Judy told you the other day, here, that the conservatives are now in control of the government in Australia and that immigration policy differences played a huge role in the election outcome.
“Hardliner” Scott Morrison appointed immigration minister in Abbott government. Photo: . AAP/David Crosling
I’m in no position to analyze the myriad issues facing the new government over its “boat people” policy going forward, but here is a legal writer at SBS.com.au , Alex Reilly, laying out the mine fields ahead for the likely new immigration minister, Scott Morrison.
Reilly:
Asylum seeker policy experienced a rush of activity in the lead-up to the election. Behind the Abbott government’s bold promise to “stop the boats” in its first term of government is a series of specific proposals – some adopted from Labor, and some of the Coalition’s own creation.
The new immigration minister, Scott Morrison, inherits a portfolio that is in disarray.There are tens of thousands of asylum seekers already in Australia who have made an application for a Protection Visa, but who have not had their claim considered at first instance by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC). They are in various forms of detention or in the community on bridging visas with no rights to work.
I couldn’t possibly begin to analyze this, other than to say it sure looks “thorny!” Read it all.
You might want to see our previous 110 posts on Australia where the public is in a much greater state of agitation over illegal aliens (mostly from Muslim countries) than Americans seem to be. Or at least the issue is a pivotal election issue there and has not YET reached that level in the US.
Liberian-flagged MT Salamis was kept from docking in Malta for nearly three days after picking up illegal aliens off the coast of Libya.
This is a story I’ve had in my queue for the last few days and didn’t get to because news is hopping all over the world on the asylum-seeker/refugee front. So this morning I see the crisis has been averted by Italy agreeing to take its passengers—another batch of migrants. American readers, please continue reading—this story involves you!
Malta told the tanker ‘no way’ were they entering Maltese waters with that cargo.
A stand-off of almost three days ended early this morning when a tanker carrying 102 migrants lifted anchor and headed for Syracuse after having been blocked just outside Maltese waters on Sunday night.
The MT Salamis had rescued the migrants from a boat just 24 miles off Libya and had been heading for Malta when it was stopped from entering Maltese territorial waters. The government said the ship’s master had ignored orders by the Italian and Maltese rescue authorities to return the migrants to Libya.
Last night the government said Italy had accepted to take in the migrants, diffusing the situation after diplomatic contacts between Malta, Italy and Greece.
Prime Minister Joseph Muscat thanked Italian Premier Entrico Letta and said his decision would continue to reinforce the good relations between the two countries.
Meanwhile, a new group of 86 migrants arrived in Malta this morning after being rescued off the coast.
Visit the Times of Malta for more on this story.
Malta is under-going a boat people crisis as thousands of North African illegal aliens attempt to reach its shores. The situation is growing worse and there is no doubt in my mind (after nearly 6 years following the Malta mess) that the increasing numbers arriving on the island nation are partially due to the US State Department transforming hundreds of them into “refugees” bound for America in what is surely a perversion of international refugee law. True asylum seekers are expected to ask for asylum in the first safe country in which they land—-not shop for a country as is apparently also going to be encouraged in Papua New Guinea.
Malta in US propaganda!
Just a reminder that the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (LIARS) has produced a piece of propaganda using Malta.
I hate to give them any space here with their “Myth Buster” campaign being used in the US at the moment to shame Congress and the public into accepting more refugees and illegal aliens as the Gang of Eight bill progresses in Congress. See my earlier post on their campaignhere.
Check out LIARS (formally LIRS, but a reader recently suggested a more appropriate acronym!) hand out implying that Malta is more generous than the US because it “resettles” more refugees per 1,000 sq. km. than any other country. THESE ARE NOT REFUGEES, THEY ARE ILLEGAL ALIENS and poor Malta is trying to figure out how to stop them from coming and to keep them from staying!
I guess at some point I should go over the whole handout above and show you how LIARS (96% funded by US taxpayers) is twisting the facts on refugees with the help of the hard Left at the Center for American Progress.
Oh no! This can only mean resettlement to the US and Canada. Surely Europe, which is being swamped right now with illegal aliens claiming they are there seeking asylum, isn’t going to take Australia’s problems!
PNG official: Asylum-seeking boat people should get to live where they prefer!
Regular readers know that we have been following Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s scheme to send their mostly Muslim illegal migrants to Papua New Guinea (PNG). Click here and here for a couple of posts on the policy.
Now comes news from officials in PNG that the ‘asylum seekers’ will only be in their rural country for a short time because after all they were looking for cities to live in and they should get to go to a country they “PREFER.“
The you-know-what would hit the fan if the US was taking large numbers of Australia’s aliens, but the average US citizen (or dumb Member of Congress) would not pay attention to “refugees” coming from PNG.
And, since the US State Department has already set a dangerous precedent by taking some of Malta’s illegal alien boat people to your towns and cities, they could hardly say no to PNG (and their minders at the UN!).
THE PNG government says it will work with the UN refugee agency to resettle asylum seekers to third countries that boat arrivals to Australia would “prefer.”
Prime Minister Peter O’Neill’s spokesman, Daniel Korimbo, said the country expected very few of the almost-2000 already eligible to be sent to PNG would remain there, despite the government doing an almost half billion dollar aid deal in return for resettlement.
Australia will also help PNG cope with West Papuan asylum seekers illegally entering the country, where there are up to 10,000 currently.
“There is an expectation some of them may eventually become refugees who will eventually reside here,” Mr Korimbo said yesterday.
“They chose to go to Australia and concrete buildings, they didn’t pick this subsistence life.
“PNG and the UNHCR will eventually resettle them or find a country which they would prefer.”
[…..]
According to Coalition figures, 50,032 people have arrived on 798 boats since Labor was elected in November 2007.
[…..]
Mr Abbott (Opposition leader) said proof that Mr Rudd’s PNG solution was not working came in the form of 26 boats with 1950 people arriving since it was announced.
Australian elections are next month! Rudd needs to prove he can handle Australia’s thorniest problem—illegal immigration.
Yesterday reader Joanne sent me this postfrom Bare Naked Islam with photos of the poor and destitute Australian ‘asylum-seekers’ and they sure look like commandos for an invading army to me!
Related Update July 31: Abbott beware, three of Obama’s “brains” arriving to help Rudd get re-elected, here.
Australia is awash with boat people mostly from Muslim countries like Afghanistan. What to do with them is really a pivotal issuein upcoming elections. Here in The Australian’s “Talking Points” section are two suggestions.
Leader of the Opposition Tony Abbott
WRITING about the influx of illegal immigrants across the southern border of the US, columnist Michelle Malkin bluntly referred to it as an invasion. That is what Australia is experiencing now, and Tony Abbottis right in planning to put a top general in charge.
One solution to the problem of asylum-seekers is to airlift them to the nearest UN refugee camp where they can take their turn in line with all those who have been waiting.
At the same time, Australia should request wealthy and stable Muslim countries to take their share of those fleeing from violence. Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the Gulf Emirates are wealthy and stable and import large numbers of workers. They should be expected to take their share.
I don’t know about Qatar and the Gulf Emirates, but Saudi Arabia takes no refugees. In fact there were many reports about the Saudi’s immediately sending Somalis, who were caught in SA, back to Mogadishu when it was controlled by the terrorists. The UNHCR is skittish, to say the least, about pressuring the ethnic nationalist Saudis.
Update: A reader just reminded me of a post I wrote in Aprilabout the UAE passing off their illegal immigrants to the US.
Way back in 2007, when Muslim refugees were being brought to the county where I live by the Virginia Council of Churches, I remember former Congressman Roscoe Bartlett asking logically ‘why aren’t they going to Saudi Arabia?’ Why of course, excellent idea!
Always remember, this is not about the poor and downtrodden (that is the pretense!), it is about Al Hijra!
Let me know if you are having trouble viewing the photo—it just disappeared for me.
The Telegraphhas a detailed article on Prime Minister Joseph Muscat’s plan to try to stem the tide of illegal aliens arriving on Malta, and getting stuck with them, because the EU rules they must abide by are really screwy.
“Refugees” hanging around in Malta waiting for a ticket out—to the US maybe!
We told you about the plan here and here the other day. If no changes are made Malta will eventually become a Muslim country, and the US will have played a role.
The tiny island of Malta has received 17,743 mainly African migrants this decade – the equivalent, in Britain, of 2.5 million people. And it is struggling to cope, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat says.
[….]
Perched on a tiny but strategic set of islands between Europe and Africa, the Maltese have long prided themselves on their ability to repel unwanted invaders. In the 1500s, their resident Knights of St John were the heroes of Europe after seeing off the Ottoman Turks, and in the Second World War, they won the George Cross for helping Britain to keep Hitler at bay.
Their latest efforts to turn back a foreign armada, however, are unlikely to win such plaudits. Or not from the European Union, anyway, which last week was embroiled in a bitter row with Mr Muscat’s government over its plans to return Mr Abdi [a newly arrived Somali from Libya] and his ilk to Libya, from where they came in a people-smuggling boat 12 days ago.
Malta the doormat:
….the row has highlighted how Malta – and nearby Italy – is struggling to reconcile their obligations as EU states with their unsought role as the doormat for illegal migrants from Africa seeking entry to Europe.
EU rules keep them in Malta:
….few African immigrants seek to put down roots down in Malta, preferring instead to head to mainland Europe, where job prospects are better, and where they can legally go under the Schengen arrangements.
But that creates another problem. The rules insist they must return to the country where they first claimed asylum within three months, and while the majority simply overstay, every year hundreds are caught and forcibly returned to Malta from other Schengen countries.
The US to the rescue!
For new readers this is why we follow closely the controversy with illegal aliens (yes, The Telegraph calls them that in this piece) arriving on Malta—we are taking the largest share to America in a perversion of international refugee law.
Katrine Camilleri with Jesuit Refugee Services
A transfer scheme is already in place, but over the past decade other European nations have taken only 700 of Malta’s arrivals, with the US taking 1,300.
* Photo above is from this storywhere an immigration lawyer, Katrine Camilleri, (we mentioned herhere) got an award for her stellar work with the migrants arriving on Malta. This is what we want to know:
How many “refugees” has Ms. Katrine Camilleri welcomed to live in her home?
One more thing, Muscat represents the Center Left party in Malta and they are ticked-off at being labeled “xenophobes” by the immigration industry advocates.
Type ‘Malta’ into our search function for our many years of coverage of the Malta mess.
