Hello, honey!

[skyring]

Back in the old days, not too long ago, the aim of illegal immigrants was to get to Australian shores undetected, change into clothes that wouldn't give the game away and disappear into the population. One memorable incident involved about twenty ethnic Chinese suddenly appearing in a sleepy North Queensland town, all in business suits, clutching cheap suitcases, and asking about transport to Sydney.

Yeah. Way to blend into the population of a small town where shorts and singlets are the go, everyone went to school together and the only way out is to call a taxi from the next town, an hour's drive away.

Nowadays, it's all changed. They want to be found. Illegal or not, the best and quickest way to settle in Australia is to ring up the authorities and claim asylum. The latest lot arrived, found nobody waiting, and made a call to the emergency number!

Look, I'm as sympathetic to refugees as the next person, but this is just taking advantage. If we have an annual intake, I'd prefer to take our refugees from those who get out of the troubled country, then apply at the nearest Australian embassy or consulate once they are out of danger, and be flown safely in when their applications are approved. Those who force our hand, presenting their arrival here as a fait accompli, I'm not so sure about.

Comments

This is such an emotive issue

[newkaligula.livejournal.com]

and I am scared to write anything. But I don't disagree. The fact that we keep taking them means they keep coming. The whole people smuggling business gives me the creeps. And many of them die on the way. I just cannot see why it is "the right thing" to keep encouraging them.

Re: This is such an emotive issue

[skyring.livejournal.com]

It's an emotive issue everywhere. More so in the countries that are the origin of asylum seekers than in the developed world, I imagine. It must take a lot to leave the land of your ancestors, to leave everyone you've ever known and to make a difficult and dangerous journey to the other side of the world, unsure of the destination geographically, culturally and economically.

But so many of the great tales of adventure are based on exactly this, not least those stories of the developed nations. The USA and Australia are full of heroic journeys from persecution to freedom.

I have every understanding and sympathy for refugees. Just as I do for those poor souls shivering in the nightclub heart of Canberra at three on a wintry Sunday morning, wanting to get home to a warm bed. But as a taxidriver, I prefer to take the passengers from the head of the queue. They have been waiting the longest, they have done the right thing, they should be looked after first.

I lock my doors and ignore the opportunists who try to flag me down before I get to the rank. If they want a ride in my cab, then they should walk around the corner to the cab rank and wait. I'll get to them when I've carried those who have waited longest home.

Besides, I feel that those who take shortcuts, who disregard the rules, who have no care for those already in the queue, those are not the people I am going to give my first priority to. I want people who obey the rules, who do the right thing, who pay the cabbie, don't throw up in his cab and don't abuse him or the system.

Re: This is such an emotive issue

[newkaligula.livejournal.com]

Yes yes. Agree. I wasn't railling against refugees in
general. We should continue to
take as many as we can. This is such a polar
issue. I can barely understand the other point
of view. And they certainly don't get mine. So
it has become one of those things that people
try not to talk about.