Andrew Bolt supports the claim that Howard lured boat people to Australia

Andrew Bolt publishes this graph of numbers in immigration detention today, and asks us to note ‘The red dot marks the date Rudd said he go soft” (I am sure he means ‘when Rudd went soft’), and claims that Kevin Rudd’s weakening of our boat people laws has ‘lured’ the boats.

What did Rudd know of this boat and when did he know it?

But here is another graph showing numbers in immigration detention, this time from 1999 to 2009.

Notice the sudden increase for 1999-2001? Temporary Protection Visas were introduced in 1999.

Conclusion: if Rudd’s ‘softness’ towards ‘ asylum seekers has ‘caused’ the increase in boat arrivals, then logically we must conclude that Howard’s policies caused the increase from 1999 to 2001.

In which I painfully admit that a Liberal government was better for asylum seekers

Last weekend some Chinese students studying here and hoping for PR asked me which government is best for migrants. After some painful thought I had to say ‘Liberal’. And followed that with ‘But not that I would ever vote for them!’

Former Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser has just released his memoir: Malcolm Fraser: The Political Memoirs (by Malcolm Fraser and Margaret Simons), and in an interview on the launch said that there ‘maybe’ was a racist culture within the immigration department. Immigration dept is racist: Fraser

I think he’s wrong about the department, but his record gives him some right to criticise.

Fraser blamed the immigration department for policies such as remote detention centres, but it was in fact the Labor government under Paul Keating that introduced mandatory detention.

At the end of the war in Vietnam, the Hawke Labor government accepted Vietnamese refugees but on strict conditions. Prime Minister Whitlam’s personal prejudices played a part in the parsimonious nature of the response. Some of the few who made it to Australia were required, as a condition of their entry, to sign an undertaking that they would not engage in political activity. A recently released departmental file records that Prime Minister Whitlam advised: ‘Do not accept that a person claiming to be a refugee … is entitled to claim residence in Australia’, and warned against repeating the importation of fascists from the Baltic states after the war.

The Fraser government, however, admitted Vietnamese on the sole basis of legitimate claims to refuge, and refugees from Laos and Cambodia were also admitted. The positive stance of the Fraser government continued, and in 1978 Immigration Minister Michael Mackellar announced that it was not illegal to be a refugee, and that the ‘boat people’ were not ‘illegal immigrants’ nor ‘queue jumpers’.

The students I spoke to were probably ‘better off’ under Howard, because they came to Australia under that regime, and now have had the rug pulled from under them in their quest for permanency by the Rudd government’s reforms to student and work visas – but in the end, all international students  will benefit. Those caught in the changeover, however, suffer.

Games may be fun for the Australian Navy – but they kill asylum seekers

Australian Customs and Navy procedures for boarding illegal vessels will be reviewed in an ‘effort to make interceptions safer’, as a result of the Siev 36 explosion, in which five asylum seekers died. Boarding of illegal vessels for review

The review will examine changes in the types of boats and technologies used by people smugglers and illegal fishermen, and possible improvements to the equipment used by customs and defence.

But no mention of the most dangerous and nasty practice of all – the game of ‘cat and mouse’. The coronial inquiry into the Siev 36 affair heard that boarding parties ‘tease’ passengers and crew by talking about turning the boat around and back to Indonesia, even when they are fully aware that the boat is in Australian waters, and so they will not be able to do so. It is likely that the Siev 36 was set on fire by desperate asylum seekers who fell for the ‘trick’.

The Inquiry heard that the Chief Petty Officer of HMAS Albany handed one of the crew a notice in English and Bahasa, the last line of which read: “You should now consider immediately returning to Indonesia with your passengers and not enter Australian territory.”

The Commander of the Albany was ‘surprised’ when he heard of the notice. The SIEV 36 had crossed into Australian territorial waters long before. “This guy could see Ashmore Reef. He could see land,” the Commander said. “It was my expectation that a warning notice would not be issued.”

A senior policeman investigating the explosion asked: “Why is this sort of cat and mouse game played and not telling them where they are going?” Cat and mouse; the deadly game on our borders

Pamela Curr says that this sort of ‘game’ has been happening for years:

“I have asked four people from four different boats — rescued by Navy and Customs since the SIEV 36 disaster —   if they were informed about what was happening to them. I asked specifically if they were told that they were being taken to Christmas Island. In each case they said no. The most recent person was rescued in November 2009”. Navy leaving asylum seekers in the dark about their final destination

Europe murders the undesirables at the border

We are not protected from exploitation and abuse because our fellow citizens are good people – we are protected under the rule of law of our country because we are citizens.

People who leave their countries because they cannot find protection from their own governments, as in Afghanistan, have no protection except for the goodwill of individuals, until they have residence rights in another country.

We have seen a little of what can happen to such unprotected people in Australia, but a report just released by Migreurop: Europe’s murderous borders shows the extent of the persecution that ‘undocumented migrants’ now suffer in the EU. Migreurop calls this the ‘ordeal of the undesirables’.

“While following the example of nationals of rich countries who travel by aeroplane, they could have entered Europe after a flight lasting a few hours, these exiles have spent a lot more to be left in medieval travel conditions.

“Forced to advance step by step, to multiply the use of means of transport that are as dangerous as they are inappropriate (overloaded boats, hiding places in lorries, walking through the most hostile regions…) and to entrust their lives to those who are enriched by the policy of closed borders, in spite of themselves, these adventurers must embark upon a veritable ordeal of the ‘undesirables’.”

The ‘undesirables live in ‘jungles’, unlawful camps in north-western France in which hundreds of Afghan, Eritrean, Iraqi or Sudanese exiles have been surviving for over ten years, in the shantytowns near to the port of Patras in Greece , or in the ‘tranquillos’ in the countryside around Oujda where sub-Saharans waiting to find a way into Europe are forced to survive.

Wherever they are there is the “same concealment, the same makeshift shelters made of plastic and rubbish bags, the same recovered old clothing, the same relegation into a sub-human existence.” The ‘undesirables’ live in fear of refoulements, violence, detention, and harassment.

Extract from an interview in Istanbul on 10/01/2009: “I went to Izmir. From there, we set

off in a small boat. Our boat was so small and there were far too many of us, we were 20. It was in the winter. The waves were very high. The Greek police arrived. Their boat was far larger than ours.

They started creating waves around us. It was dark and very cold. They were going in circles around us and our boat sank. We stayed like that in the water. There was a woman with her little girl, they both died. The water was so cold that I could not feel the blood circulating in my legs. We stayed like that for 12 hours, 12 hours in the water. The others took care of me. I was pregnant at the time, I lost my baby in the water. I was bleeding heavily when they took me out of the water.

We saw a helicopter, I think they were the ones who called the Turkish police. Afterwards, the Turks arrived with a boat and then I fainted. I awoke in hospital”.

Frontex, Poseidon

In the detention facility for migrants in Lesvos, MSF arranges for detained children to see their fathers.

Young would-be asylum seekers wait around on discarded shopping trolleys

Refugees prepared to risk death at sea: Fraser’s Cabinet documents

The Cabinet records of the Fraser government of 1979 have been released, and throw an interesting light on matters of asylum seekers in Australia.

Some documents relate to the boatloads of asylum seekers from Vietnam that were arriving in Australian waters at the time.

The writer of Memorandum 380, Indo-Chinese refugees [A12390, 380] shows astonishing prescience:

“This new situation has all the ingredients for one of the most controversial and divisive issues in Australia’s history. It could well become the dominant political issue during the remainder of the century.”

Indeed.

The writer identified the following issues to be addressed:

• How many refugees could Australia accept without creating serious long-term social and economic problems and disruption?
• How to maintain Australia’s international reputation and standing
• How to maintain and be seen to maintain control over the entry of people to Australia
• How to avoid coming to be seen as a natural or inevitable destination
• And how to do all of the above without producing conflict with countries of transit

As a possible ‘answer’ to the issues, several options are proposed, including ‘Option “D”: deterring arrivals. The assessment of this option?

‘Given the element of compulsion and the fact that Vietnamese domestic policies have made refugees prepared to risk death at sea rather than to remain in Vietnam, this approach is unlikely to be effective.’

Indeed.

There is nothing new under the sun, nor in the sea, it seems.

Some of Australia's earliest boat people

Canada looks set to win the brain drain from India with fast track citizenship

Canada is bidding for the ‘brains’ that are now draining out of Australia and Britain.

Australia has made things harder for foreign students to get PR (permanent residency) through their studies by ending rorts that used study simply as a visa opportunity and encouraging the growth of shonky ‘colleges’ and shady ‘education agents’. International students and temporary workers suffer because of Australian immigration mess

This, along with the recent focus on attacks on Indian students, is drastically reducing student visa applications to Australia. The ‘Indian Issue’ is creating racism

Students from Northern India, Bangladesh and Nepal are also now facing a temporary ban on entry to Britain, which feared foul play after it faced an alarming increase in student visa applications.

Taking the opportunity, the province of Quebec is giving out “certificates of selection” to foreign students who graduate from universities there, putting them on a very fast-track to Canadian citizenship. Quebec Fast-Tracks Citizenship for Foreign Students . Any student who secures a bachelor’s, master’s, or doctoral degree from any university in Quebec will in effect be awarded citizenship after undergoing security and health checks.

The premier of the province, Jean Charest, told Times of India that

“Our vision is that of an open society. Globalisation is not just about economy and numbers; we need to put a human face to it.’’

This ‘globalised human face’ is not just about people, but about exam scores and qualifications.

Don’t be afraid of asylum seekers: mammoths are the real worry!

People like to be scared. Otherwise how would ghost trains and roller coasters make money?

John Humphries takes this one step further to explain why immigrant issues are such big vote winner. The problem with democracy Humphries’ idea is that fear is hardwired into our brains – otherwise we would have all ended up as mammoth fodder – and as the big risks, like large wild animals, disappear from everyday life, we transfer the fear to new and less serious problems.

Humphries claims that because ‘fear’ is hardwired into our brains, as the really big problems disappear, we shift our fear onto new, less-serious, problems. Effectively, we are becoming risk-averse to more and less dangerous things.

Humphries quotes the thesis of Bryan Caplan’s book, The Myth of the Rational Voter, that most  people are not informed about politics, political philosophy or public policy, but vote instead from their ‘preferred beliefs’. Caplan outlines four areas where the average voter gets politics wrong, including “overly-negative impressions about the impact of foreigners”.

It makes sense to me that ‘fear’ can be free-floating, that is, just ‘there’ until it finds something to land on and to be afraid of. And that is why I feel very strongly about public discourse – those of us who speak publically, politicians, journalists, and even bloggers with a handful of readers like me, have a responsibility not to offer ‘straw mammoths’ as a landing pad for fears (anyone care to illustrate that mixed metaphor?), and not to turn one mammoth into a herd.

But in recent weeks I have discovered how difficult this can be. Partisans interpret careful speech as a vote for the other side. And then I get sucked into discussing the mammoth as if it really exists.

Don't be afraid: it's in a cage

Up to 40,000 civilians were killed in secret in Sri Lanka

It has been nearly impossible to get into Sri Lanka in the last 6 months if you are a journalist, but recently Eric Campbell from ABC TV’s Foreign Correspondent made it.

He was not, however, able to access the areas where the final offensive against the Tamil Tigers took place. He and his team tried to Jaffna but were turned back at the checkpoint despite having the right papers.

So Campbell’s is not an eyewitness account, but he did speak with a former senior UN official (anonymously)  who believes that up to 40,000 civilians were killed during this offensive that took place over five months from January to May 2009, virtually unseen by the outside world.

He also spoke to a group of 150 asylum seekers who’d tried to reach Australia. They told him that  when they go and apply for asylum in Colombo at the Australian High Commission; it’s not taken seriously at all, but that they believed there was a much better chance by boat:

“We’ve heard that the way to get into Australia is to actually reach Australian shore; that way you’re claim for asylum’s going to be taken much more seriously”.

Campbell says that you can’t say definitively that they are economic migrants or fleeing persecution.  To them it’s the same:

“They see themselves as being in a position where the war has destroyed their communities, their livelihood, and it’s also made them appear to be traitors to much of the country – particularly the military and the police who are dominated by Sinhalese, which is the main ethnic group.

“So they talk about daily harassment. They talk about not being able to get jobs; about if they get into university they can’t get jobs afterwards. They talk about their friends disappearing, being given anonymous death threats. They feel their country has no future for them, and they have to get out.” Why the Tamils want to flee

Things have changed since the Refugee Convention was drafted in 1950, and now it is difficult to distinguish refugees and asylum seekers, as defined by international instrumentalities, from undocumented migrants seeking havens from extremities not recognised in international refugee law.

International students and temporary workers suffer because of Australian immigration mess

The Rudd government is facing up to the disgraceful mess left by the Howard government, which monetised both education and migration through schemes to link training for specific jobs with PR (permanent residency), and by giving students the right to immediately apply for PR once their studies in Australia are finished.

By equating visas and qualifications with cash, the door was wide open to manipulation of the requirements, and corruption.

Minister Chris Evans is cleaning up the mess, but many students now in Australia will be suffering as a consequence.

Fairfax media is speculating that the Federal Government will cut skilled migration numbers by about 7,000 people in next week’s Budget. Budget axe to fall on skilled migration: report

Around 20,000 people who applied for skilled migrant visas before September 2007 will have their applications cancelled and their fees refunded.

Australia’s skilled migration rules will also be changed, scrapping the MODL, the list of jobs that has been used to assess eligibility for PR (permanent residence visas).

The list of jobs will be replaced with one more focused on highly-skilled work.

Jane Corpuz-Brock, spokesperson for an advocacy group mainly for skilled Filipino workers, says the Government should be researching the actual needs of industry to determine the kind of skills they want, and also the numbers.

If the job they are studying for is not on the new list, foreign students will not be able to apply for a permanent residency visa unless an employer will sponsor them.

This means that some overseas students will lose the chance to apply for permanent residency. Migration revamp leaves students in limbo

Once again, the powerless and voiceless in our community – the people on ‘temporary’ migration visas- have to suffer because of government blunders.

Muslims overwhelmingly support educating girls and boys equally

It is a pity that this is a news item. It only is ‘news’ because of stereotyping  of all Muslims that we in the West construct from the behaviour of a few public figures like Bin Laden.

Do your bit to fight the stereotype, and disseminate the following everywhere you can:
Across predominantly Muslim nations, there is little enthusiasm for the extremist Islamic organizations Hamas and Hezbollah, although there are pockets of support for both groups, especially in the Middle East.

A survey conducted May 18 to June 16, 2009 by the Pew Research Center’s Global Attitudes Project of six predominantly Muslim nations (Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Lebanon, Pakistan and Turkey) and the Palestinian territories, as well as the Muslim population of Nigeria and Israel’s Arab population also finds there is limited enthusiasm for most of the Muslim political figures tested on the survey, with the exception of Saudi King Abdullah, who is easily the most popular.

There is also a widespread perception among Muslims that conflict between Sunnis and Shia is not limited to Iraq’s borders, and many Muslims are also convinced there is a struggle between groups who want to modernize and fundamentalists.

Also of note, Muslim publics overwhelmingly support educating girls and boys equally.

Read the full report at pewglobal.org