Australia closed to boat people: PM Rudd

Genuine Refugees - YES (9%)

Economic Refugees - NO (91%)

Most are Muslim. So why don't they settle in Malaysia? It's a Muslim society, has a small population and a fast-growing economy.

Anyway, as the critics of Australia's immigration policies like to point out, the Australian gov't and society are riddled with racism, so why would an ethnically diverse group of people (from Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, etc.) want to settle there in the first place?

Jeff

Money? Less chance of being killed?

Malaysians would also likely be pretty unwelcoming....

22 million people live on the biggest Island in the world and they can't find some space for them!!!!

Amazing.

Dog. You clearly have no idea of situation. Australia is NOT reducing it's refugee intake. It will still take in the same number of refugees. The difference here is that those refugees will come from the people in the region who have fled violence and are stuck in the refugee camps of South-East Asia will have more of a chance of being resettled in Australia. For every person who has the funds to pay thousands of dollars to crooked smuggler in Indonesia to get on a boat to travel to Australia to claim refugee status, someone who fled real problems and has nothing misses out. Not only that, but these smugglers don't care if the boats make it and more and more people are downing. Right now, I'll take any solution that can slow or stop this madness.

About damn time. Oz should NOT be spending their money rescuing illegals nor feeding and clothing them. If you don't fit the whole profile of being a refugee, don't pay thousands of dollars to a snake head and hope to be taken in.

Well said donkusai! Seems someone doesn't get how it works.

It is fatally wrong. People went to Australia with plane and overstayed beyond their visa. They will become illegal immigrants like boat people. However they are not covered for free medial & dental care, government and charity assistance for food, housing and transport. At least they have to survive by themselves for living.

tmarie is correct to say that snakehead come with boats for ripping off the good will of Aussie. When I was in Indonesia, I saw all Iranian tourist got Visa of arrival for 30 days. In 2012, Indonesia got 6000 Iranian tourists and 5045 ended up in Australia as potential refugee. They are making the unsustainable human wave. Some illegal immigrant have destroyed their documents for hassle free entry. Some are past criminals like US terrorists. No wonder Au is becoming paradise for people smugglers.

Japan like Australia has signed UNHCR. Unlike Australia, success rate of refugee settlement in Japan is pretty low. In 1999, Japan got refugee application of 260 and only 13 was approved. Aussie needs to get touch with lawless, pushy and opportunistic queue jumpers.

"poverty-stricken Papua New Guinea"

Whose fault is that?

As donkusai correctly stated, Australia is not reducing the number of refugees she takes in. Australia will continue taking in tens of thousands of refugees per year - a policy infinitely more generous than many other rich nations in the Asia-Pacific.

What this policy will almost certainly do is take (most of) the disgusting and evil people-smugglers out of the equation. People will no longer pay $10,000-$20,000 to queue jump ahead of legitimate but poor refugees - and endanger children and Australian Navy rescue crew - if the end result is settlement in PNG.

Dog

23 million actually but remember, the inhabitable parts of Australia are few (unless you enjoy living in a desert).

Australia is very large in land mass, but much of it unlike the United States for example, is VERY unpleasant to live in because of the weather and lack of water.

Australia, and the US South West sound very similiar, except out in horrible places like Utah, most of Texas we do not have PNG to worry about, just those "pesky" countries like Mexico, Guatemala, Cuba, Brazil?? This kind of mess happens all over the world. In Spain, you have poor Africans and Arabs risking their lives to make it alive to any Spanish islands.Not too sure what Australia can do to help out its poor neighbors, but IT SHOULD DO SOMETHNG, along with all of the other richer countries in that area, Malaysia, Singapore etc...

@ Elbuda - how about throwing Japan and South Korea in the mix also as rich regional nations that should be also shouldering their share of the refugee burden?

Typical weak-kneed socialist solution to a problem like this, foist it off on some other country, in this case Papua New Guinea. That said, why should any country accept refugees? Those so-called refugees are mostly just people who are living in poverty and want a better life. Open up the doors in Australia and let everybody who wants to go there in and soon they will be demanding that Australia adapt to them instead of them adapting to Australia. Give them enough time and Australia will be a poverty stricken country full of strife, religious and ethnic hatreds just like the ones they came from.

This policy has been a long time coming and is long overdue. Ever since Rudd dismantled Howard's Pacific solution the number of boats have skyrocketed to ridiculous proportions. Now in an attempt to stop the flow he comes up with this solution. Even after critiquing the opposition for their proposed tow back policy. Politics aside this is a good policy that should see the number of boats plummet and also benefit PNG as the get funding from Australia for law, education, and medical projects. And it needs to be remembered that this does mean Australia is refusing to take refugees or reducing our quotas but just that we no longer accept illegal boat refugees.

Japan has zero to gain but much to lose by opening the floodgates Australia style to opportunistic economic migrants. Once the process has been set in train, sit back and watch as a society whose social cohesion and shared sense of purpose was the envy of the world, starts fracturing along the usual racial faultlines. Up to a point, managed very carefully, admixtures of foreign blood are a net positive. Allow distinct groups to enter in large enough numbers however and the inevitable result seems to be a growing cultural assertiveness and reluctance to make the effort to integrate, setting it at odds with the dominant culture and insidiously undermining many of the former`s cultural achievements.

JeffLee

Anyway, as the critics of Australia's immigration policies like to point out, the Australian gov't and society are riddled with racism

I would say that this is generally not true, Australia is definitely one of the better and more successful multicultural societies.

oyatoi

Once the process has been set in train, sit back and watch as a society whose social cohesion and shared sense of purpose was the envy of the world, starts fracturing along the usual racial faultlines.

Okay, and where was this "social cohesion" and "a shared sense of purpose" in the first place? In Japan, all of those things are imaginary and fictional. Japan is just as divided as any other nation (the recent divide over the nuclear energy is a good example). Just because you have people that look alike, doesn't mean that they all think alike. Actual social cohesion develops through having meaningful dialogues with each other, not just having people that look alike.

Not too sure what Australia can do to help out its poor neighbors, but IT SHOULD DO SOMETHNG, along with all of the other richer countries in that area, Malaysia, Singapore etc...

Iran is not a neighbour of Oz. There are numerous other countries these "refugees" could stop and stay in along the way but they don't want to. This is rather a large issue. If you were a real refugee, any country other than your own would do but not for these folks. They want to live in a Western country where they have the chance to become wealthy. While I can 100% understand that, beggars can't be chosers and this is why Rudd needs to do something.

Also, Oz IS doing something. What is Mexico doing to help refugees El?