(no subject)
I imagine, with what i think i know about my peer group that blog on here, that i am not the only one incensed by the recent media and political furor raised by the fatal blast aboard a refugee boat last week.
That it is now being claimed in some sectors that it was deliberately started by the refugees to secure hospital beds in Australia has me agape in disbelief.
But what has really bugged me is how Labor seems to be letting the coalition score political points off this. The claims that Australias change in border policy since the Labor government came to power, has created the "surge" in illegal refugees seeking our shores, ultimately unravels when viewed in the context of global trends. Refugee arrivals have risen in all developed countries. There is a recession on. Also who can blame the refugees with a straight face for wishing a respite from the afghan of today with daily bombings and the reemergence of the opium money fueled cartels thanks to the coalition of the willing and their puppet government headed by their "Hard on drugs" former warlord who made his fortune in the opium poppy business (i'm not saying that things were ideal under the Taliban either but the situation for the average Afghany can hardly be said to have been bettered).
Some interesting stats:
- Percentage increase in the number of asylum applications worldwide between 2007 and 2008: 12% -- UNHCR
- Increase in the number of asylum applications in Australia between 2007 and 2008: 19% -- The Australian
- Increase in the number of asylum applications in Finland between 2007 and 2008: 181% -- The Australian
- Asylum applications submitted by Afghans in 2008: 18,500 -- UNHCR
- Number of asylum applications submitted by Afghans in 2002: 29,400 -- UNHCR
- Percentage increase in the number of asylum applications worldwide from Afghanistan in 2008: 85% -- UNHCR
- Percentage of asylum seekers who arrive by air: more than 95% -- Malcolm Farr, The Daily Telegraph
- Amount of money spent on the Pacific Solution over five years: More than $1 billion -- SMH
- Cost per person to be processed in Nauru, Manus and Christmas Island: more than $500,000 -- SMH
I'll finish with a personal attack at Sharman Stone (who can't be expected to ever read this no least of all because apparently she can't even read the press releases she recieves at her office): You are a disgusting opportunistic vulture and in a better world your comments would have been universally decried and you would have been strapped to a log and carried to the outskirts of town