3. Indonesia should accept Muslim refugees.
Indonesia is racked by internal strife and economic instability. It already has a million internally displaced people.
The Refugee Review Tribunal has repeatedly stated that asylum seekers should not be sent to Indonesia, as Indonesia is likely to send them back to their home country regardless of the danger
they may face there.
(Indonesia has not signed the 1951 UN Refugee Convention or related Protocol which obliges signatories to consider claims for asylum.)
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Wealthy, stable countries can, and should, shoulder more of the burden. Norway has a population of 4.5 million, a quarter that of Australia, but granted asylum to 10 000 refugees last year.
4. People who arrive unauthorised are not "genuine" refugees
On average, 84 per cent of people arriving in Australia unofficially, by boat, are found to be legitimate refugees. In 1999, 97 per cent of applicants from Iraq without valid visas, and 93 per
cent of those from Afghanistan, were found to be genuine refugees.
(Source: Department of Immigration & Multicultural Affairs)
The Australian Government’s approach seems premised on the view that only those who apply for asylum offshore, under its Refugee and Special Humanitarian Program should be considered more
truly "deserving" than those who arrive unauthorised — a totally unrealistic approach, considering the dangers and bureaucratic hurdles that most asylum seekers face.
5. Refugees will create unemployment and "steal" Australians’ entitlements.
Refugees may require initial settlement support, and are entitled to such support under the UN Refugee Convention. Like migrants, refugees create demand for goods and services, stimulating the
economy and generating growth and employment. Many are well educated, bringing skills that may be in short supply.
6. Boat people are "queue jumpers", stealing the places of "genuine" refugees waiting patiently in camps.
Many boat people have come from the refugee camps. There are more than 1.2 million Afghans people in refugee camps in Pakistan, and about 1.3 million in camps in Iran.
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Refugees in the camps often find they have to pay large bribes to processing officials, to have their claims assessed.
In many of the countries generating high numbers of refugees, including Iraq and Afghanistan, there is no Australian diplomatic presence and no "queue" for would-be emigrants to
join. Even to express a desire or intention to leave can be dangerous.
7. Boat people are rich because they can afford to pay people smugglers
A truly well-off person can afford other methods of getting to Australia than by making a perilous sea journey in an unreliable craft.
This is an extract from a fact sheet complied for the Multicultural Development Association by Brisbane City Council in September 2001. An updated version of
full paper can be downloaded here (pdf, 100kb).
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