Boat People

noco said:

Asti, I do not know where you obtained your imformation regarding the refugee allowances or how you checked the authenticity, but I have been advised from reliable sources, it is NOT true.

Suggest yiu check again.

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Debunked here;

http://www.hoax-slayer.com/refugee-payment-hoax.shtml

I thought the extra was from non-government aid organizations?

moXJO said:

I thought the extra was from non-government aid organizations?

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No. Any such assistance would be on an ad hoc basis. Certainly not paid on any regular basis.

Happy said:

Not long before we get to boat a day, then it will be great Border Control achievement if we will only get a boat every second day (50% reduction).

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Happy mate. These were the scenes in Tanjung Pinang yesterday after word quickly spread that Australia is offering to the first 5000 a free holiday on Christmas Island followed up by ferry transfer to Australia where more suitable accommodation will be offered.

Happy said:

Not long before we get to boat a day, then it will be great Border Control achievement if we will only get a boat every second day (50% reduction).

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Given 1,700 people arrived last year, and the numbers haven't risen to the degree warranted by much of the hysteria, that would perhaps maybe possibly be a teeny weeny chance only if people started arriving by canoe

This pick a country to be REFUGEE is a joke and we are taken for a ride.

If they were political refugees there was DEMOCRATIC COUNTRY INDIA only less than 20 km away.

If you want to come to Australia as economic refuge, please take a number and wait in a queue, we take great deal of you in organised fashion!

Wysiwyg said:

Happy mate. These were the scenes in Tanjung Pinang yesterday after word quickly spread that Australia is offering to the first 5000 a free holiday on Christmas Island followed up by ferry transfer to Australia where more suitable accommodation will be offered.

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Pretty funny, Wysiwyg. Thanks.

Todays Australian
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/new...ing-us-like-mugs/story-e6frg6zo-1225799013258

Rudd is treating us like mugs
Paul Kelly, Editor-at-large From:
The Australian November 18, 2009 12:00AM

THERE is an emerging credibility gap in the Rudd government's navigation of contentious policy issues, a compulsion that denies the obvious and rests on the apparent assumption that Australians are mugs.

There are many examples but the issue of asylum-seekers offers compelling evidence. Kevin Rudd invested much time in parliament on Monday insisting that the 22 asylum-seekers who first left the Oceanic Viking were receiving no preferential arrangement. Asked by 3AW's Neil Mitchell last week if there was special treatment, the Prime Minister replied: "Absolutely not." Yet the terms set out by the Minister-Counsellor Immigration in the Jakarta embassy, Jim O'Callaghan, to the asylum-seekers suggests a set of detailed special arrangements. They were authorised by the Rudd government's border protection committee of cabinet chaired by Immigration Minister Chris Evans.

The Australian's Jakarta correspondent Stephen Fitzpatrick reported yesterday that the Oceanic Viking people were quarantined from others because of resentment at their preferential conditions courtesy of the Rudd government.

There are three key provisions in O'Callaghan's document: if the UNHCR has found a person to be a refugee they will be resettled within four to six weeks of disembarkation; if an individual has already registered with the UNHCR they will be resettled within 12 weeks of disembarkation; and if people are not yet registered and are found to be refugees, they will also be resettled within 12 weeks. These provisions are highly generous. It is no surprise they are exceptional within UNHCR Indonesian operations. There are many refugees in Indonesia and none is given resettlement in four to six weeks.

The Australian offer included English language and orientation classes while cases are being processed. A "highly professional" team of Australian officials will work "every day" to assist refugee applications. The Red Cross will assist in tracing family members. The Sri Lankans were told many services will be provided in the resettlement country and these may include "assistance with housing, medical care and counselling, income support, English language tuition and help to find a job".

Rudd has been desperate to persuade the Sri Lankans to disembark in Indonesia. He had rightly drawn a line in the sand; he would not allow the boat to come to Christmas Island and he had a victory yesterday with reports that all Sri Lankans would disembark after the past month's protracted agony.

To grasp the nature of the special arrangement, consider the following: at October 1 there were 1760 registered asylum-seekers in Indonesia and 573 people recognised as refugees by the UNHCR in Jakarta; the typical delay time for processing and resettlement far exceeds 12 weeks and usually runs beyond 12 months. Australia, in short, is fast-tracking the Oceanic Viking people.

Evans said last week that Australia was "more likely to get the larger proportion" as the final destination. The exceptions to this, mentioned by Evans, was "if, for instance, they've got a first cousin living in Canada". Decoded the message is most are headed for Australia. However, this is far from the normal arrangement.

About 1300 people have been resettled from Indonesia to third nations in recent years and Australia has taken about one-third, with the rest going to Canada, the US, New Zealand, Sweden and France. Having rejected force to remove people, Australia had only one option left: it had to persuade them. Nobody should be surprised at the inducements offered. It was the price Rudd had to pay to keep the boat out of our territory. The price is justified. After the shambles of the past month it is a relief that Australia did not have to offer more. The criticism of Rudd is not that he paid such a price; it is that he pretends he paid no price whatsoever. He seems to think almost any line can be spun and will be believed, even when it is nonsense.

On Monday Rudd tabled a letter in parliament from Immigration Department Secretary Andrew Metcalfe to Evans, dated the same day. It was a classic example of recruiting under duress a senior public servant to buttress the government's line. The letter is a study in fact and political evasion. On tabling Metcalfe's letter, Rudd claimed it showed from the perspective of the departmental secretary "that these are not preferential arrangements". The letter shows nothing of the kind. Indeed, it is significant that Metcalfe avoids any such formulation.

He merely says that the group is being treated in a manner "consistent with that afforded to any other asylum-seeker or refugee in Indonesia". He does, however, say that Australia and Indonesia have agreed on "timeframes for the processing", which may imply a special arrangement. Requesting such a letter achieved nothing and the request should not have been made. Yet Rudd persisted in using Metcalfe as a shield and, responding to criticism from Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull, he claimed that Turnbull was disputing advice from "the independent Public Service of Australia". On the contrary, it shows the government stooping to use the public service to buttress a bad case.

It is noteworthy that Rudd was not involved in authorising the offer to the Sri Lankans. He told parliament on Monday that he was unaware of the offer's terms and did not authorise it. Turnbull seemed to find this unbelievable. But Rudd's denial was unequivocal. It stands despite his subsequent clarification that the cabinet committee that did approve the offer contained Rudd's staff.

The real point is that the Rudd government authorised a necessary special deal and, embarrassed about its domestic ramifications, tried to deny the obvious.

Good story bigdog. Apparently other other asylum seekers at the centre are not happy with the Tamils being queue jumped ahead of them and given better conditions.

The Australian's Jakarta correspondent Stephen Fitzpatrick reported yesterday that the Oceanic Viking people were quarantined from others because of resentment at their preferential conditions courtesy of the Rudd government.

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Mr Rudd explains the special deal, which he wasn't aware was being made;

"A second set of circumstances other than those that pertain to the general application of Australian and Indonesian arrangements under these circumstances with the UNHCR."

Calliope said:

Mr Rudd explains the special deal, which he wasn't aware was being made;

"A second set of circumstances other than those that pertain to the general application of Australian and Indonesian arrangements under these circumstances with the UNHCR."

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The control freak not being aware of deals being made regarding the biggest political headache he is currently handling?

Methinks Krudd is being a little "creative" with his "recollection of events".

Populism Trumps Policy

http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/po...-plays-catchup-on-refugees-20091117-ikdy.html

A refugee on Christmas Island, awaiting resettlement to Australia, was approached by a beautiful fairy.

'Good man,' the fairy said, 'I've been sent here by Prime Minister Rudd and told to grant you three wishes, since you just arrived from Sri Lanka with your wife and eight children.'

The man told the fairy. 'Well, where I come from we don't have good teeth, so I want new teeth, maybe a lot of gold in them.'

The fairy looked at the man's almost toothless grin and -- PING ! -- he had a brand new shining set of gold teeth in his mouth!

'What else?' asked the fairy, 'two more to go.'

The refugee claimant now got bolder. 'I need a big house with a three car garage in Australia's premier real estate location, preferably on the water with ten bedrooms for my family and the rest of my relatives who still live in my country. I want to bring them all over here'.

PING ! -- in the distance there could be seen a beautiful mansion with a three car garage, a long driveway, a walkout patio with a BBQ in an upscale neighbourhood overlooking the bay.

'One more wish', said the fairy, waving her wand.

'Yes, one more wish' said the Sri Lankan, 'I want to be like an Australian with Australian clothes instead of these rags I'm wearing. And I want to have white skin like Australians. . and --

PING ! -- The man was transformed, with white skin and wearing worn out jeans, a faded t-shirt and a baseball cap. He had his bad teeth back and the mansion had disappeared from the horizon.

'What happened to my new teeth?' he wailed.. 'Where is my new house?'

The fairy said 'Tough luck, sonny boy - no more freebies for you - you have to fend for yourself now that you're a white Australian.'

Mofra said:

The control freak not being aware of deals being made regarding the biggest political headache he is currently handling?

Methinks Krudd is being a little "creative" with his "recollection of events".

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Yea, pull the other leg, this one is not responding.

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' ASYLUM '.
Today's program features another chance to take part in our exciting competition:
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Congratulations Boggo, an excellent summary of the situation. Maybe it should have included the information that if they hijack the rescue boat they will receive even more favoured treatment than those already in the system.

Rudd as a spinmeister is at the top of his game, but no amount of spin can conceal the fact that if a group of Tamils had seized control of an aircraft under similar circumstances and coerced the captain to take them to an alternative destination they would have been treated as hijackers and would now be in jail.

Boggos post said it all, I will spend this weekend trying to help raise money for our grand daughter's school so they can have AC for this summer.

''Question time is dominated by 78 people on a boat. We have around 50,000 visa overstayers every year,'' he said of people who arrive by plane rather than boat. ''Is anyone saying this is a national crisis? One reason there is no outrage is that these people are mainly white and speak English. Is anyone demanding we clean out the backpackers' hostels of Bondi and Surry Hills?''

http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/polit...er--pity-that-its-not-rudd-20091028-hl00.html ........... For the full article.

Mofra said:

The control freak not being aware of deals being made regarding the biggest political headache he is currently handling?

Methinks Krudd is being a little "creative" with his "recollection of events".

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Just the fact that the government wouldn't use force to remove them from the Oceanic Viking is, in itself, special treatment.

They'd have no hesitation is using force to remove you or me from a government vessel if we refused to budge.
But then again, I'm a white Australian - I'm used to being discriminated against.

Surprise surprise, riot between Afgan and Sirilancan refugees at Christmas Island Centre and who is to blame?

Australia, because we keep them in overcrowded detention centre!

I wander if anybody thought the people involved might do the same when allowed entry to Australian cities.

But then we pick up lots of people from war torn countries so we just have to brace and wear whatever comes our way.

Just perfect material for truly multicultural country boiler getting loaded to errupt one day.

Boggo said:

G'Day and welcome to a brand new edition of :


' ASYLUM '.
Today's program features another chance to take part in our exciting competition:
Hop on a boat
And win
A COUNCIL HOUSE !
We've already given away hundreds of millions of dollars and thousands of dream homes, courtesy of our sponsor,
The Australian Taxpayer.

Click to expand...

That (and the remainder of the post) could quite possibly the most inaccurate load of tripe posted on this thread thus far.

Any facts to add to appease the applaudits as well, or just more "brown people are bad, m'kay" type e-mail chains to post?