GREENS leader Senator Christine Milne has praised European authorities for respecting the dignity of 800 dead boat people.
Despite the Abbott government ending the people smuggling trade in Australian waters and therefore saving many lives, Milne said the European approach contrasted with Australia’s cruelty.
“The reporting talks about the tragedy as people drown ... they don’t talk about ‘illegals’ ... and they don’t talk about punishing refugees,” Milne told reporters in Hobart as crews continued recovering the bodies of dead people-smuggling victims. The 800 people, mostly from Africa and the Middle East, drowned when their boat capsized off the Italian coast on Sunday. UN spokeswoman Carlotta Sami described the tragedy as “the worst massacre ever seen in the Mediterranean”.
“The response by Sicilian authorities shows that Europeans respect the dignity of boat people,” Senator Milne said. “They talk about offering help and assistance.”
An estimated 1000 asylum seekers drowned trying to reach Australia after the Labor government relaxed previously successful border protection policies in 2008.
Following the deaths of 200 asylum seekers in 2011, Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young, whose party backed Labor’s policy switch, said: “Tragedies happen, accidents happen.”
The Abbott government restored people-smuggling deterrents after being elected in 2013. There were no confirmed deaths of asylum seekers attempting to reach Australia for the entire following year.
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/no-talk-of-illegals-in-europe-says-gre...