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Refugees
Rudd is drowning on boat people
He may have got a bounce in the polls today, but the Prime Minister’s handling of the Oceanic Viking issue has been singularly inept.
Bartlett: TPVs –- failed policy recycled for political benefit
The human harm done to many refugees on TPVs is well documented, says Andrew Bartlett. It’s a sad day when a blatantly ineffective measure is wilfully adopted purely for political appearances.
Back from the dead: Turnbull’s TPVs
Malcolm Turnbull has announced that Temporary Protection Visas would be back under a Coalition Government. But, putting aside their humanitarian impact, all the evidence is that TPVs don’t actually work.
What they’re fleeing in Sri Lanka
Matt Wade visits Sri Lanka and discovers why the Australian government faces such a difficult battle persuading asylum seekers to return there: war-torn villages surrounded by landmines, a lack of jobs, medical care and education.
Just a ripple in the global refugee crisis
Australia does not have refugee “crisis”: 78 asylum seekers is just a drop in the ocean of the world’s displaced people, explains Peter Mares in this excellent overview of global refugee movements and our (relatively minor) within it.
Australia’s $1m asylum bill
Australia has spent more than $1 million in its stand-off with asylum seekers aboard the Oceanic Viking, with each additional day costing $42,500.
Myopia and forgetfulness the preferred direction on foreign policy
When the Rudd Labor government was elected two years ago, there were high hopes that it would leave behind the more negative foreign policies of its predecessor Howard coalition government. What we have, though, is a foreign policy shambles.
Allard: Humane, but definitely not tough
So much for “tough but humane”: the Government’s offer to resettle refugees aboard the Oceanic Viking has turned the whole saga into a farcical political pantomime, says Tom Allard. It will do nothing to deter people smugglers.
Rudd’s “secret plan” to increase Sri Lankan migration
The Government is looking to allow more Sri Lankans to emigrate legally to Australia in an effort to reduce the incentive for them to come via people smugglers.
Dear asylum seekers…
Read the letter given to asylum seekers aboard the Oceanic Viking, guaranteeing them resettlement if they get off the boat and are found to be genuine refugees.
Howard’s ghost haunts refugee law
Australia does not have any legal responsibility for refugee claims for the Sri Lankans on board the Oceanic Viking because they were found in Indonesian waters, writes law professor Don Rothwell. But what happens when a situation doesn’t fit the law?
Bartlett: A call to stop mandatory detention for people smugglers
Anyone caught assisting with the unlawful entrance of asylum seekers to Australia is brandished a people smuggler and receives mandatory detention. Is Indonesia’s unhappiness at Australia imprisoning some of their poorest damaging our diplomatic relations? asks Andrew Bartlett.
Getting help from Indonesia was a tactical mistake
Lengthy mandatory detention isn’t the biggest deterrent for asylum seekers, governments turning back boats is, says Peter Mares. The most humane thing Rudd can do is stop the boats coming, because otherwise deaths will simply increase.
Grattan: Acting tough is what the voters want
There’s two lessons to learn from the latest Nielsen poll. One, Kevin Rudd needs to maintain his tough asylum seeker stance because the voters love it. Two, the Opposition need to get their act together, writes Michelle Grattan.
Memo Rudd: an asylum solution
Bernard Keane offers the Prime Minister a few thoughts on how to resolve the Oceanic Viking stand-off.
New York Times: Australia fears boat people from Asia
How does the world view Australians following to our treatment of refugees? Here’s the New York Times’s take: “Australia Puts Its Refugee Problem on a Remote Island, Behind Razor Wire”. Super.
Kerr: Rudd gets in a refugee spin
Rudd’s refugee media blitz is just confusing voters, because they don’t want confusing jargon filled explanations, they just want action. Kevin Rudd needs to dump the political cliches and rethink his media strategy, writes Christian Kerr.
Rudd throws water on the asylum seeker flames
Kevin Rudd isn’t fighting the Opposition over refugees, he’s battling the media, and desperately attempting to depoliticise the issue. Look for the telltale Rudd fear fuelled top lip disappearance.
Pilger: The great Australian silence
Australia would never treat a shipload of white people fleeing catastrophe the way we’re treating asylum seekers from Sri Lanka, said John Pilger in his City of Sydney lecture.
Let’s not abandon them to die at sea
Another boat has sunk, leaving desperate asylum seekers to drown in their attempts to get a better life. Amongst all the tough talking and negotiations with Indonesia, we mustn’t forget ourselves as a civilised nation, writes Tony Kevin.
Sheridan: Being hypocritical appears to be the Australian Solution
So, Indonesia did Australia a favour by agreeing to take boat people and house them in their detention centres and all they’ve got from it is a bunch of bad publicity? Time for the lefties to get over the fanatical hypocrisy and stop supporting people smugglers, writes Greg Sheridan.
Tough new restrictions on visits to detention centres
Serco — the company behind troubled UK immigration detention centres and prisons and now the contractor in Australia — has introduced a tough new regime to inhibit visitors to Australian detention centres, writes Trish and John Highfield.
Don’t kid yourself Kev, it’s not just the refugees
Yesterday’s damning Newspoll result wasn’t just because of the government’s “tough but humane” rhetoric on asylum seekers. What about all the other stuff ups by the Rudd government like climate change, Timor Sea oil spill and supporting a corrupt Afghan government?
Costello: I agree with Rudd on refugees, stand tough
It’s easy to criticise government policy on asylum seekers from the comfort of your middle class life, which will never see the inside of a leaky boat. We need to take a clear stand against people smugglers, says Peter Costello.
