Category: Australia

LOL! Europe wishes to emulate Australian immigration policy

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Oh my gosh, where has this author been?  Hasn’t he (or those European leaders) been reading the Australian press lately about all the controversy over immigration policy, Muslims, terrorist arrests, boat people and so forth downunder.   Dear Mr. Becks, just check out our Australia category here.

According to European polls and many EU officials, the issue of uncontrolled Muslim immigration into Europe has been a policy maker’s disaster. It is a controversial if patriotic standpoint but one which could benefit from the study of how Australia handles the question.

Australia is held in high regard by many European lawmakers for the apparent success and sustainability of its immigration policy.

The most admired principles are those that see Australia effectively select its immigrants, based on family and government cohesion, skill levels and that there is, in general, public support for the policy.

Australia has had well documented instances of ‘boat people’ arriving from Asia but the numbers are miniscule when compared to the migrant levels seen across Europe. Australia has maintained a consistent approach to protecting its borders which is something which most European countries aspire to but ongoing conflict about a common policy agreement has made the task all the more difficult. Muslim immigration continues to polarise public opinion in most European theatres.

Read on.

Australia might not be as bad as Europe yet, but someone is in dreamland if they think Australia has a solution to the Muslim immigration problem!

Emerging Infectious Diseases: a useful site at the CDC

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

The Centers for Disease Control has an interesting section entitled ‘Emerging Infectious Diseases’ that you might find a useful resource.    I came across it just now and note this recent article and study about the health of Burmese refugees arriving in Australia.

As we consider the cost of health care in America, the health of refugees should be considered.

We have a category here at RRW called ‘where to find information’ and I’ll post this link there for your future reference.  I found that one need only use the sites search function for “refugees”  (presumably the search could be narrowed to specific refugee groups) to find all sorts of interesting studies on refugee health issues.

Canadian Tamil ship has impact on similar ship in Australian waters

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Another shipload of Tamil would-be “asylum-seekers” is being forced to stay at sea off Australia as politicians haggle.   The ultimate question, are there people with terror ties on board?   From World News Australia:

A group of 78 asylum seekers rescued by the Australian Navy face another three days at sea after Indonesian authorities turned them away from their destination.

[…..]

Outspoken MP Wilson Tuckey provoked the ire of Prime Minister Kevin Rudd on Thursday by suggesting that terrorists could be hiding among groups of asylum seekers trying to reach Australia.

Mr Rudd called on Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull to withdraw his support for the veteran Liberal, in the wake of his “disgusting” comments.

But Mr Turnbull refused, and on Friday Mr Tuckey accused the Prime Minister of being “a bully” for trying to get him dumped from parliament.

Adding to the confusion, it has emerged that one of 76 migrants arrested on a rusted ship off Canada last week is wanted in Sri Lanka on terror charges – apparently adding weight to Mr Tuckey’s claim.

The 26-year-old man, whose identity was withheld due to a court-ordered publication ban, is being sought by Sri Lankan authorities who issued an Interpol notice for an unspecified terror offence.

For background, see my previous post, here, on the Tamil “refugee” ship in Vancouver.

Afghans involved in boat explosion incident will get refugee status in Australia

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

This is an update to a story we told you about here in April.   Afghanis, with the help of people smugglers, were trying to reach Australia.  When the boat was apprehended an explosian occurred killing five.   The others have now been granted refugee status in Australia.

A group of Afghan asylum seekers who survived an explosion that killed five people in the Timor Sea are to be granted refugee status in Australia. The government, however, has signaled it will deport anyone convicted of causing the explosion, which investigators suspect was sabotage.

In April, a boat carrying 47 Afghan asylum seekers was rocked by an explosion that killed five men and injured almost everyone else on board.

The Australian navy, which found the vessel about 600 kilometers off Australia’s northwest coast, was escorting it when the blast occurred.
Earlier this month, police said that passengers had deliberately started a fire after the boat was intercepted. Despite suspicions of sabotage, senior officers ruled there was insufficient evidence to charge anyone with a crime.

Two Indonesian crewmen, however, have been accused of people smuggling.

Immigration officials have assessed the asylum applications of the surviving passengers and have granted them refugee status.

Anyone found guilty of causing the explosion could still be deported, but the others will now receive the full benefits of refugee status.

Refugee advocates say the men would have faced human rights abuses had they been forced to return to Afghanistan. However, if any are eventually convicted of causing the explosion Australian officials have indicated they would be deported.

Twenty of the men are being held in immigration detention in Brisbane, while the rest are incarcerated in the western Australian city of Perth. They are expected to be released later this week with residency visas and will be re-settled with help from the federal government.

Critics say that Australia’s lenient policies under the Rudd government will just encourage more illegal attempts to reach Australia.

Conservative politicians in Australia accuse Prime Minister Kevin Rudd of being soft on illegal immigration because he ended mandatory detention for asylum seekers who enter the country illegally. He also changed the rules so that those found to be genuine refugees could receive permanent, instead of temporary, visas.

Several people-smuggling boats have been intercepted this year in Australian waters. Authorities predict that unrest in Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan will force thousands of people to seek refuge in Western countries, including Australia.

Canberra resettles about 13,000 refugees under official humanitarian programs each year.

The US takes close to 80,000, the lion’s share, of the world’s refugees.

Australia: Bhutanese refugee woman found dead, hanged

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Who knows what was going on in this poor woman’s life.  One report I saw mentioned possible suicide.  The story reminded me of another story I heard about a Bhutanese woman right here in the US.   Here is the whole short article from Adelaide where the cause of death is still under investigation:

Adelaide,October 7: Mon Maya Ghimirey,29, a Bhutanese refugee resettled in Adelaide in Australia was found dead today afternoon in Marion .She was spotted hanging in the garage of her tenant house at around 4.30 pm local time when her children had gone for outing.

Ghimirey was resettled from Sanischarey Bhutanese refugee camp in Nepal on March,2009 .

She is survived by two under-aged children of her own and two step children.The cause of her death is not yet known.

This is the story that was relayed to me, and the question my friend asked:   This friend had an occasion to be in the apartment of a recently resettled Bhutanese refugee in a major US city.  The apartment was in the worst neighborhood in the city and the woman, alone it seemed, was fearful of setting foot outside.   It was discovered she wasn’t alone but was living with a girl (hiding in a closet) perhaps in her late teens who appeared to be mentally impaired.  My friend asked, what sort of life does this woman have?  Would she not have been better off in the UN run camp where she had lived for nearly two decades among her own people and her own culture?   What would America be able to do for her?

Reforms needed!

I raise this because I want readers to at least consider for a moment that willy-nilly hauling people to the US (or any westernized country) may sometimes not be the best thing for the refugee.  And, I propose that the US State Department set up a return program where after a certain time to adjust any refugees wishing to be returned (as the Iraqis have been doing recently) to their original location be provided airfare to do so.   Some of that airfare cost should be picked up by the volag that resettled the refugee in the first place.

Recently I wrote about the good and bad resettlement story from the Bronx and just now went to check Journalism in Exile to see if he had more on the woman in Australia.  Nothing so far on Australia, but in his latest post he does report that the NYPD has made a concerted effort to protect the 170 or so Bhutanese refugees living in one building in the Bronx.

A large number of new immigrants (like we Bhutanese refugees in Bronx, NY) dwelling in the same building could sometimes turn out to be a point of attraction for those involved in taking best-advantage of their innocence and struggle during their initial days. Visits of police authority officials, no doubt, will discourage those elements from attempting to fraud/attack or sometimes daring to occur even unexpected crimes on new immigrants. Thanks to NYPD for your visit in our building.

In July we told you about a promising young Bhutanese man being murdered in the parking lot of his apartment building in Jacksonville, here.

The US plans to resettle 60,000 Bhutanese (really Nepalese) from camps in Nepal over 5 years.