http://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_L...

Executive summary

    Australia has a long history of accepting refugees for resettlement and over 800,000 refugees and displaced persons have settled in Australia since 1945.
   
    There is a difference between an asylum seeker and a refugee—asylum seekers are people seeking international protection but whose claims for refugee status have not yet been determined.
   
    Although those who come to Australia by boat seeking Australia’s protection are classified by Australian law to be ‘unlawful non-citizens’, they have a right to seek asylum under international law and not be penalised for their mode of entry.
   
    Although the numbers fluctuate, usually only a small proportion of asylum applicants in Australia arrive by boat—most arrive by air with a valid visa and then go on to pursue asylum claims. While the number of boat arrivals has risen substantially in recent years, it is worth noting that even in high arrival years they still comprise just over half of onshore asylum seekers in Australia and a greater proportion of those arriving by boat are recognised as refugees. In 2014, arrival numbers fell again and there was only one boat arrival in Australia. As a result, the majority of asylum applicants arrived by air.
   
    There is no orderly queue for asylum seekers to join. Only a very small proportion of asylum seekers are registered with the UNHCR and only about one per cent of those recognised by the UNHCR as refugees who meet the resettlement criteria are subsequently resettled to another country.
   
    All unauthorised boat arrivals in Australia are subject to the same assessment criteria as other asylum applicants and are also subject to comprehensive security and health checks.
    
    Claims that refugees in Australia are entitled to higher benefits than other social security recipients are unfounded.
   
    The Australian Government usually allocates around 13,750 places to refugees and others with humanitarian needs under its planned Humanitarian Program. Historically, the majority of these places are granted to offshore refugees referred to Australia by the UNHCR, but some are given to refugees who arrived by air or boat and were granted protection visas onshore. However, even during high boat arrival periods, onshore grants to boat and air arrivals combined still only comprise about 50 per cent of Australia’s Humanitarian Program.
   
    The number of people arriving unauthorised by boat in Australia is small in comparison to the numbers arriving in other parts of the world such as Europe. Similarly, the number of asylum claims lodged in Australia is small in comparison to the USA and Europe.
   
    While about 20 developed nations, including Australia, participate formally in the UNHCR’s refugee resettlement program, the vast majority of asylum seekers and refugees are actually hosted in developing countries.

Sir Grappler Truth Teller OAM wrote on Jan 4^th, 2016 at 10:24pm:



It's probably become more stringent now the Liberals are in charge. Under Labor all one had to do was spin some story about persecution.

Just to bring reality back into play:-

Sir Grappler Truth Teller OAM wrote on Jan 4^th, 2016 at 10:26pm:

Postmodern Trendoid III wrote on Jan 4^th, 2016 at 10:28pm:


You say, probably - meaning you aren't sure.  That is assumption.  The tests are the same as before - I think.  People applying still have to pass medical, character, and identity tests - the only difference is that the LNP has decreed that any arriving by boat, who are not supposed to be punished in any way for their method of arrival, will not be settled here, but will be sent post haste to the Malaria/Typhoid/Cholera/AIDS Belt, where they will make a living selling their daughters into sex slavery or by growing poppies in the Golden Triangle for some drug warlord.......

No punishment there.... nah.....

I studied this stuff at Uni level, but that was in 2005.

Sir Grappler Truth Teller OAM wrote on Jan 4^th, 2016 at 10:35pm:



Presuming your post is correct, then how does that refute an open border policy when Labor wouldn't 'turn back the boats' once the quota was reached?

Postmodern Trendoid III wrote on Jan 4^th, 2016 at 7:31pm:


Actually, it's the nutters in the conservative wing of the lib/nats who are the only ones left thinking same sex marriage is a big issue.  The rest just want to pass the legislation and move on with life.

Doc, as someone with a Ph.D. In political something or rather, why do you oppose secular states?

Postmodern Trendoid III wrote on Jan 4^th, 2016 at 10:40pm:


Turning back refugee applicants is a breach of our UN agreement on human rights.

Allowing refugee applicants has nothing to do with open boarders, that is a very different thing.

A quota is just an arbitrary BS number that somebody made up.

sir prince duke alevine wrote on Jan 5^th, 2016 at 5:00am:


Gay marriage affects about .000001% of the population. It does nothing to help the working classes.