Live-time petition signing to support humane treatment of refugees

sepi said :

Other countries process asylum seekers in the community – they are not locked up behind barbed wire. and they do not all disappear.

And yet, they pass through or pass by these “other countries” to come to Australia. Does this not suggest that they might be economic migrants?

sepi said :

Other countries process asylum seekers in the community – they are not locked up behind barbed wire. and they do not all disappear.

It costs millions to run these detention centres. Such a waste of money and of human lives.

lack of water on manus:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-12-11/manus-island-violates-prohibition-against-torture-amnesty/5150664

http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/amnesty-international-report-accuses-manus-island-detention-centre-of-humiliating-asylum-seekers-20131211-2z6ft.html

Why don’t the asylum seekers we are caring for go to the “other countries” then? I haven’t heard them or their advocates threatening to move to them.
I demand an answer.
I didn’t read your links either as I saw the sources as ABC and SMH who are the ones that are beating up this non-problem so what’s the point..
Sure it costs millions to run the detention centres but with the current government fulfilling their promise to “stop the boats” the costs will rapidly evaporate as the centres close down.

Other countries process asylum seekers in the community – they are not locked up behind barbed wire. and they do not all disappear.

It costs millions to run these detention centres. Such a waste of money and of human lives.

lack of water on manus:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-12-11/manus-island-violates-prohibition-against-torture-amnesty/5150664

http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/amnesty-international-report-accuses-manus-island-detention-centre-of-humiliating-asylum-seekers-20131211-2z6ft.html

John Hargreaves Ex MLA said :

OR… if there was an urgent knock at you door late at night and you opened the door to a person who had blood streaming from a wound, would you say… nick off and go to NSW or elsewhere? or would you say come in, let’s get you cleaned up a bit and call the police?

My guess is the latter. We assume that a person is in strife and in need of help, we give that person succour while we try to arrange for assistance. If that is what we do in our own homes, why can’t we do that for people running away from persecution?

I lived in migrant hostels from 1952 to 1958, they were huts or Nissen huts (those hideous round tin sheds) but there was no barbed wire, we went to school outside the camp and we developed a love of Australia. The current system criminalises refugees and stigmatises them. To our eternal shame!

To be honest, in this day and age, I would think twice about letting a bleeding person into my house. I don’t know if they were the victim or the instigator of the crime. I would certainly get help for them, but I wouldn’t put my family at risk by inviting them in and then possibly finding out they are a rapist or murderer. Trust is not something given away freely to everyone you meet and perhaps our trust in strangers as a country has been somewhat tarnished by events in the world’s history. If evidence is forthcoming to show these people are genuine, I am all for giving a better form of transition. Until they can prove this, barbed wire, a bed, food and water sound dandy.

John Hargreaves Ex MLA said :

wildturkeycanoe said :

I haven’t seen an alternative to housing refugees in detention centers yet. What do they suggest as an alternative whilst the government decides whether they are legitimate refugees, queue jumpers or terrorists [as we have plainly seen is the case with some]? Setting them free into this wide country of ours with a temporary ID and a few thousand dollars just won’t work, with our current unemployment already climbing. Without 24 hour security they will vanish into the woodwork and go about living their lives under the radar, becoming more desperate by the day and eventually turning to crime to survive. Just ask anyone on the dole right now who is legitimately looking for work, if they need another person to compete against in finding that elusive job, especially when that other person probably just spent tens of thousands of dollars getting on a leaky boat to come here and doesn’t even speak English. Thousands of illegal workers are already in our construction sites, take away shops, farms and factories, yet these humanitarians want to extend the invitation further.
If, and I mean IF we had the means to support these refugees, I’d welcome them with open arms. Unfortunately we already have homeless people living under bridges, on park benches and in crowded hostels. We don’t need to look away from them because a stranger rolls up on the shore with nothing but a sob story and no way to prove who they are.
Hypothetically, would you open your front door and invite the hungry hobo who has been sleeping quietly under your bedroom window for the last six months, or help out the stranger who rocked up out the front in a taxi, banged on your screen door yelling “why won’t you let me in?”, accuses you of being cruel, racist and then kicks over your mailbox in disgust?

OR… if there was an urgent knock at you door late at night and you opened the door to a person who had blood streaming from a wound, would you say… nick off and go to NSW or elsewhere? or would you say come in, let’s get you cleaned up a bit and call the police?

My guess is the latter. We assume that a person is in strife and in need of help, we give that person succour while we try to arrange for assistance. If that is what we do in our own homes, why can’t we do that for people running away from persecution?

I lived in migrant hostels from 1952 to 1958, they were huts or Nissen huts (those hideous round tin sheds) but there was no barbed wire, we went to school outside the camp and we developed a love of Australia. The current system criminalises refugees and stigmatises them. To our eternal shame!

First, I would close the door on someone with blood streaming from a wound and then call the police. You never know they might be followed by some criminals seeking to wreck revenge upon the victim and you could get caught up in the cross fire. Actual.True.Story.

My folks lived in refugee camps for several years. They waited their turn and eventually came to Australia. I expect others who are truly being persecuted and not just looking for a better life, to do the same.

bigfeet said :

They seem to be pre-empting the result of the vote. It’s as if they haven’t invited a representative sample of the Australian community and have just stacked it with their own supporters .

So that is the way The Greens, Human Rights Lawyers and High Court Barristers believe democracy should work is it?

Why aren’t GetUp invited as well?

John Hargreaves Ex MLA said :

wildturkeycanoe said :

I haven’t seen an alternative to housing refugees in detention centers yet. What do they suggest as an alternative whilst the government decides whether they are legitimate refugees, queue jumpers or terrorists [as we have plainly seen is the case with some]? Setting them free into this wide country of ours with a temporary ID and a few thousand dollars just won’t work, with our current unemployment already climbing. Without 24 hour security they will vanish into the woodwork and go about living their lives under the radar, becoming more desperate by the day and eventually turning to crime to survive. Just ask anyone on the dole right now who is legitimately looking for work, if they need another person to compete against in finding that elusive job, especially when that other person probably just spent tens of thousands of dollars getting on a leaky boat to come here and doesn’t even speak English. Thousands of illegal workers are already in our construction sites, take away shops, farms and factories, yet these humanitarians want to extend the invitation further.
If, and I mean IF we had the means to support these refugees, I’d welcome them with open arms. Unfortunately we already have homeless people living under bridges, on park benches and in crowded hostels. We don’t need to look away from them because a stranger rolls up on the shore with nothing but a sob story and no way to prove who they are.
Hypothetically, would you open your front door and invite the hungry hobo who has been sleeping quietly under your bedroom window for the last six months, or help out the stranger who rocked up out the front in a taxi, banged on your screen door yelling “why won’t you let me in?”, accuses you of being cruel, racist and then kicks over your mailbox in disgust?

OR… if there was an urgent knock at you door late at night and you opened the door to a person who had blood streaming from a wound, would you say… nick off and go to NSW or elsewhere? or would you say come in, let’s get you cleaned up a bit and call the police?

My guess is the latter. We assume that a person is in strife and in need of help, we give that person succour while we try to arrange for assistance. If that is what we do in our own homes, why can’t we do that for people running away from persecution?

I lived in migrant hostels from 1952 to 1958, they were huts or Nissen huts (those hideous round tin sheds) but there was no barbed wire, we went to school outside the camp and we developed a love of Australia. The current system criminalises refugees and stigmatises them. To our eternal shame!

Which country were you seeking asylum from, Johno?

John Hargreaves Ex MLA said :

wildturkeycanoe said :

I haven’t seen an alternative to housing refugees in detention centers yet. What do they suggest as an alternative whilst the government decides whether they are legitimate refugees, queue jumpers or terrorists [as we have plainly seen is the case with some]? Setting them free into this wide country of ours with a temporary ID and a few thousand dollars just won’t work, with our current unemployment already climbing. Without 24 hour security they will vanish into the woodwork and go about living their lives under the radar, becoming more desperate by the day and eventually turning to crime to survive. Just ask anyone on the dole right now who is legitimately looking for work, if they need another person to compete against in finding that elusive job, especially when that other person probably just spent tens of thousands of dollars getting on a leaky boat to come here and doesn’t even speak English. Thousands of illegal workers are already in our construction sites, take away shops, farms and factories, yet these humanitarians want to extend the invitation further.
If, and I mean IF we had the means to support these refugees, I’d welcome them with open arms. Unfortunately we already have homeless people living under bridges, on park benches and in crowded hostels. We don’t need to look away from them because a stranger rolls up on the shore with nothing but a sob story and no way to prove who they are.
Hypothetically, would you open your front door and invite the hungry hobo who has been sleeping quietly under your bedroom window for the last six months, or help out the stranger who rocked up out the front in a taxi, banged on your screen door yelling “why won’t you let me in?”, accuses you of being cruel, racist and then kicks over your mailbox in disgust?

OR… if there was an urgent knock at you door late at night and you opened the door to a person who had blood streaming from a wound, would you say… nick off and go to NSW or elsewhere? or would you say come in, let’s get you cleaned up a bit and call the police?

My guess is the latter. We assume that a person is in strife and in need of help, we give that person succour while we try to arrange for assistance. If that is what we do in our own homes, why can’t we do that for people running away from persecution?

I lived in migrant hostels from 1952 to 1958, they were huts or Nissen huts (those hideous round tin sheds) but there was no barbed wire, we went to school outside the camp and we developed a love of Australia. The current system criminalises refugees and stigmatises them. To our eternal shame!

And for the majority of asylum seekers that would probably be fine.

wildturkeycanoe said :

I haven’t seen an alternative to housing refugees in detention centers yet. What do they suggest as an alternative whilst the government decides whether they are legitimate refugees, queue jumpers or terrorists [as we have plainly seen is the case with some]? Setting them free into this wide country of ours with a temporary ID and a few thousand dollars just won’t work, with our current unemployment already climbing. Without 24 hour security they will vanish into the woodwork and go about living their lives under the radar, becoming more desperate by the day and eventually turning to crime to survive. Just ask anyone on the dole right now who is legitimately looking for work, if they need another person to compete against in finding that elusive job, especially when that other person probably just spent tens of thousands of dollars getting on a leaky boat to come here and doesn’t even speak English. Thousands of illegal workers are already in our construction sites, take away shops, farms and factories, yet these humanitarians want to extend the invitation further.
If, and I mean IF we had the means to support these refugees, I’d welcome them with open arms. Unfortunately we already have homeless people living under bridges, on park benches and in crowded hostels. We don’t need to look away from them because a stranger rolls up on the shore with nothing but a sob story and no way to prove who they are.
Hypothetically, would you open your front door and invite the hungry hobo who has been sleeping quietly under your bedroom window for the last six months, or help out the stranger who rocked up out the front in a taxi, banged on your screen door yelling “why won’t you let me in?”, accuses you of being cruel, racist and then kicks over your mailbox in disgust?

OR… if there was an urgent knock at you door late at night and you opened the door to a person who had blood streaming from a wound, would you say… nick off and go to NSW or elsewhere? or would you say come in, let’s get you cleaned up a bit and call the police?

My guess is the latter. We assume that a person is in strife and in need of help, we give that person succour while we try to arrange for assistance. If that is what we do in our own homes, why can’t we do that for people running away from persecution?

I lived in migrant hostels from 1952 to 1958, they were huts or Nissen huts (those hideous round tin sheds) but there was no barbed wire, we went to school outside the camp and we developed a love of Australia. The current system criminalises refugees and stigmatises them. To our eternal shame!

I haven’t seen an alternative to housing refugees in detention centers yet. What do they suggest as an alternative whilst the government decides whether they are legitimate refugees, queue jumpers or terrorists [as we have plainly seen is the case with some]? Setting them free into this wide country of ours with a temporary ID and a few thousand dollars just won’t work, with our current unemployment already climbing. Without 24 hour security they will vanish into the woodwork and go about living their lives under the radar, becoming more desperate by the day and eventually turning to crime to survive. Just ask anyone on the dole right now who is legitimately looking for work, if they need another person to compete against in finding that elusive job, especially when that other person probably just spent tens of thousands of dollars getting on a leaky boat to come here and doesn’t even speak English. Thousands of illegal workers are already in our construction sites, take away shops, farms and factories, yet these humanitarians want to extend the invitation further.
If, and I mean IF we had the means to support these refugees, I’d welcome them with open arms. Unfortunately we already have homeless people living under bridges, on park benches and in crowded hostels. We don’t need to look away from them because a stranger rolls up on the shore with nothing but a sob story and no way to prove who they are.
Hypothetically, would you open your front door and invite the hungry hobo who has been sleeping quietly under your bedroom window for the last six months, or help out the stranger who rocked up out the front in a taxi, banged on your screen door yelling “why won’t you let me in?”, accuses you of being cruel, racist and then kicks over your mailbox in disgust?