Post by Michael Wilbur-Ham on May 1, 2013 14:11:52 GMT 10
This thread is for discussing the policy response to boat people given the assumption that the numbers arriving if we changed to a more compassionate response would remain manageable.
If you think that a compassionate approach would result in a huge flood of new arrivals you can discuss your view here.
My view is that because those travelling by boat know that there is a real risk of drowning, no further disincentive is needed to those who arrive safely in Australia just to stop the boats. Punishing people who have committed no crime just as a disincentive to other people is, in my view, morally bankrupt.
Instead we should offer those in Indonesia an alternative to the boat trip - a system which processes their refugee status quickly and many more of those found to be genuine refugees get sent to Australia and other countries (part of the solution is to work with other countries who might accept more refugees from Indonesia).
If you think that Australia should introduce a much more compassionate policy the details of what that policy should be can be discussed here. And if you are not too concerned with the detail, you can jump straight to discussing what actions might bring about a change to a compassionate policy here.
If you think that, even though a compassionate policy wouldn't result in a flood in arrivals, we should maintain our strong disincentives, then this thread is the place to make your case.
If you think that a compassionate approach would result in a huge flood of new arrivals you can discuss your view here.
My view is that because those travelling by boat know that there is a real risk of drowning, no further disincentive is needed to those who arrive safely in Australia just to stop the boats. Punishing people who have committed no crime just as a disincentive to other people is, in my view, morally bankrupt.
Instead we should offer those in Indonesia an alternative to the boat trip - a system which processes their refugee status quickly and many more of those found to be genuine refugees get sent to Australia and other countries (part of the solution is to work with other countries who might accept more refugees from Indonesia).
If you think that Australia should introduce a much more compassionate policy the details of what that policy should be can be discussed here. And if you are not too concerned with the detail, you can jump straight to discussing what actions might bring about a change to a compassionate policy here.
If you think that, even though a compassionate policy wouldn't result in a flood in arrivals, we should maintain our strong disincentives, then this thread is the place to make your case.