by Giulio Meotti • July 28, 2018 at
5:00 am
- "Europeans think
it's easy in Australia to control our borders, but they're just
making up excuses for doing nothing themselves." — Major
General (Ret.) Jim Molan, co-author of Australia's asylum
policy.
- "We have got
hundreds, maybe thousands of people drowning in the attempts to
get from Africa to Europe... [The] only way you can stop the
deaths is in fact to stop the boats". — Australian Prime
Minister Tony Abbott.
- "My long
experience in Australian politics has been that whenever a
government is seen to have immigration flows under control,
public support for immigration increases, when the reverse
occurs hostility to immigration rises." — Former Australian
Prime Minister John Howard.
- It must be crushing to
live in a country where governance might be questionable at
best, and economic opportunities limited, if that. People know
they are risking their lives in search of a better break. But if
the West is not to be overwhelmed, these problems seriously need
to be addressed.
The Manus
Regional Processing Centre in Papua New Guinea, where Australia used
to send illegal immigrants turned away from Australia. It was
formally closed on October 31, 2017. (Image source: Australia
Department of Immigration and Citizenship)
Four years ago, the Australian government sparked
criticism after it ran an advertisement aimed at discouraging asylum
seekers from traveling illegally to the country. "No Way",
the poster read. "You will not make Australia home. If you get
on a boat without a visa, you will not end up in Australia. Any
vessel seeking illegally to enter Australia will be intercepted and
safely removed beyond Australian waters".
It was an extremely tough message, but it worked.
"Australia's migration rate is the lowest it's been in 10
years", said Peter Dutton, Australia's Home Affairs Minister.
Speaking last week on the Today Show, Dutton added that the drop was
about "restoring integrity to our border". The Australians
are apparently happy about that. A new poll just revealed that 72% of
voters support Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's immigration policy.
Australia, a Western democracy, has for years, tried to deal with a
migration crisis from the sea.
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