Greens call for Manus and Nauru refugees to be moved to Canberra and other ‘welcome zones’

For the attention of those on this thread that say Australia’s asylum seeker policy is tough:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-09-05/afghan-woman-106-faces-deportation-in-sweden/8872170

Ungruntled, how would you decide which family to house? Do you take the word of the Australian government and its scrutineering process who has determined them to be genuine, or do you make your own visual assessment? Seeing there may be no documents to show if they are who they say they are, can you risk a total unknown who could be a criminal on the run, whose “family” is simply playing the role to get residency approval and will go separate ways weeks after being billeted? Good luck to you, you’re much braver than I.
I am still of the view that a true refugee would not have the means to get all the way to Australia before suddenly running out of money and means, but would have been happy to be settled anywhere in a nearby country from their place of departure. It is greed, pure and simple. The money they spend on illegal entry could have set them up for life in some of their stopovers.

ungruntled said :

…
We not only rejected them, we put them in a prison for an indefinite period, without trial & mistreated them appaulingly, either directly or indirectly.

Always a different perspective.
We didn’t “reject” them (not in that tone that you have written). Hard to process efficiently if document has been wilfully destroyed (and yet, potentially documentation that could have supported their case). Those that were approved didn’t want to find safe haven anywhere but Australia (and the convention does not oblige us to resettle those we deem to be true refugees in Australia).
They were not put in prison – each individual was free to leave at any time they wanted. Those who were approved were free to go to the nominated country of refuge. Those found not to be true refugees were free to go home anytime they wanted.
I am not aware of any intent by Australian authorities to mistreat them. If you have proof, then push it through the relevant channels. Providing adequate meals and accommodation is not mistreatment.

I have no issues with those who feel they could sponsor or house genuine refugees. What happens, though, if these “visitors” decide to go home a year later to visit family in the very place they are fleeing from? What would [i]ungruntled[/i] do then?

ungruntled said :

I would take a refugee family.
Our treatment of these people is unforgivable.
I’m older. I remember hearing from my parents about the ship carrying Jewish refugees that could not find a harbour to dock – no one would accept them.
I thought then, when we had “laws” that said a refugee had a right to be taken in meant that this would never happen again.
Wasn’t I niave”?
We not only rejected them, we put them in a prison for an indefinite period, without trial & mistreated them appaulingly, either directly or indirectly.
I am ashamed of my government. You do not represent me.
Perhaps if the Greens were able to get this to happen, they may come some way to offsetting the effects of lumbering us with the tram.

The comparison with the Jew’s in WW2 is exactly why the refugee convention is outdated and needs reform.

It was written for the exact situation you describe, people fleeing direct and immediate persecution to neighbouring countries, their main drive was escaping death.

Now, due to the proliferation of international travel, we have relatively well off people from half way across the world choosing a preferred destination country (almost exclusively Western and first world), hopping on planes and travelling through multiple countries to get there. In our case, mostly through Malaysia and Indonesia where their travel documentation “disappears” and they hop on a boat for the final leg.

Deterrence is the only policy that ensures we can take those refugees who are most in need of our help and prevents thousands of deaths at sea.

The Greens policy only ensures a flood of would be asylum seekers, trying to get here and that the most needy die without aid languishing in overseas camps.

I would take a refugee family.
Our treatment of these people is unforgivable.
I’m older. I remember hearing from my parents about the ship carrying Jewish refugees that could not find a harbour to dock – no one would accept them.
I thought then, when we had “laws” that said a refugee had a right to be taken in meant that this would never happen again.
Wasn’t I niave”?
We not only rejected them, we put them in a prison for an indefinite period, without trial & mistreated them appaulingly, either directly or indirectly.
I am ashamed of my government. You do not represent me.
Perhaps if the Greens were able to get this to happen, they may come some way to offsetting the effects of lumbering us with the tram.

dungfungus said :

Jill Horton said :

My home is open for a refugee to stay with my family. I have been to Manus. Enough death and suffering. 90% are deemed by that they are Refugees by a stringent UN set process . there is no such thing as an economic Refugee. 4 Years. Enough is enough.

Are you happy then to take one of the 10% not deemed to be refugee?

Alternatively, you could assist these soon to be homeless people:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-08-27/asylum-seekers-income-and-accommodation-to-be-cut-back/8846470

Jill Horton said :

My home is open for a refugee to stay with my family. I have been to Manus. Enough death and suffering. 90% are deemed by that they are Refugees by a stringent UN set process . there is no such thing as an economic Refugee. 4 Years. Enough is enough.

Are you happy then to take one of the 10% not deemed to be refugee?

Jill Horton said :

Enough death and suffering. 90% are deemed by that they are Refugees by a stringent UN set process . . . Enough is enough.

Well said. The myths that they’re ‘economic’ refugees and illegal are just useful lies.

So those Iranian ‘refugees’ returning to Iran for holidays weren’t economic refugees?

“After four years of fear and violence, substantiated cases of sexual abuse and seven deaths, the only humane and responsible option is to evacuate every man, women and child.”
It wasn’t security who did the raping and violence, so I hope the perpetrators of these acts are screened out of those being considered for relocation. And another thing, I hope these refugees get no more help from the government than any other Aussie who is doing things tough, they are after all not even citizens of this land. Jobs are hard to come by, are these emotionally crushed refugees going to resort to crime or violence when they realise this isn’t the “Promised Land” and they struggle to get by? As for their health needs, get in line with the rest of us waiting for months, years and even decades for treatment. What makes them so special that they can queue jump everything? They did spend all their money to get here ilegally by boat!

The thing wrong with our refugee policy is that it allows them to sue us for spending hundreds of millions of dollars looking after them .

The ACT government has no business in offering our tax money to illegals . All they have to do is prove who they are or go home. it’s the Greens/Labor party that continues to give these people false hope. If they weren’t encouraged to stay and fight our legal system they would be gone home by now .