Australia announces Papua New Guinea asylum deal

[dipsydoodle]

Source: BBC News

People arriving by boat to seek asylum will no longer be resettled in Australia but will go to Papua New Guinea, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has announced.

The news came as Mr Rudd set out an overhaul of asylum policy ahead of a general election expected shortly.

Australia has seen a sharp rise in the number of asylum-seekers arriving by boat in recent months.

Mr Rudd said the "hard-line decision" was taken to ensure border security.

Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-23358329

---

THE Greens have slammed the PM's plan to send asylum-seekers arriving in Australia by boat to PNG, saying it was a "hideous" place.

Kevin Rudd today made the announcement alongside a contingent of PNG ministers and the Prime Minister Peter O'Neill.

"This is to ensure that the message to people smugglers is made loud and clear that the hopes they sell to their customers is nothing but false hope," Mr Rudd said.

Mr Rudd said that it was a tough line approach but was important given the "scourge" of people smugglers.

"Any asylum-seeker will have no chance of being resettled in Australia," Mr Rudd said.

Read more: http://www.news.com.au/national-news/kevin-rudd-announces-asylum-seeker-policy-as-boat-detected-near-west-australian-oil-platform/story-fncynjr2-1226681915951#ixzz2ZTYUV6M4

[davidpdx]

1. Where are most of the asylum seekers coming from?

I guess I'm just curious since Australia is quite a ways from anywhere except for Indonesia, Malaysia or New Zealand. They must be coming from Africa or SE Asia.

[dipsydoodle]

2. I believe most are from Indonesia.

With this latest news its difficult to search because the news has swapped google.

[Violet_Crumble]

3. Apparently most come from Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Iran...

'At January 31, 2013, 47 per cent of detainees were Sri Lankan nationals, 13 per cent from Iran and 11 per cent from Afghanistan.'
http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/1295782/Asylum-seekers-Where-Australia-stands

[dipsydoodle]

4. Guess I was wrong then

thanks for that link.

[Violet_Crumble]

6. No worries. I stumbled across an interesting article on asylum seekers today....

It's dispelling a few of the most commonly held myths about asylum seekers that float around and I was surprised to see the article appear in what's usually a pretty crap and conservative-leaning news source...

Ten myths around asylum seekers arriving on boats in Australian waters


DO you believe that thousands of illegal boat people are swamping our shores in unprecedented numbers and threatening Australian jobs and the economy?

You wouldn't be the only person to do so - and you'll be hearing more about it as politicians jockey for your vote ahead of the federal election.

Asylum seekers arriving on boats in Australian waters is likely to be one of the top issues debated throughout the election campaign.

News.com.au explains 10 boat-people myths.


Myth 1: We are being swamped

REALITY: The number of people arriving in Australia to claim asylum jumped by more than a third last year to 15,800 people, driven by an increase in arrivals from Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Australia resettles the third largest number of refugees of any country per capita, but actual Australia's asylum seeker numbers, while politically sensitive, remain numerically small. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) says Australia receives about three per cent of the total asylum claims made in industrialised countries around the world and, "by comparison, asylum levels in Australia continue to remain below those recorded by many other industrialised and non-industrialised countries".


Myth 2: We're a magnet compared to other countries

REALITY: Nearly half a million - 493,000 - asylum claims were lodged in industrialised countries last year, the second highest number on record after 2003, as war, civil strife, political repression and sectarian violence continue to force movements of populations across borders. Europe received 355,000 asylum seeker claims, while North America had 103,000. In particular, conflict in Syria has prompted a new mass wave of refugees fleeing that country. Afghanistan alone has a diaspora of more than 2.7 million refugees across 71 countries, but more than 95 per cent are in neighbouring Pakistan and Iran.


Myth 3: We take more asylum seekers because we're a rich, First World country

REALITY: According to Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon, the reverse is true. "The burden of helping the world's forcibly displaced people is starkly uneven," he said. "Poor countries host vastly more displaced people than wealthier ones. While anti-refugee sentiment is heard loudest in industrialised countries, developing nations host 80 per cent of the world's refugees."


Read more: http://www.news.com.au/world-news/ten-myths-around-asylum-seekers-arriving-on-boats-in-australian-waters/story-fndir2ev-1226676024840#ixzz2ZTvHuCJ1

[East Coast Pirate]

9. Those damn plane people.

Statistics from 2008 showed at least 13 asylum seekers arrive through Australian airports daily, more than 32 times the number of boat people supposedly ''flooding'' across our maritime borders in that year. A total of 4768 ''plane people'', more than 96 per cent of applicants for refugee status, arrived in that year on legitimate tourist, business and other visas - compared with 161 who arrived by boat during the same period. While boat numbers have increased, Australian Government statistics from the first quarter of 2013 showed more than 90 per cent of asylum seekers who arrived by boat were found to be genuine refugees. In comparison, those who arrived by plane - despite being eligible for release into the community and not having to face years of detention on Nauru or Manus Island - were almost twice as likely to be rejected as refugees. The figure continued a long-term trend of high approval rates for people arriving by boat, with 93.5 per cent being found to be refugees in 2010-11 and 91 per cent in 2011-12.

[davidpdx]

5. That makes sense in terms of what Rudd was talking about smugglers

No one could possibly get that far on their own. It is an awful long way from those countries to Australia.

[Violet_Crumble]

7. I think many of the people smugglers are Indonesian...

I could be wrong on that, but that's what I've heard. I think they're scum of the earth, as they fleece people of all their money and put their lives at great risk by putting them in boats that are unseaworthy. There's been a few sinkings recently http://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/Australia/Baby-dead-8-missing-in-Australia-refugee-boat-sinking/Article1-1091815.aspx as well as one in 2010 where 48 people died http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Christmas_Island_boat_disaster

When people are coming here from countries where there's conflict, I think we should welcome them with open arms. I just wish the people smuggling operations could be shut down..

[davidpdx]

8. Anything to make a buck?

I hear you on that one. It is dangerous and takes advantage of people.

[pampango]

10. "While anti-refugee sentiment is heard loudest in industrialised countries, developing nations host

80 per cent of the world's refugees."

In 2012 Australia (population 23,000,000) accepted 15,800 refugees. In 2012 Sweden (9,500,000) accepted 44,000 refugees. Australia has 2 1/2 times the population of Sweden and accepted 1/3 as many refugees.

"Asylum seekers arriving on boats in Australian waters is likely to be one of the top issues debated throughout the election campaign."

Sounds like conservatives have control of the issues in Australia, too. Similar to our conservatives who want to pour billions into border security due to the misperception (fostered by republican fear tactics) that swarms of illegal immigrants are pouring over our southern border.

[dusty trails]

11. Better than the GOP's "Self Deportation'

Maybe the USA could divert our illegal immigrants to Alaska, where they can see Russia from their porches.