Posted on 01/05/2002 10:34:50 AM PST by absalom01
SYDNEY, Australia -- Thurgam al Abbadi has never been convicted of a crime or sentenced to prison, but he is locked up indefinitely here behind high metal fences and razor wire.
A refugee from Iraq, he has spent two years with his family in Australian detention centers. He has no idea when he will get out.
"They think we are criminals," he said bitterly during a recent interview at the Villawood Immigrant Detention Center in suburban Sydney. "There is no freedom."
Thurgam, angry and disillusioned, turned 12 in November.
Unlike other Western-style democracies, Australia has a policy of locking up all applicants for political asylum who have arrived without proper documentation. Some remain in custody for years while the government decides their fate.
Click on the link for the rest...
a) immigration from the 3rd world to the first is a civil right of some sort and
b) any efforts to enforce the integrity of one's borders is at the very least, unethical.
It seemed to me to be an excellent example of press bias on the one hand, and a useful "heads up" regarding immigration on the other. Also, OZ has been taking quite a bit of heat at the UN and in the mainstream editorial opinion about this particular issue.
Well, they didn't have illegals flying airplanes into any buildings on 9/11. I guess it works.
What this leftist reporter failed to mention is that a country that was even further away from the homelands that 'persecuted' them offered to take some the Tampa refugees in.
Now lets consider this for a moment. In NZ we give EACH refugee free education, healthcare, no detention camps, welfare, furnature and a comfortable place to live, not to mention $12000 cash.
One would think any refugee suffering persecution, would jump at the opportunity to live in a country that would give them all this. But OH NO. They didnt want to come here, they still demanded to go to Australia.
They dont sound much like poor hard done by refugees now do they?
Oh and lets not fail to mention that the Australians might be a little ticked off with the gangs of young muslims raping Australian girls and the protests Australia has had to put up with from these 'poor victims'. Who incidently, thought it would be great to show appreciation to their new country by marching on government buildings and demanding they withdraw their support from the US.
"...This time, the very nature of the enemy is that they have infiltrated this country and pass themselves off as law-abiding, quiet immigrants. The entire modus operandi of this enemy is to smuggle mass murderers to our shores. ..." FUTURE WIDOWS OF AMERICA: WRITE YOUR CONGRESSMAN! by Ann Coulter (9-26-02)Below is a link to MANY reasons to not agree to the immigration of one's enemies. Note that it was BEFORE the towers fell.
New Zealand, Nauru, to Accept Asylum Seekers Stranded Off Coast of Australia (Australia Will Pay)
But why would they need it. Heck, if my family had been tortured and killed. My children had no food or medical care, and we were dying, Id be greatful to be stuck on Nauru.
Methinks we are importing our own enemies.
The first part of this article appeared in Friday's edition, and, outlined the rest of the details. What I was struck by is the way the issue was presented by the reporter -- Australia's policy is "harsh" and "racial discrimination", because, well, geez, the poor people have had such a hard time getting to Australia.
Clearly, the "refugees" (AKA illegal immigrants) have suffered greatly, and deserve human compassion, but the Times spin is enough to make one dizzy. In particlular, Friday's piece outlined one group's sojourn from Iraq, to Iran, to Malasia, to Indonesia (I count three separate countries that they could have stopped and stayed in after escaping Iraq in that list), but it's OZ that is the bad guy. For the crime of enforcing their borders.
The parallel to the situaion here is just to close to ignore -- the difference is that OZ has recognized the problem, and is doing something about it, and we're not.
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