Rioters torch Australian immigration centre

[Viva_La_Revolution]

Source: Al Jazeera

Asylum seekers have torched nine buildings at a Sydney detention centre in a night of wild riots with a handful of protesters remaining on rooftops on Thursday as police worked to regain control.

The riots kicked off late on Wednesday at the Villawood Detention Centre with an estimated 100 detainees involved at the height of the drama.

Protesters set an oxygen cylinder alight, which led to an explosion, and nine buildings, including a medical centre and dining hall, were gutted by fire. Firefighters brought the blaze under control early on Thursday and no one was injured.

Around 400 people are held at Villawood. Many of them are asylum seekers, but the facility also houses people who have overstayed their visas.

Read more: http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia-pacific/2011/04/201142123712707273.html

[Rage for Order]

1. That should increase their chances of being granted asylum

What idiots. Clearly these are not the kind of people a country wants to admit into its society.

[mackerel]

2. Bring those guys to the front of the line.

[Rage for Order]

3. It's obvious why their home countries don't want them

They don't get their way so they riot and set shit on fire. I'm sure their home countries couldn't wait to see them go.

[LanternWaste]

7. Of course that's the only reason it could be...

Of course that's the only reason it could be... a valid deductive inference couldn't point to anything but that. :eyes:

[Violet_Crumble]

9. Do you even know what their home countries are? It's a safe bet you don't...

You'll find the vast majority of asylum seekers are from parts of the world that the US has bombed the crap out of. So much for their own countries not wanting them, hey? Next time, try to learn even a tiny bit about an issue before coming out and saying such totally wrong things...

[2banon]

4. hmm..

Seems like there just might be more to the story. People just don't start rioting for the fun of it, imo.

[TheMadMonk]

5. These people paid many many times their home country's median incomes...

...to jump the queue OUT of those countries and force their way into a country where imigration (and more importantly deportation) laws are stacked in their favour. They deliberately destroy the paperwork which might prove or disprove the validity of their asylum claims. They refuse to cooperate in verifying their own identities or stories. And then every couple of years they throw one of these riots, because matters aren't moving fast enough for their liking.

If/when accepted, they steal the legitimate places of their own countrymen, who are left to rot another year or three in the official queue, bottled up in refugee camps rife with rape, theft and every possible human indignity.

[2banon]

6. I thought there was more to this story..

where are they from?

[Violet_Crumble]

10. That's not altogether true either...

While that may be the case for some, that's not the case when it comes to many asylum seekers. Stereotyping all asylum seekers that way isn't helpful at all...

[TheMadMonk]

11. It IS true for the majority of asylum seekers in Australia, who arrive...

...jammed 80-100 (or more) at a time into unseaworthy fishing boats, for which privilege they most certainly paid several thousand dollars per head on top of whatever they paid to get into Indonesia.

Even allowing for a fresh boat every time (a given) and bribes (another given) it's almost all gravy to the people smugglers. And almost ALL OF THE RISK befalls the asylum seekers: at sea in their overloaded and under crewed boats; avoiding being turned back by a coastwatch patrol and being made a problem for Indonesia to officially deal with; and then finally in arguing their case with immigration authorities here.

As soon as the Labour Government softened Australia's imigration stance, the boats started moving.

The next largest batch of problematical "asylum seekers" is a mixture of refugees from the Boxing Day Tsunami who's "hardship visas" expired a considerable time ago and Afghanis on expired "temporary protection visas" who figure (quite possibly correctly) there's a better future for them in Australia than back in the home they AGREED TO RETURN TO, as a condition of the granting of their original visas.


Given that the ringleaders have had their asylum applications twice refused, there is a very good chance those ringleaders are sacrificing nothing in the hope that the Government will pressure Immigration to "let through" a batch and bleed off a little steam. Remember these people have a large tribal component to their thinking. And if jailed, there's a slight but non-zero chance they might even get a third bite at the cherry on their release.


I don't as a matter of fact stereotype ALL refugees/asylum seekers in any way. However, I strongly suspect that I have this lot properly pegged.

[Violet_Crumble]

13. I'd be very surprised if it was. Where are the stats supporting yr claim?

I'd really like to see where yr getting this info from. See, I can understand anger being directed at people smugglers, but not at the asylum seekers themselves, who are victims of not only the smugglers, but also Australia's ridiculous system where it behaves as though there's not enough room here for even a few thousand refugees, and in many cases, are victims of US foreign policy, something which Australia blindly follows along with...

Seeing as how that 'temporary protection visa' arrangement was put in place by the very RW Howard govt, and is incredibly ridiculous, it should have been changed long ago so that people weren't being sent back to places that are incredibly dangerous. Or have I missed something and Afghanistan is now safe? I don't think our system during the Howard era is anything to be the slightest bit proud of. Things were so bad back then that I know people who didn't apply for jobs at Immigration because they couldn't stand Howard's policies in that area...


Here's some information on our mandatory detention system. http://www.hreoc.gov.au/about/media/media_releases/2011/17_11.html

And an FAQ on refugees and asylum seekers http://www.hreoc.gov.au/human_rights/immigration/asylum_seekers.html#process

[TheMadMonk]

14. Let's see. All our detention centres are full to bursting.

We're reopening centres that were closed once the previous govt's policies stopped the boats. We're housing more and more assylum seekers in motels and other places throughout the community. The immigration housing budget has blown out through the roof. That should do for stats.

Yes they are victims of people smugglers. However, they were also people of some affluence and means in their home countries, who used that affluence to deliberately seek out and purchase the services of those smugglers. They are not being tricked and trafficked into slavery/debt bondage. They used their privileged positions to take unfair advantage over those of their countrymen who have already lost everything, if they had anything of substance to begin with.


Howard's or not, those TPVs have legal standing. And we have in fact allowed a considerable number to take up permanent residency and voluntarily repatriated a good many more. Most of those left are single men of dubious provenance, with few useable skills.


A few thousand refugees is not a problem. Hell, the cheapest sollution by far would be simply to dump the lot of them on the dole and let the jobseeker system do the work of integration. The problem is, that however many are taken in, there are always going to be far, far more behind them with stories every bit as horrific. And a reputation as a soft touch simply invites a greater proportion to start shoving in that direction.


Australia simply cannot afford to increase it's already generous migration rate without taking a hit to our standard of living. We don't have the housing, and we don't have the infrastructure to support it.


Afghanistan is as safe as it's likely to get any time soon. For whatever reason, the ringleaders of this riot HAVE been refused twice. Further delay cam only disimprove their situation upon their inevitable return.


I am aware that to a greater or lesser degree, we do have some ownership of the situation that has driven these asylum seekers onto our doorstep. However we would ALL be better served by dealing with the political and ecconomic situations at home which give us that ownership, not guiltily, and completely ineffectually taking ownership of problems caused by decisions we have allowed (if we ever truly had the power to prevent) to be made outside our control.

We can if we choose, force our governments to govern in the proper sense of regulation and maintenance of equilibrium. However, today we expend almost all of our political capital as a voting population on attempting to take of control each other and next to none at all on regulating those who possess inherent powers to take control over us AND who are the true authors of the misery which forces people to make refugees of themselves.

[Marrah_G]

12. unless sports are involved !!!!!!

[leftynyc]

8. I'm sure the Australian govt

will just rush their visas right on through and make these fools citizens. Anyone involved in this should be deported immediately.