ASYLUM SEEKERS - Some facts without the hype

ASYLUM SEEKERS

Some facts without the hype

The situation with regard to refugees or asylum seekers is not great. It is sad when anybody dies for what ever reason, but that does not make all deaths that occur our responsibility, unless we did something to cause those deaths.

We're 15th in the world for taking Asylum Seekers

Australia is continually criticised in the media for the treatment of asylum seekers and deaths at sea. That according to the media is Australia's fault. We're criticised for being 15th in the world for taking Refugees/Asylum seekers (based on refugees per head of population ).

Nations who take less Asylum Seekers than Australia

Here's a list of nations we know the statistics for that we are ahead of: Turkey, Canada, United States, Finland, Netherlands, Iceland, Yugoslav Republic, Croatia, Italy, Serbia, Switzerland, Macedonia, Bulgaria, Hungary, Ireland, Lithuania, Poland, United Kingdom, EU-Total (27), Estonia, Latvia, New Zealand, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Czech Rep., Japan, Portugal, Rep. of Korea. Indonesia, Malaysia, China, and Russia aren't on the list at all and there are many many more nations that don't take refugees.

Instead of getting stuck into us every moment of the day, perhaps the press should be saying we're doing well, but perhaps we could do better.

How many Asylum Seekers

The other thing is how many refugee/Asylum Seekers die on route to Australia - i.e. at sea. You can find out relatively easily as Monash Uni keeps statistics, and there is at least one other site that gives the figures year by year. The figures between the two sources roughly correlate.

Asylum Seeker Arrivals by Year

Deaths on Route

So I plotted the number of asylum seekers, no of boats, and number that died by year.

Asylum Seeker Deaths and Boat Arrivals by Year

What is immediately apparent is that there was a huge disaster in 2001 and 336 people died. The response to that was a change or implementation of new policy by the Howard government. Over the next seven years, only a handful died - 28 in total, about 4 per year. Then Rudd/Gillard took over. In the next 4.5 years more than a 1000 people died. The number of people who died is directly proportional to the number of boat arrivals.

Comparisons

Compared with Howard's last year in office Rudd's second year of office produced 18 times as many asylum seekers and 111 deaths compared with none (zero). Rudd's third year in office - 44 times the number asylum seekers arrived, and there were 168 deaths compared with none. Under Gillard it just got worse. By her second term in office the number of asylum seekers was 116 times Howard's last year, and 359 deaths compared with zero.

Life or Death - a policy choice

The media can talk all they like, Labor can criticize all they like. The truth is, that nothing they have suggested will save the thousand lives lost, or the lives that are still to die as a result of their policies. Talk means nothing - but deaths do. You have to choose - do you want policies that will lead to thousands of deaths a year or no deaths and a steadily increasing asylum seeker/refugee intake as our population grows. Our refugee/asylum seeker intake is only beaten by fourteen(14) nation's in the world, rather they come by much safer means and without being exploited along the way.

Frankston Watch