Asylum seekers: the uncertainty and the separation

Many of the people we have damaged are now living among us with the problems we gave them. Some may never recover. Is the Coalition proposing we go down this path again?

Australians have made it clear over a number of years that they don't want these kinds of punishments handed out to innocent people, to women and children in particular.

Among the fleeing Tamils on the boat docked in Western Java this week, authorities discovered “Captain Bram” - the same people smuggler who transported 83 Tamils to Australia in 2007 under the Coalition’s Pacific Solution policy. Whether his human cargo is taken to the indefinite exile of Nauru, or to Christmas Island, or if they don’t make it all, is obviously not Bram’s concern. Bram will continue his business regardless of Australian domestic policies.

While it is important that Australia maintains control of its borders it is vital to remember that the boats arriving contain human beings who are likely to have already faced persecution and suffering. Australia should not be deliberately causing further harm to these people under any circumstances. If anything we should be focusing on the conflicts in the source countries and not on the tiny numbers who manage to get on a boat.