NY Times reviews Go Back to Where You Came FromNew SBS reality TV show/doco on refugees, Go Back to Where You Came From, is already getting international coverage. Matt Siegel explains that not all the participants had their mind changed by the experience.
Immigration
Refugee numbers soar to 15-year high
Latest figures from the UN high commission for refugees says that 43.7 million people were displaced by war or natural disasters during 2010, with most refugees fleeing to the developing nations of Pakistan, Iran and Syria.
Carr: there is little logic for a Big Australia
Opinion polls have demonstrated time and time again that Australians are not supporters of a Big Australia. And rightfully so, given the facts, writes Bob Carr.
Eltham: Mandatory detention is morally bankrupt
Our treatment of asylum seekers is akin to the totalitarian dictators that Australia normally stands against. Just because oppressing asylum seekers is popular with voters, doesn’t mean it’s right, declares Ben Eltham.
Crikey Says: Crikey says: by boat was a bad choice
For decades now, Australia’s asylum seeker policies have been built to cater to certain perceptions.
asylum seekers 
The children that arrive alone
Almost half the children held in immigration detention in Australia arrived without their parents, with the number spiking in recent years. This brilliant interactive ABC site examines the phenomena of the “castaway kids”.
Your Say: Daily Mail readers' feedback: Who let the dog whistle politics out?
Crikey readers have their say.
Your Say: Daily Mail readers' feedback: ‘Islam in Australia’ a debate we should be allowed to have
Crikey readers have their say.
Political snippets: Are we too scared to find out?
Apparently a petition like this one calling for a ban on Muslim immigration has been tabled some 68 times in Federal Parliament.
Human Rights Commission: concerns for kids in remote detention centres
If people must be held in immigration detention facilities, they should be located in metropolitan areas not remote locations, a report into Leonora immigration detention centre says today.
Crikey Says: Lay off it, Scott Morrison
We were all collectively horrified by the Christmas Island boat tragedy last December. All sides of politics had the good sense, and the decency, to say so. And now along comes Opposition immigration spokesperson Scott Morrison…
80 more boat people drown
It depends on where you drown, whether dead boat people become news in Australia, suggests Richard Farmer. When you capsize off the coast of Yemen you obviously don’t rate, based on the recent reports of 80 asylum seekers drowning.
Your Say: Daily Mail readers' feedback: Tragedy at Christmas Island
Crikey readers have their say.
Jack Marx: Cruelty doesn’t mind kindness, just cowardice
A wonderful rant by Jack Marx against his fellow News Ltd stable mates and their reactions to the Christmas Island boat crash. “Iron fists in velvet gloves,” declares Marx, against those who claim compassion while preaching cruelty.
Marr: The killer cliffs of Christmas Island
It’s incredible that this boat loaded with asylum seekers was able to get those to shore without being stopped. Why was this boat allowed to get so close to those cliffs? It’s reminiscent of the SIEV X, says David Marr, but this time there are photos and video.
Mungo MacCallum: Government can’t have a bob each way on boat people
The Liberal Party’s cadaver in waiting, Phillip Ruddock, described last week’s High Court decision on the rights of asylum seekers as “diabolical.” The misuse of the word was so grotesque as to suggest that the former Immigration Minister and Attorney-General’s use of it might have itself been satanic inspiration.
Tougher test for would-be Aussie migrants to hit universities hard
A federal government decision last week to further tighten the eligibility requirements for foreigners seeking permanent residency seems certain to have a serious impact on the already faltering recruitment of overseas students, especially those from China and India, writes Geoff Maslen
A win for asylum seekers: but how big?
Crikey Media Wrap: The High Court ruled yesterday that two Sri Lankan asylum seekers were denied “procedural fairness” by the Migration Act, as they were processed offshore. Will it end offshore processing or instead lengthen the time it takes to process claims?
Marr: Should ministers make life or death decisions?
Canberra waits nervously for today’s result to the High Court case involving the processing of two Sri Lankan asylum seekers. It could fundamentally affect how refugees are processed in Australia, explains David Marr.
boat people 
Spicer: Stop knocking boat people
Everyday a new scare campaign seems to surface about boat people. The Gillard government’s here and there response, caught between Left and Right, has left the population in no man’s land, writes Tracey Spicer.
Locals’ response to new detention centres — not in my backyard
The decision to hold 1900 people in Inverbrackie and Northam appears to have provoked only one response — not in my backyard.
Queue jumping in East Timor
While there’s been increased support in the top East Timor government ranks for a refugee processing centre to be built in the country, most of the population is against the plan. Shona Hawkes in Dili explains the complex problems.
Refugee groups join Greens in push for free-kids law
Refugee groups are urging the government to go further with its decision to allow children of asylum seekers to be released from detention, with the Greens pushing for the policy to be enshrined in law.
