Thread: Australia will not help illegal aliens adrift in Bay of Bengal

Australia will not help illegal immigrants adrift in Bay of Bengal

ASIA IMMIGRATION | 21 de Mayo de 2015


AmpliarAustralian Prime Minister Tony Abbott speaks PA/LUKAS CO

Sydney, May 21 (EFE).- Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott on Thursday ruled out providing assistance to the thousands of illegal immigrants currently stranded on boats in the Bay of Bengal, in contrast to the United States which responded more favorably to requests from Malaysia and Indonesia to help re-settle or repatriate them within a year.

"In the end the culprit is Burma because it is Burma where there is an issue. Our role is to do everything we humanly can to stop people smuggling," said Abbott.

"And the best way to do that is to make it absolutely crystal clear that if you get on a leaky boat, you aren't going to get what you want, which is a new life in a Western country," he added.

"If we do the slightest thing to encourage people to get on the boats, this problem will get worse, not better," the Prime Minister told journalists in the Australian city of Adelaide.

The United States is willing to help Southeast Asian countries "bear the burden" of accommodating the illegal immigrants, and to assist U.N. agencies to facilitate their reception, U.S. Department of State spokesperson Marie Harf said Wednesday.

Malaysia and Indonesia offered on Tuesday to disembark and accommodate the illegal immigrants adrift on boats in the Bay of Bengal, in exchange for a commitment from the international community to repatriate them or re-settle them in third countries within one year.

Some 3,000 illegal immigrants from Bangladesh and Burma landed in Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand last week despite attempts by the navies of the three countries to keep them away from the coast.

Most are Rohingyas, a Muslim minority fleeing persecution in Burma, a country that refuses to grant them citizenship.

Abbott's conservative government has a strict anti-immigration policy that includes forcing vessels to return to their points of embarkation, and the off-shore detention of asylum seekers while processing their asylum claims, which if accepted, trigger re-settlement in a country other than Australia.

http://www.laprensasa.com/309_americ...of-bengal.html

I repeat, on a common sense scale of 0 to 100, Australians seem to be about 90 points ahead off Americans.

Our role is to do everything we humanly can to stop people smuggling," said Abbott.

"And the best way to do that is to make it absolutely crystal clear that if you get on a leaky boat, you aren't going to get what you want, which is a new life in a Western country," he added.

"If we do the slightest thing to encourage people to get on the boats, this problem will get worse, not better," the Prime Minister told journalists in the Australian city of Adelaide.

Now that's a man protecting his country. Sure wish we had one. Is there any American out there willing to "Just Say No"?