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| Garbage in garbage out | |
Indonesian officials
were exhibiting their slimy sophistry today complaining that Australia was using
Indonesia as a human garbage dump by sending 14 Kurds back after landing on
Melville Island last week. Amanda (Killer Whale) Vanstone was quick to point out that the Indonesians
had been using Australia as a garbage dump for decades (giving asylum seekers water and
fuel and pointing them towards Australia). Presumably these particular
officials were unhappy about not getting a sizable bribe when Australian
officials negotiated their return. They are now claiming they weren't even
consulted (ie no bribe at all). Having people smugglers use
Indonesia as a garbage transfer station apparently isn't a problem (it's good
for the economy), but
returned packages with "delivery not accepted"? It's just not on! At least the Killer Whale's quip puts her back on the front foot after a
bad couple of days. The 14 Kurds have claimed that they asked Australian
authorities for asylum before being forced back Indonesia. After initially
saying that it wasn't true, the Killer Whale had to step back to saying it
makes no difference, they weren't in Australia's immigration zone
anyway. This may be true, but Australia is a signatory to the UN convention on
refugees, and the lefties are fond of reminding us that we have an obligation to not
push people back over the border. Well, not quite. Here's what the agreement actually says:
Article 31: Refugees Unlawfully in the country of refuge31.1 The Contracting States shall not impose penalties on account of their
illegal entry or presence, or refugees who, coming directory from a territory
where their life or freedom was threatened in the sense of article 1, enter or
are present in their territory without authorization, provided they present
themselves without delay to the authorities and show god cause for their
illegal entry or presence. Article 32: Expulsion 32.1 The Contracting States shall not expel a refugee lawfully in their
territory save on grounds of national security or public order. Article 33: Prohibition of Expulsion or Return (Refoulement') 33.1 No Contracting State shall expel or return ("refouler") a refugee in any
manner whatsoever to the frontiers of territories where his life or freedom
would be threatened on account of his race, religion, national, membership of a
particular social group or political opinion.
In other words, they can be pushed back into Indonesia, because neither their
life or freedom was threatened in that State. So for the Kurds to complain about this, they would have to argue that they
were victims of repression under their democratic Muslim brethren, the
Indonesians. That wouldn't say much for the solidarity of the Religion of
Peace, and in fact most of them have now applied for refugee status in Indonesia. Apparently they want some time to collect the refund for the $4K they paid
for their ticket to Australia. A nervous people smuggler may be about to cough
up $56K.
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