The Sri Lankan asylum seekers
July 12th, 2011 at 9:00 am by David FarrarStuff reports:
Prime Minister John Key’s message that 85 Sri Lankan asylum seekers intercepted in Indonesia are “not welcome” has the backing of many in New Zealand’s Sri Lankan community.
The Tamil asylum seekers were detained on Saturday by the Indonesian Navy as they apparently tried to make their way to New Zealand by boat. …
United Sri Lanka Association spokesman Chula Rajapakse said there should be no reason for there to be refugees from Sri Lanka at the moment, as the country was “as peaceful as Wellington”.
“There’s no violence there right now, the violence there caused by Tamil terrorism has been quelled, it’s been put to rest two years ago.
“We have always taken the position that, when it comes to this queue-jumping by people-smugglers, New Zealand should not be seen to be taking a soft hand.”
The Tamils are not at fear or risk of their lives. They are economic refugees, not genuine refugees. If they actually reached NZ, then a tribunal would have to determine that, but I don’t think it is a close call.
NZ takes in several hundred refugees every year – those who go through official channels. I don’t believe you reward queue jumpers, because doing so will just encourage more and more people to do the same.
UPDATE:
Phil Goff agrees with John Key.
Labour leader Phil Goff holds a similar view and says we can’t run immigration policy on sympathy and let everyone that turns up her into the country.
He says the way to go is meet our responsibilities with our refugee quota, not promote gain for people smugglers who’re making money out of the misery of others.
I suspect not all in the Labour caucus will be happy with that call.
July 12th, 2011 at 9:10 am
I guessing that this thread isn’t going to become an enlightened discussion about the merits or otherwise of accepting refugees……
Vote:July 12th, 2011 at 9:11 am
I read a few years ago that the UN convention on refugees and asylum seekers is that they should be taken in by countries in their geographical region, i.e African refugees taken in by other African countries, European refugees by other European nations, South Pacific refugees by South Pacific nations, etc. Can anyone confirm this?
Vote:July 12th, 2011 at 9:13 am
Whether they are ‘genuine’ refugees or not is a question that could only be determined if and when they got to New Zealand. As that is unlikely to happen, it’s a bit pointless to speculate. The PM jumped the gun on this one.
Vote:July 12th, 2011 at 9:17 am
The word has filtered back to Sri Lanka that NZ is a soft touch and that the tribunals will find in their favour, they will get free money and don’t have to work. Thumbs up to John KEY for indicating that this is no longer Government Policy.
Vote:July 12th, 2011 at 9:17 am
There is no such thing as queue jumping.
Should these people reach our shores and apply for refugee status they are outside the mandate refugee system.
The correct people to ascertain their status are bloggers or ex-citizens of the country they are fleeing from, but our duly constituted authorities.
Our PM was crass in his comments, well worthy of honorary Act membership.
Vote:July 12th, 2011 at 9:18 am
yeswedid
How about enlightening us then?
Vote:July 12th, 2011 at 9:18 am
YesWeDid – NZ has a very good reputation accepting refugees. I was chair of a school board where students from refugee families made up more than 50 of the roll. The question is more around the definition of the term refugee. Simply disliking ones home country and preferring to live somewhere ‘better’ doesn’t make one a refugee IMO, no matter how noble the objective of wanting the best for ones family.
Vote:July 12th, 2011 at 9:21 am
By hokey, we had better start building more state houses for these poor people, I’m sure we must also have the hospital beds and benefits available for them as they step off the boat.
Vote:July 12th, 2011 at 9:26 am
The Tamils are not at fear or risk of their lives. They are economic refugees, not genuine refugees.
I’d really love to know how you figure that. I have a Tamil friend from India, and from what she’s told me I would not be quite so confident.
Vote:July 12th, 2011 at 9:27 am
Illegal immigrants should not come to NZ by boat.
They should come by aeroplane,dump passport and claim asylum on arrival.
Then you become a media and legal celebrity,feted by the left , progressives and legal activists.
Vote:And once you promise not to contact terrorists you can bring in your family.
July 12th, 2011 at 9:28 am
scrubone
It’s hard to assess their refugee status from several thousand miles away, but John Key and DPF must surely have better information than the rest of us.
Vote:July 12th, 2011 at 9:30 am
The difference between genuine refugess and economic refugees can be difficult to ascertain. Someone moving from Christchurch to Auckland because their place of work closed after the earthquake is an economic refugee. Sonny Bill Williams, leaving coz he’s afraid of earthquakes, is a genuiine refugee.
Vote:July 12th, 2011 at 9:31 am
It’s hard to assess their refugee status from several thousand miles away, but John Key and DPF must surely have better information than the rest of us.
In theory yes. In practice, that information is going to come from the very government these people are fleeing from.
Also, there’s the fact the report says they don’t know.
Vote:July 12th, 2011 at 9:34 am
The only thing these parasites should receive if they ever arrived in NZ should be a one way airfare back to Sri Lanka.
Vote:July 12th, 2011 at 9:35 am
@big bruv – are you happy now you have got that off your chest?
Vote:July 12th, 2011 at 9:36 am
No, New Zealand does not need these people. Simple.
Vote:July 12th, 2011 at 9:38 am
YesWeDId
You have your answer.
It is
NoWeWon’t.
Vote:July 12th, 2011 at 9:41 am
yeswedid
Care to give us your opinion then?
Vote:July 12th, 2011 at 9:42 am
Manolo, all refugees I have met are lovely people, industrious, and incredibly grateful for the opportunity New Zealand afforded them. And they are underrepresented in the crime statistics.
A big problem is the media simply don’t follow up on, for example, the people from the Tampa we relieved john Howard of.
Vote:July 12th, 2011 at 9:42 am
There is no such thing as queue jumping
Of course there is. What do you think would happen if NZ rolled out the welcome mat to anyone, anywhere?
Vote:July 12th, 2011 at 9:43 am
DPF: I don’t believe you reward queue jumpers, because doing so will just encourage more and more people to do the same.
And what’s wrong with that? These people are seeking a better live?
But we know why we no longer can accept economic refugees, and that is because of the welfare system. Doing so would bankrupt us even earlier than we otherwise would have.
Vote:July 12th, 2011 at 9:45 am
Can any of them bowl?
Vote:July 12th, 2011 at 9:48 am
Can we screen the kids for cricketing talent before we slam the door?
Gah, stumped by Tinman…
Vote:July 12th, 2011 at 9:48 am
Tinman
Dunno if they can bowl, but I can assure you they will have more than one or two chuckers who we could pick.
Vote:July 12th, 2011 at 9:49 am
Alpha Kiwi I am not sure if that is the policy but it does make sense. One of the biggest problems refugees seem to have is asymilating into a foreign culture and it would be easier to be in a similar one.
You just have to loook at how many eefugees seem to be begging for the old customs they are used to being put into their new country to see how much sense it would make to be placed in a country where their beliefs and cultural demands are already in place.
Vote:July 12th, 2011 at 9:51 am
http://blog.amnestyusa.org/iar/dont-forget-the-disappeared-in-sri-lanka/
Vote:July 12th, 2011 at 9:51 am
I think Key is scaremongering. It worked for Howard in Australia so maybe he thinks he can get some milage out of it here.
According to the stuff article New Zealand has a quota of 750 refugees annually which we don’t normally fill, which means we don’t have a refugee problem.
These people should be processed thought the normal channels and not on the say so of the PM or others in the media.
Vote:July 12th, 2011 at 9:54 am
These people should be processed thought the normal channels and not on the say so of the PM or others in the media.
Well, if they actually *arrived* here they should be.
Vote:July 12th, 2011 at 9:57 am
Yes the leftists lie (pun intended) in wait to pounce (or is it ponce?) upon anyone who dares not agree with them on ultra liberal refugee acceptance so they call such miscreants …… RACIST!!!!!!!!!!!
Vote:To these people this is better than sex
July 12th, 2011 at 9:57 am
Good to see Key showing a pair for once. I was beginning to think he had a vagina.
Vote:July 12th, 2011 at 10:04 am
Funny to read the journo taking pains to use the politically correct term “asylum seekers” even in a sentence with a quote from the refugees referring to themselves as refugees.
Vote:July 12th, 2011 at 10:06 am
As usual, the hand wringing panty-waists have come out wanting us to roll out the welcome mat. And the same pinkos will want me to contribute to the bill.
Wrong on both counts.
Vote:July 12th, 2011 at 10:08 am
Key clearly made the wrong decission, these guys managed to put togather a boat that floats nad some posters, they are clearly genuine refugees and should be pushed ahead of the cue. After all they managed to get more media attention that the thousands of actualy refugees taht have been prosecuted politicaly and try to leave through legal channels.
Vote:We all know that media attention = right of passage.
July 12th, 2011 at 10:15 am
There are two billion people in the world who would probably rather live in New Zealand, given a choice. We cannot take them all. Our welfare system is already struggling at the seams.
Vote:July 12th, 2011 at 10:27 am
Big Bruv, you should know by now that those with brown skin can not chuck – it’s just a birth defect that makes it look like they’re straightening their arm.
Vote:July 12th, 2011 at 10:27 am
I think Key is scaremongering. It worked for Howard in Australia so maybe he thinks he can get some milage out of it here.
The only reason Key would have for scaremongering on this issue would be a desire to see the Nats poll results hit 60%.
Vote:July 12th, 2011 at 10:30 am
CHFR I think it makes a lot of sense too as well as saving refugees from having to take such long and dangerous journeys.
Vote:July 12th, 2011 at 10:31 am
Not PC blog has a take on this issue.
Cue Card Libertarianism — Immigration
Vote:July 12th, 2011 at 10:50 am
@Luc Hansen
I am sure they are all lovely people, that’s not the point.
Vote:If you are so keen on them, why don’t you sponsor them?
Get a group of people together, and make yourselves financial liable for the cost of their stay.
Deal?
July 12th, 2011 at 10:54 am
PC doesn’t believe in AGW or a population explosion; we live in a world that is “All Looked Over by Machines of Loving Grace”. Earth is just a big lovely indestructible play-pen and the rules are that everyone should strive to gain as much wealth as possible, uninhibited by any apparent resource or environmental constraints. Should anything appear to go wrong the price will go up (bell rings) and an attendant shuffles in with a solution.
Vote:July 12th, 2011 at 11:02 am
HJ said…
uninhibited by any apparent resource or environmental constraints.
Correct HJ. PC believes in Exploit the Earth or die.
Vote:July 12th, 2011 at 11:17 am
He could advocate pulling out?
Vote:July 12th, 2011 at 11:27 am
John Key was doing his job when he said these things: http://pundit.co.nz/content/mike-joy-answers-the-pm-with-hard-facts (but I hope he didn’t believe it). He is also doing his job sending the message to a ship load of asylum seekers (despite holding posters of the PM Keith Locke).
Vote:July 12th, 2011 at 11:28 am
Quite right. And that from the United Sri Lanka Association spokesman!
Let’s face it, getting our heads around astounding handles such as Rajaputmypantiesinthewash & other such tongue twisters is trying enough let alone turning a blind eye to illegals with equally astonishing alphabet soup surnames.
Vote:July 12th, 2011 at 11:38 am
No one is saying (except the National Front) that migrants/ asylum seekers are inferior but they are a mixed bunch and competition for locals. Hence in the tourist industry the main group still going strong over the winter are Chinese driving small buses which park up the suburban drive when not out on the road or unmarked rental vans. Then there is the realestate industry where government policy is to keep houses as expensive as possible as a barometer of economic health (in association with Harcourts Shanghai)… the good part is that the govt has secured a cheap supply of play stations for the plebs.
Vote:Of course all we need to do is unlock the metropoliton limits of the hydro stations the old boys built in the Mac Kenzie basin if only the Greeenies would let us.
July 12th, 2011 at 11:40 am
We wouldnt have a “refugee” problem if we accept 7500.
We would have a “refugee” problem if it became known there was a way to move to NZ without going through the normal channels.
We would have people dying on boats trying to get here, and thats a problem.
We would be providing people smugglers in Indonesia, and elsewhere, a market for their services, and thats a problem.
We would be spending resources on policing the border that could be better spent on supporting refugees, and thats a problem.
We would have a system that was set up for real reasons being over-turned with no discussion on the relative merits of those reasons, and thats a problem.
Acknowledging these points is not scare-mongering or racist.
This isnt dog whistle politics. It is grown-up politics. Labelling those you disagree with on this issue as racist, xenophobic, or opportunistic is as childish and as unhelpful as the cries from those anti-immigration nutjobs that refugees spoil the gene pool, bring sharia law, and spread disease.
Dont turn this discussion into one about immigration in general. It is about ILLEGAL immigration.
I am for immigration and can mount an afternoons worth of internet defense of it (I wont bother, as that isnt the issue). I am for taking in refugees and could do the same.
I am against illegal immigration and a rorted refugee system, not because I am against immigration or taking in refugees, but because I am for those things.
Vote:July 12th, 2011 at 11:46 am
What drives the human population is the genetic code which selfishly tries to reproduce itself. Therefore even in dire poverty people have large families.
The population curve is undisputed but what natural phenomena is supposed to curb it??
Vote:July 12th, 2011 at 11:48 am
It’s really simple isn’t?
We have a quota and a process for them to go through.
Outside of the country.
similarly they have to “qualify” with the UNHCR first before we even look at them.
NO We Won’t, should be our answer to all who don’t come through our quota process.
bar them for 5 yrs and send them back within 24 hrs.
Lets start with Zouie
Vote:July 12th, 2011 at 11:50 am
“It looks like the Government are set to loosen the immigration laws which will allow people to come into the country even if they cannot speak English – as long as they have plenty of cash.
The theory is that the influx of non-English speaking rich foreigners will be beneficial to the economy.
This theory however was completely demolished in April in a report from a Massy University economist, Dr Greg Clydesdale.
While Immigration Minister David Cunliffe thinks that more immigration is a ‘must for economic growth’, Clydesdale commented that ‘claims that immigrants improve the economy, introduce new techniques and grow the business sector are being exaggerated..There is often no economic evidence to support the claims made.’
Clydesdale pointed out that the Government’s own figures showed that only 2 percent of new immigrants introduced new technology.
He said that many new arrivals under the business, investment and entrepreneurial categories brought existing buSinesses such as restaurants, cafes and takeaways.’
‘There is little new activity. there’s no added value, it’s just a change of ownership,’ said Clydesdale.
Clydesdale went on to say that immigration policy was adding to the increase in house prices and putting further pressure on inflation rates.
But the Government’s to allow wealthy immmigrants into the country who can’t speak even basic English, clearly indicates that Clydesdale’s well-researched report has been filed in the rubbish bin.”
http://nzagainstthecurrent.blogspot.com/2007/06/immigration-policy-goverment-ignores.html
Vote:July 12th, 2011 at 12:01 pm
Can they bowl?
Don’t know and don’t care.
What they do have is begging bowls.
And yeh, Do a follow up on Tampa and the rest and ask how many more rellies did they bring in after them,and the rest of the refugees NZ has taken. How many have jobs,are unemployed on benefits etc
No white wash, just do it. I’ll bet the MSM are scared shitless in case they’re called racist.
And stop calling these people asylum seeker, they’re illegal immigrants.
Vote:July 12th, 2011 at 12:32 pm
From the signs I saw they didn’t want to come to New Zealand, but instead wanted to go to “NEWSLAND”.
Now either Rupert Murdoch has bought a country, or they’ve made a typo and they’re talking about “Newland South Australia 5223, Australia”.
Let ‘em go to South Australia.
Vote:July 12th, 2011 at 12:42 pm
I hope you’re right…
Vote:July 12th, 2011 at 12:44 pm
What drives the human population is the genetic code which selfishly tries to reproduce itself. Therefore even in dire poverty people have large families.
Oh yea, that’s got to be it. It couldn’t possibly be that children can help the parents and look after them in their old age.
Vote:July 12th, 2011 at 12:50 pm
I for one am equally offended by the idea that we should take anyone who wants to come here, and the idea that they are not welcome.
If they arrive here (and let’s face it, they havn’t even come close) we should assess their situation carefully and if they’re prepared to make a contribution to this country (which is something that can’t be said for many people born here) then they’re welcome in my street.
Vote:July 12th, 2011 at 1:04 pm
To the worried and hand wringers out there,seriously……
These people ,if in real ,genuine danger can take their boats to the nearest land mass,India (a member of the UN and nuclear power) and seek asylum there. Tamils are a large minority there so they would fit in nicely.
It’s as simple as that.
Same with Afghans,go to Pakistan.
Iraqis ” ” Jordan
etc etc
Vote:July 12th, 2011 at 1:09 pm
Absolutely the correct stance from John Key. Follow the correct process if you want to come to NZ, or don’t come at all.
Vote:I see the usual bleeding heart saps think it’s a good idea to encourage people to risk their lives trying to get to NZ via the people smugglers. How well is that working for Australia?
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/07/11/3266810.htm
July 12th, 2011 at 1:57 pm
Boat refugees are at the top of the Darwinian gene pool. Think about it.
Vote:The worst thing that could happen is we let them in and within a few years they’re outdoing us.
July 12th, 2011 at 7:38 pm
Kill the welfare state handouts they get and those who are so inclined to make the effort under their own stream to come here are more than welcome.
Vote:July 12th, 2011 at 7:46 pm
“Kill the welfare state handouts” and Maori will starve to death.
Vote: