Just looking on Google Earth, found Christmas island Detention center. They obviously have Internet as there were postings on the page, this is a quote.
From a Detainee. :
Recent Reviews
Detention Centre Christmas Island
- Dec 15, 2010.
"Probably the most desirable aspect of the accommodation is the beautiful views, which sadly are interrupted by barbed wire. Staff can be a little unfriendly and not very helpful in your needs. Although meals can be catered according to your culture/religion, they are nothing to write home about. As for the surrounding National Park, i hear it is quite nice but the staff will not let you venture there. Not really recommended, lodgings on the mainland would be much more fitting for human habitation."
Call me racist but is this over the top?
My mother was a Matron in the infectious disease hospital in Adelaide many many years ago. Their claim to fame was that they helped stamp out diseases in Australia like Diphtheria, Typhus, Polio, TB etc. I worked in Q'ld health for a while and these diseases are coming back via illegal entrance to Australian shores, this is one good reason to have off shore camps. This gives time to find out who these people are and time for any disease to incubate and show.
Take a look at the page for yourselves and be the judge.
-- Edited by Dreamcaster51 on Friday 6th of April 2012 12:16:47 PM
They are only required to provide survival strategies in detention according to the UN. Because of all the variables we can't let them in and give them free reign in the community until their identity and health conditions and elligibility to refugee status are established.
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20ft Roma caravan - Mercedes Benz Sprinter - SA-based at the moment. Transport has no borders.
Management makes the decisions, but is not affected by the decisions it makes.
I feel sorry for the legitimate assylum seekers who get pushed further and further down the list because of the illegals.
There is no such thing as an "illegal" or "illegitimate" refugee. That is a contradiction in terms. International laws to which Australia is a signatuary, require us to provide safe haven to any refugee who arrives, regardless of how they arrive.
People fleeing for their lives are not privy to the subtleties of the politics of the various nations where they seek a safe place to shelter. They have never heard of "queues" or "the right way to apply".
The whole concept of queue jumping is a political lie. It is total rubbish.
I recomend learning first hand from those who have fled their own beloved country in order to save their and their family's lives and listen to some of their stories. I met a 19-year old man from Sudan who had witnessed his brother being hacked to pieces with a machetti. He helped his brother's wife and small family to escape.
They trudged for 3 months across the desert and the two youngest children died of dehydration. They didn't have enough energy to bury them and had to leave their little bodies by the side of the road. After years in a refugee camp where there was a constant danger of murder and rape, they were finally able to get to Australia.
Well educated and having worked very hard in an abotoir in NSW, they are now rebuilding their lives. One day, when it is safe, they wish to return to Sudan.
While people smugglers are sometimes (but NOT ALWAYS) part of organised crime, you can't take this out on the victims. They deserve protection regardless of how they get here. Frequently, the only information they have is what they have been told by the smugglers.
Remember, 95% of so called "unauthorised" entrants into Australia come by air. They get treated in a completely different way to those who come by boat. WHY?
I saw on this thread reference to the quarantine issue as a comment on the merits of offshore processing. It is not an issue. Since colonial times we have managed quarantine effectively on the mainland. Offshore processing has only one purpose and that is political.
The deep emotional scars that most refugees bear due to their traumatic experiences at home are only exacerbated by being incarcerated without any idea of how long they will be suffering this fate. Even criminals, which these unfortunate peole are not, know when they will be released. It is cruel and inhumane to take away someone's freedom and not allow them to know how long they will rot behind razor wire.
I feel a deep sense of shame over the way we treat others who are much less fortunate than ourselves. Just remmeber, unless you are full-blood aboriginal, you are either an immigrant or the offspring of immigrants.
-- Edited by Clyde Camel on Sunday 8th of April 2012 01:48:31 PM
-- Edited by Clyde Camel on Sunday 8th of April 2012 01:55:58 PM