The Australian Christian Lobby today called for all parties to stop playing politics with the refugee issue and to co-operate on a solution that addresses both the real needs of refugees and our necessary border protection.
“We have people in urgent need of refuge and other people who will try and take advantage of any system we institute to make money, and any solution must address both realities,” said Mr Wallace.
“Unfortunately we have both major parties playing politics with this trying to marginalise the others’ solutions and the Greens throwing up anything that will profit politically from the predicament of both. Australian voters and more importantly those in real need and danger deserve better,” he said.
“No solution to this problem is going to be perfect, but if we know a minimum of eight boats may have vanished in the last two years making money for people smugglers, clearly we must break this criminal model,” said Mr Wallace.
“At the same time refugee camps are full of people in real need, and with 750,000 likely to die in camps holding Somalian refugees in just the next few months, surely there are urgent needs to be addressed.
“Both parties’ solutions could be made to work, and are probably part of the solution. We need to concentrate more on an overlay of the necessary measures and strong oversight to ensure both compassion and justice in their implementation,” said Mr Wallace.
“Australians must reject the politics being played here and demand better of all parties.
“I am particularly annoyed when I am in receipt of a number of pleas for help from people living under threat of their lives as minorities having escaped trouble spots, and see both politics and criminality impeding our ability to address these real needs,” said Mr Wallace.
Maybe its time we took this problem out of the hands of the politicians and created a special department of heads of immigration, social services, humanitarian and criminal bodies who could make recommendations quickly. This problem is not going to go away so we need to plan it as well as we do services for the aged or any future plan. Maybe we need a Department of Refugees, like the Housing arm of the Military to house refugees economically but with strict regulations as to our laws, religion etc…
How can any party justify the waste of money which left Nauru in such a delapidated state just to be given the chance to do things their way, Let’s use what we have got and spend the money here on the refugees instead of spending millions stopping the boats and sending them back, getting more, then housing and resettling them……
It is very disturbing to know of such hardship to so many people and it would be wonderful to find a solution asap; the 2 things that is also disturbing with “boat people”, (1) what of the poor desparate people who dont have anything…no money, no homes, no family to help, it would appear the “real” desperates are not on the boats; boat people seem to have plenty of money to pay these smugglers, make plenty of demands and expect to be treated with priority once here; why dont they apply through the proper channels (maybe they know they wont be accepted that way?)(2) there always seems to be mostly young healthy men on the boats, why is that? where are the all the women, grandparents etc.I would have thought that real refugees would include a cross-section of age groups.
I would have thought “illigel immigrants” would be illigal, as people smuggling is illigal. both parties commit a crime. We really need to find a way to stop smuggling and spend more time and money focusing on the truely desperate, poor refugees.
@Trish – If you live in a war zone and are at risk of being executed because you are from a minority religous denomination (Islam has denominations as does Christianity – Catholic, Baptist etc), you are just lucky if you have enough money to escape, that doesn’t make you less worthy.
As for “proper channels”, war-torn countries such as Afghanistan and Iraq (where a majority of ‘boat people’ come from)don’t have embassies (or ‘proper channels’) where asylum seekers are able to apply for visas to come to Australia.
Third point – according to Australia’s legal obligations under international law (treaties which we signed willingly, these laws were not forced upon us), make it legal for asylum seekers to come to Australia and ask for asylum once they arrive here.
Dear Jim and Lyle,
Thank you for giving leadership on the issue of refugees and the illegal immigration by the “boat people”.
You are so right to call for no politicing by the Government and The Opposition. They just have to be able to speak with one voice on the principles to be applied.
I am glad you have made a stand and a statement as I hoped you would when I emailed on the matter to the ACL National Office on 20th August 2011, as well as committing all the personnel engaged in out Nation on the matter to my daily prayers, and still doing.
I hope to see a raft of provisions made for those genuine refugees that gives them a “sponsor” in the land (either individual or an authority body), gives them accommodation and work to do that is paid, and gives them no family reunion rights or citizenship but a return ticket when their homeland is safe again. Refugee Children need to be assigned to Refugee guardian father and mother or returned to where their parents are, if they can be located.
Keep up the great Christian advocacy on life of mankind.
God’s blessing on you all.
Wally
Refugees are a difficult problem. How do we determine real motives? But more to the point, who is vetting the legal refugees at source? Is the system balanced without bias towards say, Moslems at the expense of Christians. I have taught in migrant centres in Sydney and NESB programs here in Queensland. I have to say I am not impressed by the moral and ethical standards of many of our non-Christian participants. While we do not want any form of Fifth Column in our intake, a bipartisan approach would surely be preferable to what we have now. Unfortunately, it seems, politicians seek their own job security before that of anybody else – whether in relation to immigration, ‘gay’ marriage or whatever.
Refugees are indeed a difficult problem. The fact is the whole world is in great need of truth and freedom and the right to live in peace. But you can’t have peace in this world until the Prince of Peace returns. So the only workable solution left for nations is to protect their borders from all illegal entry and to give as much aid as possible to find solutions for nations in conflict. For the refugee then on the high seas he is well and truly up the creek without a paddle. In order for him not to be in this position in the first place requires policy that makes it an unacceptable risk to both transporter and customer.
There are thousands of refugees still waiting in camps eg. malaysia who have gone through the “system” UNHCR ie. they are proven to be true refugees and yet they sit in camps for generations in some cases. If we are going to be fair- follow the rules – these people have precedence in my opinion. There are rules in order to have order-try getting on a bus without a queue!!
As for those in Australian detention centres- it is not what they want but they are safe and have a chance of being allowed to stay and how do some repay? by burning and destroying the facilities- we have enough problems here without allowing people like that to dictate what they will or will not do-if they will not wait their turn as others have then send them back or make them live in what they have destroyed, maybe then they will be grateful for what they have especially compared to what they left.
Jim did good on QandA last night, don’t you think??!