Sri Lankan Asylum Seekers - Accept or Reject?

[rajah21]

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/10/16/2716480.htm?section=australia

What do you think Australia and the global community should do about the Tamil asylum seekers currently in Indonesia?

[xXNovaxX]

Such a complicated topic. But there was one person in that boat I think it was who spoke out, and I really felt for them, how she was like "we're not here for jobs or welfare" something like that. They just want protection.

Asylum seekers and refugees have contributed to our society to the same degree as immigrants. It's unfortunate that "asylum seekers" has such a negative connotation...only difference between them and immigrants is that the latter come here legally. But still....have some humanity. Asylum seekers are simply poor/scared people seeking asylum aka safety.

What my issue is, you let one boat in...you get 2 more. Naturally and udnerstandably people take advantage and see it as a free ride.

Another issue is refugees who have witnessed killings and wars tend to icnrease crime and anti-social behaviour coz they can not adapt. But we have Aust. citizens here who have been born here, also partake in anti-social behaviour

Argh, such a complicated issue. I just hate when people create a "them" and "us" sort of scene, where asylum seekers are seen as non-human and a threat to "Australia".  Today a NT Liberal MP called the refugees "scum".

[mypurpleundercracka]

Such a complicated topic. But there was one person in that boat I think it was who spoke out, and I really felt for them, how she was like "we're not here for jobs or welfare" something like that. They just want protection.

Asylum seekers and refugees have contributed to our society to the same degree as immigrants. It's unfortunate that "asylum seekers" has such a negative connotation...only difference between them and immigrants is that the latter come here legally. But still....have some humanity. Asylum seekers are simply poor/scared people seeking asylum aka safety.

What my issue is, you let one boat in...you get 2 more. Naturally and udnerstandably people take advantage and see it as a free ride.

Another issue is refugees who have witnessed killings and wars tend to icnrease crime and anti-social behaviour coz they can not adapt. But we have Aust. citizens here who have been born here, also partake in anti-social behaviour

Argh, such a complicated issue. I just hate when people create a "them" and "us" sort of scene, where asylum seekers are seen as non-human and a threat to "Australia".  Today a NT Liberal MP called the refugees "scum".

what an asshole

[/0]

Yeah I want to break that guy's jaw. How would he like to be an asylum seeker?

[rajah21]

It's so ironic that the SL Government claims that these people "have made up all these things to seek to justify their coming here to get refugee status" when it was the Government's inability (or reluctance) to rehabilitate and rebuild the lives of those caught in the civil war that compelled the victims to leave in the first place.

Not only have they denied these people a proper life in Sri Lanka, they're now preventing them from starting a new life in other countries as well. Utterly inhumane.

[Rietie]

I'm pretty sure asylum seekers are legally coming into the country. But a lot of press is of illegal comings into the country (mainly the boat people) - i.e. the people who jump the queue. But technically, both legal and illegal, they are asylum seekers if they are seeking asylum.

...I think.

[xXNovaxX]

yeah ur right

The media tends to base it on (please excuse upcoming caps) OMG WE'RE SWAMPED BY FOREIGNER'S OH NO, WE'RE GONNA BE OVER RUN.

And naturally the stupid and thickheaded public fall for it, whereas those who read other sources which are not bias, or even several sources rather than just the Herald Sun (which is pro-Liberal, and bases a lot of its stories on "scandals" and hyperbole) they will understand the problem isn't as clear cut.

zzzz, even if we had 2000 boats arrive, do you really think they're gonna pass border security....Centrelink(if they manage to smuggle, and want to get a job)...the Federal Police...the state police...the government...

I have YET to hear a story where refugees on many occasions have successfully landed on the NT or WA or QLD coast and went into hiding. Until that happens I refuse to accept those who say we're going to be swamped, I find that offensive, and shameful for the majority of Australians who don't see it this way (at least I sincerely hope its a majority).

Compare Australia with nations around the Mediterranean Sea, where more than 1/2 a million refugees are going around, as well as in the USA where I heard there are like 1-2 million illegal Mexicans MISSING in America,

[methodsboy]

defs accept, afterall, they are people..
i invite kurrymuncher to share his views on this controversial issue...

[kurrymuncher]

defs accept, afterall, they are people..
i invite kurrymuncher to share his views on this controversial issue...

meh, this thread is a waste of time, since the OP is most likely going to launch some kind of hate campaign on SL.

[qshyrn]

i dont particularly like their blackmail (to blow up the boat, well wont give you the name of the people smuggler who arranged this unlessu u let us in etc etc)
, but i do feel a bit of sympathy for them..... i just hope they wont be like those fukn sudanese 'refugees' who form gangs and terrorize n stab ppl in Noble park .

[mypurpleundercracka]

i dont particularly like their blackmail (to blow up the boat, well wont give you the name of the people smuggler who arranged this unlessu u let us in etc etc)
, but i do feel a bit of sympathy for them..... i just hope they wont be like those fukn sudanese 'refugees' who form gangs and terrorize n stab ppl in Noble park .

my mate threw one of these "refugees" down a flight of stairs at dandy station a couple weeks ago  :laugh:

[rajah21]

defs accept, afterall, they are people..
i invite kurrymuncher to share his views on this controversial issue...

meh, this thread is a waste of time, since the OP is most likely going to launch some kind of hate campaign on SL.

I didn't make this thread with the intention of launching an anti-SL campaign via cyberspace. I referred to the Government in my previous post simply to highlight how dealing with asylum seekers while failing to address the cause of them does little in solving the problem.

However, whether the international community should be held responsible for resolving these causes is another aspect of the issue altogether. Any thoughts?

[xXNovaxX]

Of course they are. That is the solution requires INTERNATIONAL effort.

Climate change, war, genocide, fear of persecution, famine and disease are the cause of 99% of asylum seekers in corrupt/developing/dictatorship countries and the only place they can escape to is the Western world (which does not compromise much of the world). As a result Australia, US, UK, are burdened with much of the world's refugees.

I read an article that in a couple of decades Australia will have climate chnage refugees form the millions of islands (well thousands) in the Pacific who will have had their islands flooded and submerged under sea. Now THATS where the issue will be, not the handful of Sri Lankan, Afghan refugees which arrive.

Also Australia is surrounded by developing nations and we are working with them via Aid program, development works to help them grow.

[ninwa]

defs accept, afterall, they are people..

But then, where do you draw the line? And where's the incentive for people to apply for visas legitimately?

[xXNovaxX]

i dont particularly like their blackmail (to blow up the boat, well wont give you the name of the people smuggler who arranged this unlessu u let us in etc etc)
, but i do feel a bit of sympathy for them..... i just hope they wont be like those fukn sudanese 'refugees' who form gangs and terrorize n stab ppl in Noble park .

my mate threw one of these "refugees" down a flight of stairs at dandy station a couple weeks ago  :laugh:

goes back to my point how so many refugees fail to fit into society.