The facts about ‘boat people’ – The government & media are lying
.. it's sorta off topic, yet there is much about refugees and laws setting conditions which should be applied for and to them which apply to countries around the world .. most of all it presents facts which discredit the integrity and the veracity of the Australian approach .. it's very long, yet easy to skim through, with comments, too .. some bits ..
October 29, 2013 by glenn
Image source: AFP – Antonio Dasiparu
Who are ‘boat people’?
‘Boat people’ are asylum seekers who arrive by boat, without a valid visa or any other appropriate authorisation. They’re seeking protection (asylum) because they fear persecution in/from the home country (torture, murder, illegal imprisonment, etc.).
" Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution.”
The terms, ‘illegal immigrants’, ‘illegals’, etc., are completely incorrect.
[...]
Are asylum seekers who arrive by boat treated the same as asylum seekers who arrive by plane?
No. Those arriving by plane aren’t detained. Plus, they can immediately apply for a protection visa, and are typically given a bridging visa while their application is processed. Boat people, on the other hand, are immediately moved to a detention centre, and they can’t immediately apply for a protection visa. Instead, they’re screened into a refugee status determination process to determine whether they’ll be allowed to apply.
[...]
Are they ‘jumping the queue’?
No. There’s no such thing as a queue. Anyone who wants to claim asylum must leave their home country first. So all asylum seekers flee to other countries. Some overland, some by plane, some by boat. Some come to Australia, some go to other countries. This is the standard way to seek asylum. These people are called ‘onshore applicants’.
Are they still genuine refugees if they don’t look battered, bruised and hungry when they arrive?
Yes. The Refugee Convention doesn’t say they have to look battered, bruised and hungry. It says they have to have a well-founded fear of persecution at home.
Do harsh border protection laws deter ‘boat people’?
No. Certainly turn-backs by the navy stop most boats from getting here. But there’s no evidence to suggest this or any other harsh policies on ‘border protection’ stop boat people trying to get here.
According to the UNHCR .. http://www.unhcr.org/53f1c5fc9.html , more people have boarded boats since Abbott instituted his harsh ‘deterrence’ policies, not fewer. More than 54,000 people boarded boats in our region in Jan-Nov 2014. That’s 15% more than the same period in 2013. Approx 540 people are estimated to have died attempting the passage in 2014, and hundreds more are alleged to have died in smuggling camps in Thailand. So tell me, again, how is Abbott saving lives at sea?
According to Professor Jane McAdam (Scientia Professor of Law and the Director of the Andrew & Renata Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law at UNSW), these real-life statistics are supported by research.
"…what we know from the research is that the details of a country’s asylum policy, including deterrence mechanism, have very little influence on an asylum seeker’s choice of destination.”
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