Interesting correlation of views and suburbs ... Trudy
The Sydney Morning Herald
Letters: Children innocent victims of refugee 'issue'
Date: 21/08/2001
In the late 1930s, things looked pretty grim for the Jews and other
"undesirables" of Germany. Most countries of the "enlightened" world
did not want refugees and cited numerous cogent reasons for their onerous
restrictions on immigrants.
However, there was one ray of hope: Britain agreed to receive some
Kinder-transport, children who could be saved even if their parents
could not. Kind people in a foreign country gave refugee children shelter, and
eventually a permanent home if their parents perished in
the Holocaust. As we know now, some of these children made valuable
contributions to their adopted country and have never forgotten
the compassion shown them.
The latest batch of "illegals" who have landed on Christmas Island are said to
include about 100 children. In a country of notable
privilege and goodwill such as Australia, surely there would be no difficulty in
at least finding foster homes for these children.
Similar forms of Kindertransport could be arranged for others while their
parents comply with whatever hoops they have to jump
through before they are able to join them.
Liesel Scholem, Roseville, August 19.
I have the perfect solution to the illegal immigrant/boat people, sorry, "asylum
seeker" issue. Let's get all those who object to the current
system to enrol their names on a national register.
Each can then be allocated a family of refugees, and be responsible for the
costs of feeding, clothing, sheltering and keeping track of the
whereabouts of the refugees until their applications have been processed.
Perhaps then the tax dollars currently being spent on keeping these people in
detention centres can be put to better use - such as investing
in the health and education of Australian citizens?
By M. Kara, Baulkham Hills, August 20.
How can you be a queue jumper when there is no queue available for you to join?
Catherine Verschuer, Turramurra, August 20.
Zachary Steel claims the refugees in detention camps include "probably the most
traumatised people on the planet" (Herald, August 18).
Clearly he has got too close to the problem and can't see the bigger picture,
which has to throw some doubt on his credibility. He
apparently has never heard of; Afghanistan/Pakistan, West Timor, Palestine,
Rwanda/Congo, Aceh, Kosovo or Bosnia. I believe the
death toll in the years of the Balkan conflicts was over 200,000. Millions of
people were forced to flee their homes at gunpoint.
The queue-jumping refugees bribed and bought their way here voluntarily.
Stephen Thomas, Wahroonga, August 19.
Alan Ramsey's response to asylum seekers was disappointing ("Detention centres
are not meant to be holiday camps", Herald, August
18). Most people agree that those who are unable to establish genuine refugee
status, should be deported.
The real controversy revolves around their treatment while they are going
through the judicial process.
Without considering the alternatives, Ramsey appears to accept that detainment
in prison camps, harassment by "correctional" officers
and the denial of basic human rights are appropriate responses to people who
have risked their lives to find refuge in Australia.
UNHCR recognises that there are about 21 million refugees in the world today.
Instead of encouraging hysteria and hatred and justifying
harsh treatment as deterrence, why don't our politicians and journalists try
explaining the whole the refugee problem in its global context?
Other Western democracies such as New Zealand, Sweden, Germany and the US have
managed to deal with refugees in a far more
compassionate and generous manner. What's happened to the Australian ideal of a
"fair go"?
Tanya Crothers, Mosman, August 18.
John Howard would like to make it less attractive for illegal immigrants to come
here (Herald, August 18). The best way to do that is to
keep increasing the size of our population just like we're doing.
It shouldn't be too long before our country becomes just as undesirable as those
from which they're fleeing.
Larry Tofler, Hawks Nest, August 18.
Is it Australia's splendid record of dealing with "illegal queue jumpers" that
provides it with the credentials as the only suitable country in
the world from which the Burmese military junta buys human rights training?
By Richard Doyle, Leura, August 20.
Do we really need Christmas Island?
Why not, as a gesture of goodwill to Ms Megawatti, give it to Indonesia?
D.G. Peacocke, Careel Bay, August 20.
********************
Sense of belonging
The views expressed by Cr Janine Kitson suggest that indigenous people should
not enjoy the same land rights as non-indigenous people
(Letters, August 15). The 2.8 hectares of Crown land in East Killara,
Ku-ring-gai, granted to the Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land
Council last October, has been zoned residential for 30 years.
It is residual land adjacent to a much larger area that was subdivided and sold
off for development in the early/mid-'70s and could have
been sold for development by any government at any stage.
Cr Kitson's proposal that alternative provisions need to be found for economic
compensation to the Aboriginal people of NSW denies the
indigenous people the same rights as other land owners and those exercised by
government when it sold off the adjacent land for
development.
The irony is that the word "Ku-ring-gai" means, "belonging to the Aborigines".
Cr Ian De Vulder, Ku-ring-gai Council, Pymble, August 19.
--
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