This site makes extensive use of JavaScript.
Please enable JavaScript in your browser.
Classic Theme
Thottbot Theme
Asylum seekers - deterring boats
Post Reply
Return to board index
Post by
Squishalot
So, a key issue in Australian politics is the issue of asylum seekers.
Now, Australia doesn't have any issues with taking on asylum seekers - we don't have quite the same 'keep out' policy that some other countries have around the world. The big issue is that:
a) A lot of highly unsavoury people are making some big money through fleecing people who want to come to Australia; and
b) Asylum trips to Australia are generally via boat, and are extremely dangerous (there have been quite a number of deaths over the years).
Given that our political leaders are hopeless at coming up with a strategy to deal with the issue, I thought I'd throw it to 'social media' and see if anybody here has any ideas. How would you successfully deter people from taking huge risks with their lives and paying (relative) fortunes to hop on a leaky boat and travel a quarter of the way around the world, only to find that you *might* be let in?
Post by
322702
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
Aimsyr
You have to understand that a lot of these people are desperate and often have good reasons for leaving their own nations, so unless the situation in their country improves I don't really see any easy way of deterring them - aside from simply refusing to let them in.
Not trying to be negative or anything, but these people are generally desperate to escape to a better place. There's not much that can deter someone when they reach that stage, unless you can convince them Australia is a far worse place to live than wherever it is they come from. However, if you do that, they will simply seek asylum elsewhere.
Just my thoughts on this, I'm sure someone else will be able to provide some actual ideas on how to deter them.
Post by
Squishalot
You have to understand that a lot of these people are desperate and often have good reasons for leaving their own nations, so unless the situation in their country improves I don't really see any easy way of deterring them - aside from simply refusing to let them in.
Oh for sure, definitely. The thing is, I would've thought that an overland trip to Europe would be a helluva lot safer than heading over the Indian Ocean over to Australia.
There's not much that can deter someone when they reach that stage, unless you can convince them Australia is a far worse place to live than wherever it is they come from.
That's one of the political options at the moment - an asylum seeker swap with Malaysia. Running away from the Middle East and ending up in Malaysia isn't the rosy ending that people would hope for.
Post by
164232
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
Squishalot
He just kept turning the boats around didn't he?
As I understand, that solution has been ruled unconstitutional now.
Post by
164232
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
Squishalot
Idiot Abbott keeps rabbiting on about the solution that Labor got rid of, and I thought that may still have been an option. Just goes to show how scary it will be of that clown gets put in charge.
Nah, that one is different - processing in Nauru. I think it's still constitutionally iffy, but it's more likely to be OK'd than physically towing the boats back where they last departed from (which is what Howard was doing before).
Post by
164232
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
331902
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
164232
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
Squishalot
The thing I got from that series, other than the complete horror at how we as a species treat each other, is that often there is only one way out, I suppose one could call it the path of least resistance.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not anti-immigration. The more pressing issue is that the trip itself is overly dangerous (oceanic travel in a wooden boat? Seriously?).
Well, is Australia suddenly short of space? I think you could ship refugees from various camps and relocate them on Australian soil. Educate them, Train them, show the world the way forward.
The Australian Government doesn't have the funds to do it without severely cutting back on existing welfare for Australians, just like every other government in the world. It's got nothing to do with physical space and everything to do with 'a dollar spent on them is a dollar out of our pockets'.
Hypothetically - if a government cut back billions of dollars in aid funding to do just that, do you think the world would approve?
Post by
134377
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
207044
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
1010507
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post Reply
You are not logged in. Please
log in
to post a reply or
register
if you don't already have an account.