Jul. 22nd, 2013

Refugees

Jul. 22nd, 2013 08:13 pm
emma_in_dream: (Default)
The proposed Papua New Guinea ‘solution’ to refugees is so horrible that I can’t express my shame. I don’t understand why Rudd doesn’t just propose withdrawing from the United Nations Convention rather than circumventing it in this ill-spirited way. For the benefit of non-Australians, a random distinction has been drawn regarding the method by which refugees approach Australia and anyone coming in a boat will never be allowed on-shore. They are to be processed in PNG, if their status cannot be decided they will be held indefinitely in camps which are so bad that there are routinely riots, self-mutilations and suicides, and if they are found to be refugees they will then live in PNG.


And to add insult to injury, this major policy was obviously in development for years and yet somehow Rudd gets to claim the ‘benefit’ of it whereas under Gillard the media coverage was all about her personality, physical appearance and the internal jockeyings of the Labor party.


Absolutely the only ray of sunshine I can see is that very few other nations will be able to follow in our footsteps – only island nations like Japan, New Zealand, I guess the United Kingdom will be able to ‘protect their borders’ in this way.


There are a lot of scare quotes in this rant but the right dominate the debate to such an extent that this is the way that it is framed.

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