The boat people are coming and so are the Libs.

From the transcript of a story on AM:

ALEX: If you had no place to go, if you had no country of your own, what would you do and how long would you stay in a boat before you were promised to enter a country that will give you asylum?

How long will you go? How desperate will you be? We’re not only suffering back home we’re suffering here. We have no choice. We have no country to go back to.

GEOFF THOMPSON: But Australia was not the first and certain choice for these asylum seekers, simply the cheapest and easiest place to get to, even if it means living in a Malaysian jungle for a month, something even nine year old Brindha understands.

BRINDHA: Please help us and save our lives. We are your children. Please think of us, please, please (crying). Our Sri Lankan refugees, we have lived in forest for one month, please sir, please take us to a country. It’s okay if it is not Australia. It’s better if any other country takes us, we can’t live in Sri Lanka.

How can anyone in their right mind believe that these people have somehow taken the easy route? There’s so much talk of queue jumping, illegal immigration and ‘opening the floodgates’ lately, and it’s all complete bullshit.

The number of migrants to Australia by 4 year visa or permanent residency is gargantuan compared to the alledged 10000 refugees that could possibly come. Compared again to the amount of refugees and internally displaced person throughout the world, the thought that 10000 desperate people could possibly be a threat to Australia is laughable.

The Libs are stirring this up again because there is the scent of an early election in the air. It was a winner for Johnny in 2001, so it’s bound to win again. Resorting to ridiculous measures, such as labelling all refugees illegal, is not only callous, it’s unnecessary under our current migration law. We already have visas for those who are in the country illegally but have some reason to stay – they are called bridging visas. Creating a visa out of thin air and calling it an ‘Unlawful Entrant Visa’ in an excuse to brand all refugees with a derogatory label.

People always neglect to mention that most asylum seekers come to Australia by air, not by boat. Those are come by boat are the ones who are truly desperate.

Quite frankly, it’s telling that this and the Hey Hey ‘blackface’ issue have come up at the same time – both show our inherent racism as a nation. We, as a nation, don’t believe that anyone could possibly be so desperate that they would sell their entire possessions and take their family on a leaky boat across vast expanses of ocean, just so they can save their own skin.

Of course, we would do it if society as we knew it was crumbling in Australia, but, because they have brown skin, they must only be doing it because they are sneaky, malicious and don’t care about their families’ well being.

For more information dispelling myths about asylum seekers, see this Crikey article from April this year.