Aust. Election in 1 week - A review of Kevin Rudd, PM (page 15)

Jeffro

mP:

I never claimed that SL was a place without problems, i only stated its gotten better because peace is *nearlY* always better than war.

A typical 'shifting the goalposts' strategy.

You claimed that Howard's policies 'stopped the boats' and that it was Rudd's policies in 2009 that 'started the boats' again. The fact is that there was a new influx of asylum seekers in 2009, as clearly shown by the facts. Your attempt at shifting focus to your impression of 'conditions in Sri Lanka' (which in fact did make things less secure for the Tamil) is entirely irrelevant to your false correlation about 'stopping the boats'.

News sources, refugee organisations and the Australian government agree that there was an increase in refugee numbers in 2009 due to international factors and not Australian policy.

You're wrong, and that's all. I'm not interest in responding any further to your arrogant tripe. I've supplied enough information already for sincere readers.

Jeffro

barry:

Lets talk about Rudd.

Why? Rudd's a narcissit. Abbott's a tool. They're both arrogant. They both were involved in leadership disputes.

Labor has better policies.

Why don't people in Australia understand that people elect a party.

Jeffro

barry:

There is a video on youtube of a Sri Lankan asylum seeker who openly admitted he was going to Australia to get rich and when asked how he would prove he is a refugee he replied ' that is the easiest part I just have to say I was tortured'.

The quote you cited does not exist at all in the video you supplied (transcript here). Additionally, the video doesn't say that all leave only for economic reasons. It's extremely naive to presume that all Sri Lankan asylum seekers try to get to Australia for the same reason. Most asylum seekers are found to be legitimate refugees.

The report says that "[paying the people smugglers] costs them every cent and every asset they have", and the amounts of money they talk about getting in Australia are very modest - about half what unemployed Australians get. People interviewed said that life in Australia is "good" but didn't say they were going there to get "rich". The report says people are leaving because of "Harassment, no food or income and still afraid of the abductions that took place as the war ended."

Jeffro

barry:

Sri Lankans are asylum seekers only they are not refugees. They are actually economic refugees

Fear of persecution classifies a person as a refugee. People of an ethnic group on the losing side of a civil war have valid concerns of persecution, particularly when people of that group have been abducted since the war ended.

Jeffro

Above, I said:

the amounts of money they talk about getting in Australia are very modest

I realise this will probably be leapt upon because a little bit of money in Australia is a lot to a poor Sri Lankan.

However, the amount the refugees have to pay to the people smugglers is many times more than the Australian government allowance for refugees. Based on the figures given in the SBS report linked by barry, it would take several months in Australia to be paid what it costs for the down-payment to the people smugglers in addition to the amount the refugees have to promise to pay to the smugglers after safe arrival in Australia (before living expenses). In actual terms, the amount would be owed for significantly longer.

barry

Jeffro , I tried to put the video on here with the sri Lankan saying what I quoted but couldn't get it to work. Its still on youtube if you care to look it up.

The tamil tigers ave been classified by 33 countries as a terrorist organisation so the Australian government has the right to look very carefully at anyone seeking asylum here. Some asylum seekers have been in detention for a number of years for good reason.

Jeffro

barry:

I tried to put the video on here with the sri Lankan saying what I quoted but couldn't get it to work.

A comment by a particular essentially anonymous individual is not representative of all Sri Lankan asylum seekers. Most are found to be legitimate refugees. It's therefore not worth my while to blindly search for that particular video (with no real way of knowing which specific video you're referring to). However, if you provide a link, I might have a look.

The tamil tigers ave been classified by 33 countries as a terrorist organisation so the Australian government has the right to look very carefully at anyone seeking asylum here. Some asylum seekers have been in detention for a number of years for good reason.

Um... okay... I never suggested otherwise. Thanks for the strawman argument.

barry

Jeffro, Go to youtube and type in 'sri lankan refugees' . It's the first to come up on the first page and the mans head is pictured on the video

Aust. Election in 1 week - A review of Kevin Rudd, PM

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