, bucking a global trend that saw a spike of 20 percent to other developed nations.

Though they come in relatively small numbers by global standards, asylum-seekers are a hot political issue in Australia and dominated national elections in 2010 due to a record number of boat arrivals from Asia.

A new United Nations report, Asylum Levels and Trends in Industrialised Countries, said the numbers heading to Australia in 2011 fell nine percent -- from 12,640 in 2010 to 11,510.

This was largely due to a reduction in those arriving by boat, especially from Afghanistan.

"This report shows clearly that the numbers of asylum-seekers coming to Australia are modest -- and certainly manageable -- when compared to many other industrialized countries," said UNHCR Regional Representative Richard Towle.

In contrast, there was a 20 percent jump in arrivals to other nations, mostly driven by people fleeing Libya and other parts of north Africa by boat to southern Europe.

Most asylum-seekers to Australia traditionally come from strife-torn nations such as Afghanistan, Iran and Sri Lanka on rickety vessels from Indonesia -- a dangerous sea journey that has seen a number of fatal accidents.

Australian Immigration Minister Chris Bowen said that although the numbers were dropping, the government could not let its guard down.

"While the number of asylum claims has fallen, it remains of the utmost importance that we do everything we can to deter people from risking their lives by undertaking dangerous boat journeys," he said in a statement.

"The Malaysia arrangement is the best way to do this, and (opposition leader) Tony Abbott should get out of the way and allow the government of the day to implement its border protection policies."

Canberra clinched a deal last year to send 800 boatpeople to Malaysia in exchange for 4,000 of that country's registered refugees in a bid to deter people-smugglers from exploiting the perilous maritime voyage to Australia.

But it was struck down by the High Court, which ruled the government did not have the power to send asylum-seekers to third countries where it could not guarantee their rights.

Malaysia is not a signatory to UN refugee conventions.

The government says it is continuing regional negotiations on the issue and is determined to press ahead with offshore processing as a deterrent to illegal boat arrivals.

bangkokpost.com

Indonesia saves 120 Afghans from leaking ship
Apr 09, 2012

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesia says it has rescued 120 Afghan migrants from a leaking wooden ship headed to Australia.

An official from the National Search and Rescue Agency says they received a distress call from the ship’s captain on Sunday and went to their aid. The Afghans were taken by tanker to a port on the western side of Indonesia’s Java Island.

Witnesses said Monday that police were still negotiating with the migrants who were refusing to leave the tanker.

The official says they will be handed over to immigration officers. Migrants without legal documents are usually deported home while others may apply for asylum.

Migrants from conflict-ridden countries have long used Indonesia’s thousands of islands as a transit point for their way to Australia.

asiancorrespondent.com

Refugees demand Indonesian passage to Australia
10/04/2012

Around 120 asylum seekers demanded Tuesday that Indonesia provide a vessel to allow them to continue to Australia, refusing to leave a tanker that rescued them at sea, an official said.


Indonesian police and immigration officials negotiate with a group of 120 Australia-bound asylum seekers to disembark a tanker docked off Merak port in the west of Java, on April 9. The tanker sailing from Australia to Singapore picked up the asylum seekers, all men and mostly Afghans and some Iranians, in Indonesian waters on Sunday.

The tanker sailing from Australia to Singapore picked up the asylum seekers, all men and mostly Afghans and some Iranians, in Indonesian waters on Sunday.

"Until now, the asylum seekers are still refusing to get off the tanker before their requests are fulfilled," said Yanuar, an immigration official in Indonesia's Cilegon city, where the boat is docked at the port of Merak.

"They requested that Indonesia facilitate their journey to Australia, and provide a vessel to get there," said the official, who goes by one name.

"We gave them food last night (Monday), but we haven't assessed their health condition yet," Banten province maritime police chief Budi Hermawan said.

The Singapore-flagged MT Hermia rescued the asylum seekers from a sinking wooden vessel in the Sunda Strait, between Java and Sumatra islands, and took them to Merak.

Some of the men cried and screamed hysterically Monday as Indonesian police and immigration officials boarded the tanker and tried to pull some off the vessel.

Some of the men said Monday they would refuse to disembark unless they were granted asylum in Australia.

In 2009, more than 200 Sri Lankan Tamil asylum seekers refused to get off a boat docked at Merak in a six-month standoff with Indonesian authorities, demanding to go to Australia.

They were not granted asylum, while around 80 other Sri Lankans rescued at the same time by an Australian customs vessel were granted a special resettlement deal by the Australian government.

In December, a boat carrying around 250 mostly Afghan and Iranian asylum seekers sank in Indonesian waters en route to Australia's Christmas Island, with only 47 surviving.

Indonesia is not a signatory to the UN refugee convention and often jails asylum seekers awaiting refugee status.

Asylum seekers are a hot political issue in Australia and dominated national elections in 2010 due to a record number of boat arrivals from Asia.

bangkokpost.com

Originally Posted by Mid

Some of the men cried and screamed hysterically Monday as Indonesian police and immigration officials boarded the tanker and tried to pull some off the vessel.



In 2009, more than 200 Sri Lankan Tamil asylum seekers refused to get off a boat docked at Merak in a six-month standoff with Indonesian authorities, demanding to go to Australia.

I wonder if they stamped their feet too ?
They DEMANDED to go to Australia ? Boy, they're getting pretty cocky.

Malaysian media perspectives on the “Malaysia Solution”
Rita Camilleri
Rita Camilleri is Adjunct Research Fellow Monash Asia Institute
April 20th, 2012



In May 2011, Prime Ministers Datuk Seri Najib Razak and Julia Gillard announced an agreement that up to 800 undocumented boat arrivals would be sent to Malaysiafor the UNHCR office to process their claims. In return Australia would resettle 4,000 registered refugees from Malaysia. Both governments, as members of the Bali Process on People Smuggling, Trafficking in Persons and Related Transnational Crime, saw the agreement as a win-win situation. Each claimed the arrangement would help ‘smash the people smugglers’ business model.’ In Australia, the reactions were loud and passionate, with the media making the most of each story.

But how did people in Malaysia react? The government? The opposition? Members of civil society?

Not everyone in Malaysia felt as positively as the Prime Minister about the arrangement. Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim called the deal a dubious one ‘whose legality must be investigated.’ In a later interview he said he did not think the Australian Government could expect Malaysia to support a program that runs contrary to the whole principle of the rule of law and constitutional rights to the sea.

When the High Court of Australia ruled the deal between the two countries to be unlawful, Home Minister Hishammuddin said that while Malaysia and Australia would respect the court’s decision they would find new ways of combating human trafficking. This means the arrangement could still be repackaged and presented as the only viable solution for dealing with Australia’s uninvited boat people.

The English language daily New Straits Times published an editorial which expressed disappointment that the Australian court decided the agreement between Malaysia and Australia ‘was not good enough,’ pointing out that it ‘is a binding contract … and has the force of the law.’

When international organisations such as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and Amnesty International drew the world’s attention to Malaysia’s treatment of asylum seekers, the Malaysian Government was, no doubt, embarrassed to have its human rights record exposed in such a way. In its 2010 Report Human Rights Watch (HRW) described the government sanctioned paramilitary group Ikatan Relawan Rakyat (RELA) authorised to check travel documents an ‘ill-trained, abusive civilian force’ which was arresting refugees in their homes without the necessary warrant. The independent Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) was critical of Malaysian authorities for breaking their pledge to improve conditions for undocumented arrivals.

Within Malaysia, Tenaganita (which promotes the rights of women, migrants and refugees) was among the non-governmental organisations (NGOs) protesting during the signing of the agreement. Lawyers for Liberty called the Malaysia Solution ‘scandalous.’ In March 2011 the President of the Bar Council, said that Malaysia was not up to the mark for an asylum seeker swap.

In ‘Our migrant hell-holes‘ Angeline Loh documented the deaths of detainees due to delayed access to medical treatment. She also reported that camp officials were known to confiscate medication from (e.g. diabetic) ‘inmates.’ Maternity support was said to be non-existent, food inedible, and visitors prevented from bringing medicines or soap to the detainees.

Established by the government in 2000, the Malaysian Human Rights Commission (SUHAKAM) sought to liaise with government departments, the UNHCR, NGOs and individuals to address the plight of detained children, but its impact on government policy remains limited. The human rights NGO Suaram (Suara Rakyat Malaysia/Malaysian Peoples Voices) also highlighted the plight of refugee and asylum seeker children, even though Malaysia had ratified the Convention of the Rights of the Child.

Health Equity Initiatives (HEI), committed to advancing the right to health, particularly mental health, of marginalised populations through its programs, also expressed concern over the treatment of refugees in Malaysia.

So far as the Malaysia Solution is concerned mainstream newspapers in Malaysia tended to report factual information including developments inside Australia. It was left to the social media and smaller media outlets to expose the plight of asylum seekers. Meanwhile in both countries justice for refugees and asylum seekers remains as elusive as ever.

asiapacific.anu.edu.au

10yo asylum-seeker pleads for release from Australian detention centre



A letter written by a 10-year-old asylum seeker to the people of Australia, pleading to be released from the Darwin Airport Lodge immigration detention centre in the Northern Territory.

A 10-year-old Vietnamese asylum-seeker has written a letter to the Australian public pleading for her release, after more than a year in immigration detention.

The girl has been interned in three different immigration detention centres since arriving in Australia by boat in March 2011.

She's now detained in the Darwin Airport Lodge with a group of 25 other unaccompanied Vietnamese minors.

In a translation of her letter, she describes living there as "extremely depressing," and says she and the other Vietnamese children are "suffering."

The girl says their lives are "very sad and hopeless" and that they "lack any sense of a future."

She then writes that she would like help from the Australian people.

"We don't know what else we can do. We don't know who will help us."

The Australian Greens Party says the letter shows the Immigration Minister, Chris Bowen, is not carrying out his guardianship responsibilities properly.

Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young says Mr Bowen should relinquish his guardianship responsibilities for the unaccompanied minors he is detaining.

"This is an appalling circumstance, where we have a ten-year-old child pleading for help, not knowing who to turn to," she said.

"The immigration minister is this girl's legal guardian, the same person who is keeping her locked up for almost a year, a child, a 10-year-old child."

Rohan Thwaites from the Darwin Asylum-Seeker Support Network says the government and public should respond.

"She's hoping, I think as we are, that she can be moved out of detention so that she can start to live in the community and not be subject to incidences of self harm and suiciden and all the other things that come with being detained," he said.

The Immigration Department says it is "looking into" the letter.

australianetworknews.com