Australian Politics Forum - A Discussion On Greens' Refugee Position

____ Gold Member Offline Australian Politics Posts: 33410 Australia Gender:	A Discussion On Greens' Refugee Position Jul 23^rd, 2013 at 4:28pm http://greens.org.au/our-plan-save-lives
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Re: A Discussion On Greens' Refugee Position
Reply #1 - Jul 23^rd, 2013 at 4:29pm

WHAT ARE THE GREENS DOING TODAY?
The Greens have a plan that is legal, respects people's rights and dignity, and would make a difference to people today. We have taken our proposals to the Expert Panel on Asylum Seekers, moved for it in the Senate, and are working hard to build the political will to implement it.

WHAT ARE THE OTHER PARTIES DOING?
Kevin Rudd’s radical right-wing response to refugees is shameful. He should have joined the Greens to commit to a genuine regional solution; instead, Australia will now be a wealthy country paying off one of the most impoverished countries on the planet to resettle desperate refugees.

No wonder Tony Abbott has welcomed Rudd’s plan.

WHAT'S IN THE GREENS' PLAN?
First, we need to provide safe pathways to a secure life to people waiting in our region right now. That will reduce the pressure for them to board dangerous boats.

Then, we need a regional response that is legal, effective and compassionate. Experts have argued for it. History has proven it. This policy will work.

To provide safe pathways to people waiting in our region, we can immediately:

Urgently resettle many more assessed refugees from Indonesia and Malaysia, and increase Australia's humanitarian intake, so that persecuted people can see ways to safely get out of camps and start a new life;
Increase funding to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Malaysia and Indonesia, so that they can assess asylum claims faster and end the despair for people waiting;
Open up more family reunion places in Australia's humanitarian program;
Review the ban on people from some countries seeking protection by air, which can stop people claiming asylum;
De-link the onshore and offshore quotas for humanitarian visas;
Codify Australia's sea rescue policies and increase Indonesia's capacity so people are rescued in time; and
Establish an Australian Ambassador for Refugee Protection.
From this base, we can move to create a New Regional Plan of Action - an update of our response to the Vietnam War, when we assessed refugees in the region before resettling them to Australia and other safe countries. In the 1970s and 80s, we helped thousands of refugees through a genuine regional system. We can do it again.

WHO SUPPORTS AN APPROACH LIKE THE GREENS' PLAN?
Many organisations that work directly with people seeking asylum, or advocate for them, have supported immediate actions to save lives and a genuine, regional assessment solution.

These peak bodies and experts have called for the same legal and compassionate policies to save asylum seekers as the Greens:

Joint submission from Malcolm Fraser, Amnesty International, GetUp! and other groups
The Right Honorable Malcolm Fraser AC CH
Refugee Council of Australia
Joint submission from 17 refugee law academics
Open Letter from 204 Australian academics
Asylum Seeker Resource Centre
Human Rights Law Centre
Labor for Refugees
Law Council of Australia
Chilout
Brigidine Asylum Seekers' Project
Amnesty International
Refugee Council of Australia
And you can find more here.

WHY WILL THE GREENS' PROPOSALS WORK?
The best way to prevent the terrible loss of life of people seeking asylum at sea is to stop people getting on boats in the first place. That means addressing the root causes of their plight, where they are now.

History shows us that punishing people for seeking our protection does not work - but genuine regional solutions, founded on humanitarian action from countries like Australia, work for everyone involved.

WHERE DOES THIS PLAN COME FROM?
What the Greens have proposed during this debate has been developed with refugee and humanitarian experts in the region. The Greens have worked on these issues for years, standing up for the human rights of people seeking asylum from dangers at home, and holding true to Australia's international legal and moral obligations.

Similar approaches have been supported by former Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser, the Refugee Council of Australia, the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, GetUp, ChilOut, Amnesty International and Labor for Refugees, along with hundreds of academic and legal experts.

WHAT'S HAPPENING IN INDONESIA AND MALAYSIA RIGHT NOW?
There are thousands of people people waiting to have their asylum applications assessed in Indonesian refugee camps, and more in Malaysia. But with only a handful of UN officers assessing their claims, the 'queue' to find a safer home from Malaysia or Indonesia is decades long.

Refugees have no legal status in Indonesia or Malaysia. That means they have no healthcare, no education, no way to earn a living for their families, and no prospects of a safe life.

These desperate people know the risks of taking a boat to Australia but they see no other route that gives them any chance of safety and certainty for their family.

HOW WOULD THE GREENS' PLAN HELP PEOPLE WAITING FOR PROTECTION IN OUR REGION?
The annual budget for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Indonesia is far too low to deal with their needs, and has been cut in the past. An immediate increase in UNHCR funding from Australia would massively increase their capacity to assess the claims of asylum seekers where they are now, and find safe homes for them.

Over the last decade Australia has only accepted 60 people, on average, from Indonesia and Malaysia each year. The Houston panel recommended that Australia quickly resettle 3,800 refugees waiting in Indonesia right now to reduce the pressure there, but Labor has done n

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Re: A Discussion On Greens' Refugee Position
Reply #2 - Jul 23^rd, 2013 at 4:30pm

nothing to make this happen.

If Australia announced today that we would take several thousand people from Indonesia and Malaysia, and gave a clear commitment that we will give them a safer pathway to a better life, there would immediately be far less pressure to get onto boats and risk their lives.

Together with an increase to our humanitarian intake, these and other steps would give people languishing in camps or without legal protection a safer pathway to come to Australia.

WHAT WOULD THE PROPOSALS FROM OTHER PARTIES DO?
Punishing asylum seekers by turning boats around - or sending people to Papua New Guinea, Malaysia, Nauru, anywhere but here - will not deter desperate people from making dangerous journeys by boat. It never has and it never will.

We don't have to choose between the shameful options of expelling vulnerable people to Papua New Guinea, Malaysia or Nauru. These inhumane policies of 'deterrence' won't work because desperate people will still seek our protection unless Australia becomes as cruel and threatening as the persecutors they are fleeing, like the Taliban.

Plans from Kevin Rudd to ban refugees who come by boat from ever resettling in Australia are shameful. They won’t save lives, but they will damage the lives of thousands of adults and children sent to the awful camp on Manus Island, then to live in PNG.

Rudd’s plan will undermine any progress towards a genuine regional response. How will the Australian Government be able to ask other countries to sign on to the human rights protections of the UN Refugee Convention when it is ignoring the Convention itself?

No wonder Tony Abbott has welcomed Rudd’s latest plans. Abbott’s proposals to turn boats around on the high seas are extreme and dangerous.

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salad in Gold Member Offline Australian Politics Posts: 5941	Re: A Discussion On Greens' Refugee Position Reply #3 - Jul 23^rd, 2013 at 4:41pm May we join in or are you going to hog your own topic?
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cods

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Re: A Discussion On Greens' Refugee Position
Reply #4 - Jul 23^rd, 2013 at 4:52pm

so what the greens are saying is.. if the asylum seekers first get to Indonesia or Malaysia.they stand a good chance of being one of the chosen ones to come to AUstralia where the green party will take care of them until they can get a job and then take care of their own families that will follow..

I think I get it?.

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longweekend58 Gold Member Offline Australian Politics Posts: 45675 Gender:	Re: A Discussion On Greens' Refugee Position Reply #5 - Jul 23^rd, 2013 at 5:08pm naive to the max. All it talks about is taking more refugees and then more and perhaps a few million more in the naive assumption that there wont be just as many to fill to vacant spots as soon as they leave.
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salad in

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Re: A Discussion On Greens' Refugee Position
Reply #6 - Jul 23^rd, 2013 at 5:25pm

A few questions for the female in the clip.

1. When fleeing certain death at the hands of the Taliban why didn’t you seek a safe haven in Turkmenistan, Iran, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Pakistan or Kazakhstan?

2. What proof do you have of the threat by the Taliban to kill you?

3. Did you destroy your documents on the way here?

4. Did your family pick the wrong side in your country’s war and now you are losing you think the world owes you protection?

5. Seeing that your people are expert at turning their countries into sh!tholes because of your wars based on sectarian, ethnic, tribal, cultural and/or feudalism will you bring the same disgusting, backward, and out-of-date baggage with you?

Greens_Win, if you want to do some good in Australia you could concentrate on matters needing funding, volunteers or both that exist in Australia. Working for worthy causes here in Australia is important work and bound to improve the lives of many.

Start on this list and tell me when your done and I'll find more:

CareFlight
CareFlight is a not-for-profit emergency medical organisation providing rapid response critical care to patients in the pre-hospital environment.
When people cannot wait to get to a fully-fledged trauma department, we bring the trauma department to them.

St John Ambulance Australia (NSW)
St John Ambulance Australia (NSW) is a self-funding charitable organisation. The revenue generated from the sale of our first aid training and equipment, funds the delivery of our community services.

First aid is predominantly at our core. It is provided through more than 3,100 volunteers who attend large and small community events and activities. It is also provided to the wider community of NSW in homes and workplaces through the more than 81,000 people St John trains each year.

Through our Program to Aid Literacy (PAL s), the 500 trained St John volunteers provide assistance to primary school children with reading difficulties. Our Immunisation Program volunteers administratively assist the NSW Department of Health Immunisation teams when they visit NSW secondary schools.
The Ophthalmic work we support provides access to specialized eye treatment in isolated rural and remote parts of NSW and also to patients at the St John Hospital in Jerusalem.

AIDS Trust of Australia
The AIDS Trust of Australia is a national charity and raises funds for the HIV sector.
In Australia, the HIV sector has worked long, hard and successfully to guide, guard and care for Australians in all matters relating to HIV and AIDS.

Starlight Children's Foundation
Since 1988 Starlight has been brightening the lives of seriously ill and hospitalised children and their families throughout Australia. Starlight’s programs support the well being and resilience of these children.

Make-A-Wish® Australia
Make-A-Wish Australia’s mission is to grant the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions to enrich the human experience with hope, strength and joy. Since it’s establishment in 1985 Make-A-Wish Australia has granted almost 7,000 wishes to children in Australia with life-threatening medical conditions.

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The ALP, the progressive party, the party of ideas, the workers' friend, is the only Australian political party to roast four young Australians in roof cavities. SHAME! SHAME! SHAME!

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____ Gold Member Offline Australian Politics Posts: 33410 Australia Gender:	Re: A Discussion On Greens' Refugee Position Reply #7 - Jul 23^rd, 2013 at 5:36pm Salad, the way videos work ~ they are there to view, not a vehicle for questions and answers with people in the video. As for handing out chores, get a life.
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longweekend58 Gold Member Offline Australian Politics Posts: 45675 Gender:	Re: A Discussion On Greens' Refugee Position Reply #8 - Jul 23^rd, 2013 at 5:49pm ____ wrote on Jul 23^rd, 2013 at 5:36pm: Salad, the way videos work ~ they are there to view, not a vehicle for questions and answers with people in the video. As for handing out chores, get a life. because we dont dare question a country shopper.
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Re: A Discussion On Greens' Refugee Position
Reply #9 - Jul 23^rd, 2013 at 6:00pm

longweekend58 wrote on Jul 23^rd, 2013 at 5:49pm:

____ wrote on Jul 23^rd, 2013 at 5:36pm:

Salad, the way videos work ~ they are there to view, not a vehicle for questions and answers with people in the video.

As for handing out chores, get a life.

because we dont dare question a country shopper.

If the person was a country shopper she would of not been accepted as a refugee.

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____ Gold Member Offline Australian Politics Posts: 33410 Australia Gender:	Re: A Discussion On Greens' Refugee Position Reply #10 - Jul 23^rd, 2013 at 6:06pm https://secure.avaaz.org/en/seeking_asylum_is_a_human_right_locb/?copy Not in my name
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Innocent bystander

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Re: A Discussion On Greens' Refugee Position
Reply #11 - Jul 23^rd, 2013 at 6:08pm

____ wrote on Jul 23^rd, 2013 at 6:00pm:

If the person was a country shopper she would of not been accepted as a refugee.

Funny stuff, everyones a refugee according to the Greens, convincing a Green that you are a refugee would be no harder than scratching your arse, theres hundreds of millions of bogus reffos out there and the Greens would take every single one of them if they could Grin

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rabbitoh07

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Re: A Discussion On Greens' Refugee Position
Reply #12 - Jul 23^rd, 2013 at 6:15pm

Innocent bystander wrote on Jul 23^rd, 2013 at 6:08pm:

____ wrote on Jul 23^rd, 2013 at 6:00pm:

If the person was a country shopper she would of not been accepted as a refugee.

Funny stuff, everyones a refugee according to the Greens, convincing a Green that you are a refugee would be no harder than scratching your arse, theres hundreds of millions of bogus reffos out there and the Greens would take every single one of them if they could Grin

Could you please quote for us the reference you are basing that statement on?

Or do you just make stuff up because you are not very bright?

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Maqqa

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14% - that low?!

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Re: A Discussion On Greens' Refugee Position
Reply #13 - Jul 23^rd, 2013 at 6:25pm

Green's socialist position on anything is based on utopian ideals

When that fails - they resort to name calling, dog whistling and demonising

They have plenty of ideas but lack any real working policies

They talk as if they will form government

2010 should have taught everyone never to give the Greens an even chance

This is why I prefer Rudd or Abbott at the helm - both will not allow Greens to get a peak in

What their vote plummet

Bye bye Bandt

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Bill 14% is not the alcohol content of that wine. It's your poll number

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Innocent bystander Gold Member Offline Australian Politics Posts: 4220 Gender:	Re: A Discussion On Greens' Refugee Position Reply #14 - Jul 23^rd, 2013 at 7:19pm rabbitoh07 wrote on Jul 23^rd, 2013 at 6:15pm: Could you please quote for us the reference you are basing that statement on? That statement was based on reality, something you would know very little about
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