The 260 odd Sri Lankan asylum seekers interecepted near Indonesia have been all over the news lately. Whilst the Indonesian government is prepared to provide them with accommodation in Indonesia, the asylum seekers are seeking refugee status in Australia, threatened to blow up the boat they are on(later withdrawing the threat) and have just ended a two day hunger strike. Their spokesman, 'Alex' claims that they are fleeing 'genocide' in Sri Lanka.
Whilst I consider myself quite liberal with respect to most issues with regards to the asylum seekers I have some reservations. In this particular case, I think one problem is that whilst the refugees are claiming to be fleeing genocide, they have refused to stay in Indonesia. Surely if your life is in danger, wouldn't Indonesia be good enough?
Generally, I think the main problem with asylum seekers are:
-by accepting asylum seekers we are, in effect, condoning people smuggling and sending a message to people all over the world that it is a means of getting to Australia
-with the lack of language skills(and in some cases education), the asylum seekers will likely have problems integrating into the Australian way of life and gaining employment
-accepting large numbers of refugees from a particular country may lead to the refugees segregating themselves leading to the formation of gangs and increased crime rates
What do you guys think?
Whilst I consider myself quite liberal with respect to most issues with regards to the asylum seekers I have some reservations. In this particular case, I think one problem is that whilst the refugees are claiming to be fleeing genocide, they have refused to stay in Indonesia. Surely if your life is in danger, wouldn't Indonesia be good enough?
Generally, I think the main problem with asylum seekers are:
-by accepting asylum seekers we are, in effect, condoning people smuggling and sending a message to people all over the world that it is a means of getting to Australia
-with the lack of language skills(and in some cases education), the asylum seekers will likely have problems integrating into the Australian way of life and gaining employment
-accepting large numbers of refugees from a particular country may lead to the refugees segregating themselves leading to the formation of gangs and increased crime rates
What do you guys think?