Australia finds no deal to help asylum seekers

Posted on June 30, 2012 by rowenadelarosayoon

The Senate upheld a High Court’s decision to scrap an extra-territorial solution to people smuggled by boat into Australia in a dramatic vote, 39 against 29.

This is a nail in the coffin of Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s benchmark policy to solve human smuggling. It also puts to rest Gillard’s “Malaysian Solution”—a deal that allows Australia to take in 4,000 genuine refugees from Malaysia in exchange for the deportation and processing of 800 boat arrivals within four years.

The High Court ruled out the deal in August last year on the grounds that Malaysia has no legal obligation to protect asylum seekers, a requirement under Australia’s Migration Act.

Refugee coalition groups in Australia also noted Malaysia rejected any responsibility in the protection of refugees and asylum seekers.

In Malaysia, the Lawyers for Liberty based in Selangor earlier supported a memorandum endorsed by various organisations against Australia’s “misguided refugee outsourcing deal.”

We, the undersigned civil society organizations, wish to express our opposition to the proposed Australia-Malaysia bilateral agreement, in principle, to transfer the next 800 asylum seekers seeking asylum in Australia to Malaysia.

Although the terms of the joint agreement remain vague, we are of the view that the Australian Government is making a mistake in arranging this joint agreement with the Malaysian Government which is not a signatory to the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees (“Refugee Convention”). This proposed exchange is a misguided approach in dealing with a complex issue that will cause serious ramifications as Malaysia has a long record of abuse and mistreatment of people seeking protection. This arrangement, if implemented, may lead to the violation of the rights of transferred individuals to Malaysia.

Two boatloads of asylum seekers arrived on Christmas Island, north off Australia in just 10 days. Media reports counted about 130 people were rescued, one body was recovered and three people went down with the vessel. Wednesday’s incident came just days after another boat capsized, with 110 people saved but an estimated 90 killed.

Toddlers are among the latest boat arrivals. (Photo: Danile Wilkins)

The twin tragedies alerted the Federal government. The Lower House convened and passed a bill on Wednesday to allow offshore processing of asylum seekers. However, the breakthrough was immediately dashed off by the Senate on Thursday. Heated debates lasted up to the wee hours of Friday morning.

The bill authored by Independent Rob Oakeshott is called the Migration Legislation Amendment (The Bali Process) Bill 2012. It allows Australia to send asylum seekers to Malaysia and the island of Nauru in the South Pacific for processing.

The Opposition reached a compromise, but the Australian Greens were against the proposed deal and therefore voted against the bill in both houses.

The Parliament will go into a winter recess while more boats are expected to arrive within the next few weeks.

Immigration Minister Chris Bowen pronounced a macabre prediction that more boat people are expected to die while politicians are having a 6-week holiday break, the SBS reported.

A boatload of people is spotted approaching Christmas Island. (Photo: Express MV Bison)

Independent MP Andrew Wilkie also said parliamentarians should not be going into recess when such an important matter remained unresolved.

“We should be sitting today, we should have continued sitting last night, we should sit next week, we should sit until we get a solution,” he told state broadcaster ABC.

“I think there is every chance in the world that more people will die during this six-week recess,” he said.

Gilliard earlier blamed the High Court for Australia’s failure to deal with human smugglers. She said the High Court-Senate is sending a message to people smugglers to load more people to come to Australia.

Amid prolonged parliamentary processes, Gillard announced the formation of a panel composed of “experts” such as former defence chief Angus Houston, former top diplomat Michael L’Estrange and refugee advocate Paris Aristotle. She said the panel will assess all asylum policy options. The “Multi Reference Group of MPs” will also work in consultation with the panel.

Since 1976, more than 27,000 people have risked their lives on boats in a desperate bid to arrive in Australia, a signatory to the 1951 UN Refugee Convention.

Blog Link: Asian Correspondent

Lower House passes offshore asylum processing

Posted on June 28, 2012 by rowenadelarosayoon

Risky arrivals of boat people are non-stop–usually with a tragic end. (Photo: AAP)

Human smuggling is unstoppable. Two incidents of capsized vessels near the Christmas Island are reported this week. Rescue operations have been dispatched to look for survivors.

It has became all-too-ordinary when people are crammed into a boat and sail on treacherous waters with high hopes of reaching Australia— then the boat sinks before it reaches the northern shores.

The Parliament convened this afternoon and grappled with a long-awaited solution. The Lower House finally passed a bill to allow the offshore processing of asylum seekers, a move the Julia Gillard’s Labor Party has been pushing for.

Authored by Independent Rob Oakeshott, the legislation passed 74 votes to 72 following a heated and emotional debate that lasted for almost six hours. Even crossbenchers are reported to have sided with the Government.

Independent MPs Andrew Wilkie, Rob Oakeshott, and Tony Windsor listen during the bill deliberation. (Photo: Alex Allinghausen)

Gillard said a law is needed for the border protection and to assure the legal certainly of offshore processing of asylum seekers.

She told the Parliament it would an act of destruction not to pass laws removing the legal uncertainty over offshore processing of asylum seekers. ”We are on the verge of getting the laws we need….It would be tremendous act of destruction and tremendous denial of the national interest … to conduct yourself in a way which means there are no laws, ” the Age reported.

The bill is aimed at bridging the government’s proposed changes to the Migration Act to allow offshore processing in Malaysia against opposition demands for humanitarian safeguards.

It will allow an immigration minister to designate any nation as an ”offshore assessment country” as long as it was party to the Bali Process, which includes Malaysia.

The coalition had wanted to ensure refugees were only sent to countries which had signed the UN refugee convention, which would exclude Malaysia.

The Australian Greens, however, are not amenable with the proposed legislation. Media reports say they will block the bill in the Senate, and want all parties to take part in a committee to find a long-term solution that respects human rights.

Greens MP Adam Bandt said he would not support the bill ” [because] it rips up the Refugee Convention”.

The bill is now scheduled to face the Senate.

Blog Link: Asian Correspondent

Asylum seekers to experience homestay

Posted on May 5, 2012 by rowenadelarosayoon

Delayed posting of one of the top news stories of the week:

Following the launch of the Community Placement Network (CPN) on May 3, about 5000 asylum seekers will be able to experience a decent life in a homestay program. The 6-week refugee homestay, an initial scheme to ease overcrowded detention centres, is expected to kick off two weeks from now. CPN is designed to accommodate asylum seekers released from detention centres on a Bridging Visa.

Australian Homestay Network (AHN) CEO David Bycroft told ABC more than a hundred applications have been lodged on the first day. Eligible refugees, mostly males of 18-25 years of age, will have the opportunity to stay at accredited Aussie homes. AHN is privately-run homestay accommodation network intended for international students costing $300 per week. Bycrfot said this scheme is the “best model” for processing eligible asylum seekers while waiting for their bridging visas and to eventually transition into community life.

Detainees stage a protest on a rooftop of the Villawood Detention Centre in Sydney in March. (Photo: AP)

Australian media, including News Corp, reported that the Australian Government has offered AHN-member home owners $250-$300 a week to accommodate a refugee guest. It will also pay a weekly stipend of between $220 and $300 to families to cover food and board for detainees. Almost 1000 detainees have been released into the community over the past two months, the paper added.

However, the Blue Mountains Refugee Support Group website clarified media reports on the costs. Quoting Pamela Carr, campaign coordinator of the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre in Melbourne, the guest by the Name of G Winston says, asylum seekers will pay$120- $140 per week for board in an Australian home under the CPN for the first six weeks and they will pay extra for food. “They will pay this out of their CAS payment which is around $215 per week. Asylum seekers get a CAS payment for the first 6 weeks when they leave detention. The CAS payment is the equivalent of 89% of Sickness Benefit (the lowest Centrelink Payment).”

The website also said, costs in detention centres range from $160 – $ 850 per person per night depending on the detention centre’s location. Over 90% of asylum seekers coming by boat are found to be refugees, get visas and will settle in Australia, Carr was also quoted as saying while the Amnesty International confirmed, “we have to remember that ultimately 90% of asylum seekers will be found to be genuine refugees.”

Detainees stage a riot at a Christmas Island detention centre last month. (Photo: Seven News)

Praise for homestay

AI welcomes the CPN initiative as a positive shift to more community-based processing of asylum seekers in Australia. Dr Graham Thom, AI’s refugee spokesperson said the scheme will provide refugees with an opportunity to be introduced to the Australian community.

“We are pleased to see these positive steps relating to the processing of asylum seekers in the Australian community…Community processing initiatives like the CPN are much cheaper than detention, and much more humane, giving asylum seekers the chance to start contributing to Australian society while they wait for their refugee status to be assessed,” says Dr Thom.

The AI has done a research trip to some of the most remote detention facilities across the country and found that the detention centres “incredibly difficult for asylum seekers to understand and engage with the system.” Dr. Thom said once the asylum seekers are released from detention, they often feel isolated and disconnected within the community.

“This is a step forward and it honours Australia’s obligations under the Refugee Convention, but the Government must now continue to work towards increasing the number of bridging visa releases.”

A typical homestay student accommodation facility advertised by a private home owner. (Photo: elsa.sa.edu.au)

Opposition slams homestay

While the CPN is fully supported by human rights organisations, the Federal Opposition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison slammed the plan, claiming it shows the Government’s desperation, recklessness of policy and out of control. He said Australians have been complaining about the rising costs of living and Julia Gillard offered to supplement household incomes by offering rent to asylum seekers.

“Labor’s decision to house adult male asylum seekers released on bridging visas in the spare rooms of Australian families is a desperate, reckless policy from a government that has lost control….The fact Australian families are now being asked to house asylum seekers who have arrived illegally by boat, including those whose claims have been rejected, shows just how desperate Labor have become over their failed border protection policies which have seen almost 17,000 people now arrive on 301 boats.”

However, a spokesman for Immigration Minister Chris Bowen, said: “This is yet another cheap shot from the Coalition, who like to demonise asylum seeker issues.”

The Refugee Advocacy Network is convinced the CPN will not offer accommodation but also a helping hand to get the refugees start learning the Australian way of life. It said this is a great initiative to complement the Australian Red Cross in its search for short-term accommodation support to eligible asylum seekers coming out of detention

The CPN is an initiative of the AHN to offer short-term homestay accommodation to eligible asylum seekers leaving detention centres on a Bridging visa. The AHN has been commended by both the Senate Inquiry into the Welfare of International Students (2009) and the NSW Parliamentary Inquiry into International Student Accommodation (2011). It is the only operating homestay organisation with benchmarked national standards, and is the leading homestay provider within Australia. The CPN operates under these national standards.

Blog Link : ASIAN CORRESPONDENT

Self-anointed saint supports Gay Marriages

Posted on March 30, 2012 by rowenadelarosayoon

From my inbox in time of the coming Easter:

To Members, Friends and Associates of St Michael’s,

Very recently six Catholic Bishops have made a public statement and plea, that gay marriages be outlawed on the basis it would undermine family life or damage society.

Many at St Michael’s express a more accepting stance on the issue of Gay Marriages and do not agree with this recent statement. If you agree with Dr Macnab and others at St Michaels, would you please express your opinion and make it public. Pass this link onto others or ‘Like’ this in your facebook. At no other time in history has the actions of one individual had such significant power. Please make your voice heard.

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/stmichaelsmelbourne
Blog: http://stmichaelsmelbourne.tumblr.com/
Twitter: www.twitter.com/stmichaelsmelb

Kind regards,
St Michael’s Uniting Church

Francis Macnab, the reverend minister of one of the largest non-denominational congregations in the heart of Melbourne, is responding to one of the major issues of our times– gay rights or equal gender marriages.

Unorthodox and heretic, he has long debunked the divinity of Christ as well as the authority and authenticity of the Holy Scriptures.

In 2010, Andrew Bolt noted Macnab as a self-proclaimed saint aligning himself with Florence Nightingale and Martin Luther King Jr.

Even my own children couldn’t help but laugh at the effrontery:

A stamp postage of Francis Macnab (Photo: Herald Sun)

Dissident Uniting Church minister Francis MacNab has posted a giant billboard over the Monash Freeway with pictures of Florence Nightingale, Martin Luther King and himself as model leaders.

Dr MacNab, minister of St Michael’s in Collins Street, launched his ‘’new faith’’ in late 2008 with another controversial freeway billboard: ‘’The Ten Commandments, the most negative document ever written.’’ He rejects the idea of a divine Christ and a personal God….

’Every morning I drive past and think ‘what an impertinence’,’’ said commuter Geoff Slattery, a Catholic.

Photo at the link. More on MacNab’s self-canonisation on his website. Just who is in his “liberal and progressive” congregation?

Darwin’s pessimism and Flannery’s hope

Posted on March 6, 2012 by rowenadelarosayoon

Published in 2010, the year when the author reaped the distinguished award as Australian of the Year, Tim Flannery’s book, Here on Earth: an Argument for Hope, offers a ray of hope in salvaging the last remaining species of the planet and in regaining the lost functioning of the Earth’s life-support systems.

Published by The Text Publishing Company, Vic 2010

The battle to avert an impending apocalype is to resuscitate Gaia– derived from John Lovelock’s theory that all organisms and their inorganic surroundings on Earth are closely integrated to form a single and self-regulating complex system, maintaining the conditions for life on the planet. This self-support system, however, has been imperiled by men’s greed. Flannery argues that men have waged war against nature. Men have turned Gaia-killers. Among the notable examples is detailed in Rachel Garlson’s book, Silent Spring. The book inllustrates the entent of how capitalists have murdered birds and other species when DDT was used as pesticide in the US in the 1950’s. Certainly, there are other human follies that destroyed the life support systems of the earth such as through massive carbon emissions and wanton logging. Although many NGOs have convened and proposed solutions, the inactivity of many advanced nations are delaying the action that help avert an impending apocalypse.

Flannery outlines the theories of Charles Darwin and Alfred Russell Wallace focussing on the origin of species, the concept of natural selection and the survival of the fittest. Species evolve through time and they differentiate through time and according to their environment; and those who adapt well survive and those who do not perish.

The survival of the fittest in the animal kingdom that has prevailed throughout history. The war is not only man against man but man against nature. Darwinian theory is devoid of morality and spirituality.

Time has changed though. There is a universal awakening that believes only love and compassion can save what is remaining on earth. Flannery is offering the wisdom of ancient past. Only love can heal humanity and can perhaps bring back the life-support system of Gaia.

Meanwhile, I picked a DVD from the video shop to see a movie related to Darwin, and lucky enough I got this: CREATION

Paul Bettany as Charles Darwin

Opened in 2009, Creation portrays Darwin as a man who suffered anguish resulting from his work and discovery. A responsible family man, he knew however, that although “there is no God’, the church and religion hold the fabric of society together. He was haunted by the death of species such as a tiny bird which could be eaten and consumed by worms so that that the food chain will continue. From decomposed species give life to plants and so on. The death of his child pushed him to see phantoms and led his body to exhaustion.

If Darwin’s remarkable contribution to science is to be reckoned with, indeed, the entire humanity is plagued into an abyss of pessimism. Flannery’s book, however, takes flight uplifting the spirit offering the world with new-found hope.

More about the movie:

Creation is a psychological, heart-wrenching love story starring Paul Bettany (A BEAUTIFUL MIND, MASTER AND COMMANDER: THE FAR SIDE OF THE WORLD) as Charles Darwin, the film is based on “Annie’s Box,” a biography penned by Darwin’s great-great-grandson Randal Keynes using personal letters and diaries of the Darwin family. We take a unique and inside look at Darwin, his family and his love for his deeply religious wife, played by Jennifer Connelly (A BEAUTIFUL MIND, REQUIEM FOR A DREAM), as, torn between faith and science, Darwin struggles to finish his legendary book “On the Origin of Species,” which goes on to become the foundation for evolutionary biology. The film co-stars Toby Jones (FROST/NIXON, INFAMOUS) and Jeremy Northam (GOSFORD PARK, AMISTAD), and was produced by Jeremy Thomas (THE LAST EMPEROR, SEXY BEAST) at Recorded Picture Company with BBC Films and Ocean Pictures. From director Jon Amiel (“The Singing Detective,” ENTRAPMENT) and writer John Collee (MASTER AND COMMANDER: THE FAR SIDE OF THE WORLD) comes CREATION. Source: http://creationthemovie.com/

“Flower Power” induces same-sex marriage bill

Posted on February 14, 2012 by rowenadelarosayoon

Two private bills that will pave the way to legalising same-sex marriage in Australia have been introduced today, the ABC reported.

Labor MP Stephen Jones signalled he would introduce a private at the ALP’s conference in December. This will be the second bill following last week’s indication that Greens MP Adam Bandt and Tasmanian independent MP Andrew Wilkie would put forward a separate bill.

Same-sex supporters take the streets of Australia

This is a groundbreaking development on marriage equality in Australia following oppositions from the conservative religious and political groups. Edward Santow, chief executive of the Public Interest Advocacy Centre, also expressed apprehension of any proposed same-sex legislation saying it ”is bound to fail” if not thoroughly discussed in a forum or parliamentary inquiry, the Sydney Morning Herald in its Opinion page said.

However, few days before Valentine’s, same-sex activist group GetUp! urged supporters to mobilise a campaign to soften the hearts of the nation’s federal politicians.

Employing a romantic tactic to soften the hearts of parliament members, GetUp! in partnership with the Australian Marriage Equality, asked followers to send roses to their favourite MP to remind them to review same-sex marriage. “What better way to remind our political representatives of where we stand on Valentine’s Day than to spread some love, and show them that in matters of the heart, we’re united for equality?”

The group has intended to ”flood” the offices of political representatives with roses as a “reminder that Australians believe that two people who want to make a lifelong commitment deserve full and equal recognition before their family, friends and the law,” the group said.

Earlier today, 3000 roses arrived in the Parliament House in Canberra. Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Opposition Leader Tony Abott received 500 each, Nine News reported.

Supporter can continue to send flowers through the group’s Chip In To Send a Rose page.

Gay rights protest in Australia

The roses on Valentine’s are only a prelude to a more intimate petition. In the coming few days, GetUp! also plans to send “three wonderful same-sex couples” to dinner with the prime minister.

Optimistic for the passage of a bill on marriage equality, GetUp! said Valentine’s Day is the most auspicious day to send love and to be united in love. “We’re closer than ever before to real marriage equality in Australia. So this Valentine’s Day, we’re not giving up on love, and we’re not letting our politicians give up either – not until marriage equality becomes the law of the land, “the group said in an email.

GetUp! claims it was able to gather more than 150,000 petition signatures last year and rallied alongside more than 10,000 other supporters at the ALP National Conference. It also takes pride in the video production of “It’s Time” which has viewed by more than 5 million viewers and still counting.

The group has reasons to be optimistic. The group said the ban on same-sex marriage has been lifted in California. In time of the Valentine’s Day around the round, the Hufftington Post also reported that the state of New Jersey has already passed a bill to recognise same-sex marriage– a move move that supporters called a “civil rights milestone” and Washington became the seventh state in the US to enact a law reconizing same-sex marriage on Monday.

News Link: Asian correspondent

Angry tent people mob Gillard on Aussie Day

Posted on January 26, 2012 by rowenadelarosayoon

In one of the most dramatic moments to celebrate Australia Day, Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard lost a shoe and was dragged by his bodyguard when an angry mob of indigenous people rounded up a restaurant in Capital Hill hunting for Opposition Leader Tony Abbott.

Bodyguard bundles up Julia Gillard from the angry mob

The prime minister and the opposition leader were in The Lobby restaurant to present the national emergency service medals as part of the Australia Day celebrations.

The drama unfolds as the celebration began. A man in black T-shirt emblazoned with Aboriginal flag watched the proceedings through the restaurant’s glass façade. Then a woman barged in to scatter petals of roses before she shouted when Gillard was presenting 26 service medals.

About half of the 200 protesters circled the restaurant, banged the glass windows, and chanted “shame” and “racist” while calling for Abbott to come out.

About 200 protesters from the Aboriginal Tent Embassy nearby have gathered to mark its 40th founding year today. A series of cultural performances and entertainment has been planned through the weekend to celebrate its founding but marred by such an “extraordinary” incident.

A series of events has been planned to mark the 40th founding year of the tent embassy

The protesters rounded up and stormed The Lobby to confront Abbott following the opposition leader’s comment earlier during the day. The SBS said Abbott has called for the disbandment of the tent embassy noting time has changed and therefore it is no longer relevant. The SBS quoted Abbott as saying, “I can understand why the tent embassy was established all those years ago,… think a lot has changed since then, and I think it probably is time to move on from that.”

Riot police came to rescue Gillard and Abbott while trying to pacify protesters. But protesters said they stormed in to confront Abbott without knowing he was with Gillard. They insisted Abbott incited the riot, not the Aboriginal people of the tent embassy. Towards the end of the day, the protesters are demanding for Abbott’s apology.

News Link: Asian Correspondent

Australia Day focuses on Aborigines, refugees

Posted on January 26, 2012 by rowenadelarosayoon

This year’s Australia Day has seen both old and new issues come under the spotlight, including indigenous culture, asylum-seekers, gay marriage, and climate change.

These issues, however, cannot be solely discussed through political means but through the arts.

: Prime Minister Julia Gillard poses with Geoffrey Rush

Academy-award winning actor Geoffrey Rush was named the 2012 Australian of the Year in a ceremony at the Parliament House, Canberra. In his acceptance speech, he urged Australians to consider the importance of arts to nurture and uplift the spirit of the nation. Rush spoke of urgent issues that affect the nation which can find solutions in the arts.

Rush says Australia is one of the oldest nations on earth where inspiration abounds. He noted that going back to the root of the nation through aboriginal history, culture and performing arts, Australians will be able to find “our dreaming” which leads to the heart of the nation’s being, the ABC quoted him in his speech.

The ABC added, “In the past, Australians of the year have used the spotlight to focus on social, political or environmental issues, but Rush does not see it as a automatic megaphone.” As a performing artist, the event is an opportunity to spotlight current issues through the arts.

SBS, a multicultural public broadcaster, also noted Rush of his support to local writers to write stories about people who come to Australia by boat.

“I put a call out to the writers of Australia, we’ve had a bumper year in television drama, people are starting to watch it in great numbers..I would love a writer to write a fabulous great miniseries,” the SBS quoted him in his speech before reporters.

Six Australians are featured in the SBS documentary :Go Back to Where You Come From"

SBS has produced a documentary last year entitled “Go Back to Where You Come From” which featured six Australian volunteers who were challenged to take part in an adventure to experience life as a refugee. The script took them to the local communities where refugees have settled down, then flash backward to the horrific journeys by sea, asylum-seeker camps, and to the tricky and dangerous places on earth. Featured places include refugee camps in Malaysia, war-torn Jordan, Iraq, and Congo. The mini-series has elicited various reactions from televiewers while Fairfax media lambasted the series claiming it as a story for the manipulated and gullible participants.

Rush is a stage and film actor. His first film Hoodwink was featured in 1981. He rose to global fame in 1996 with the film Shine for which he won an Oscar. More recently, he appeared on Munich, Pirates Of The Caribbean and The King’s Speech, for which he earned a BAFTA. Rush is an ambassador for the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and UNICEF Australia, as well as patron of the Melbourne International Film Festival.

News Link: Asian Correspondent

Alternatives to the Ill-fated Malaysian Solution

Posted on December 22, 2011 by rowenadelarosayoon

Holidays rush in and with the latest boat people tragedy, the government is re-thinking what went wrong. The ruling party is coming to the roundtable to consider the alternatives. News Limited has this illustrated summary:

And here’s the link to the Care Factor: Missing the boat of an ssylum seeker solution. The Journo will endeavour to review the report.

Prosecute people smugglers, but how?

Posted on December 21, 2011 by rowenadelarosayoon

Shipwrecks will not deter refugees or asylum seekers to take the boat off to Australia- the metaphorical Utopia or Promise Land where people can play cricket or surf the net all day.

About 200 people or more from Arab countries, are feared dead at sea 200 km off Java Island of Indonesia when the overloaded boat they boarded sunk on Saturday. Only three dozens of survivors are so far accounted for, but do not rely on numbers which government statisticians can easily tweak. These people are reportedly come from Dubai and flew into Jakarta to be transported to Australia by boat.

A survivor wails after being rescued

Depending on which media you are reading, each Arab paid $500 each to Indonesian airport authorities and $6,000 each to board an Australian-bound boat. The Sydney Morning Herald’s Editorial wonders if the Indonesian authorities did not notice these Arab-looking people entering Jakarta without valid visas. Then all these desperate people queued on a port where they took the boat with a capacity of 100– there were 200 passengers.

The ABC reports that this latest tragedy costs over $600,000, a hefty amount which went into the pockets of people smugglers.

The boat captain and crew members are said to be safe. Before the boat sank, they grabbed their life vests and swam away.

Australian media say this exemplifies another well-organised people smuggling stirring further debates on Australia’s immigration policies.

This latest tragedy also coincides with the first death anniversary of about 50 asylum seekers who were shipwrecked on the stormy waters off Australia’s Christmas Island. Two weeks ago, another boat tragedy took place nearby.

A statistics from the Australian Parliament House shows that this year, 28 boats carrying 1675 people have been intercepted on Australian waters (as of June)– a sifnificant decrease from 124 boats loading 6879 people in 2010.

Earlier this year, the Julia Gillard Government approved the so-called Malaysian Solution, a policy to process asylum seekers offshore in exchange for the intake of genuine refugees. Gillard pinned hopes that this solution will stop people smuggling. The latest tragedy, however, proves she is wrong.

Other survivors receive treatment at a temporary shlter in Indonesia (Photo AFP Getty)

Time and again, boat tragedies tell stories of lost lives and broken dreams. News Limited reports an account of a survivor:

Esmat Adine, 24, a Hazara refugee from Afghanistan said he “tried to find a suitable and legal way” but after being told he wouldn’t be eligible for a student visa to Deakin University until 2013 – and fearing for his life – he fled to Jakarta.

“I was arrested by the Taliban last year and imprisoned for 16 days where they beat me and made me sleep on a dead body,” he said.

“I registered with UNHCR in Jakarta who said it could take one year but I have a wife and three-month-old daughter at home and this is the quickest way.

“We had to go so we decided to go the quickest way. There are many, many people. They are waiting in Jakarta, waiting for the boat. Most of them, they are sure they will get to Australia.

Refugees and asylum seekers have nothing to lose and nowhere to go to. Adine was quoted further by News Ltd as saying, “If Australia does not accept our request now, we will do (it) again because we have nothing.”

If the inter-governmental solutions are not workable, can’t the governments arrest and prosecute human smugglers? They should, but how?

News Link: Asian Correspondent