A number of people have put forth points regarding the questionable governments of the nations these people are fleeing from. Basically, I'll try to shed some light on historical/political reasons underpinning some of these, and also a few historical lessons we should be heeding in this situation.
The overwhelming majority of the refugees or 'boat people' that are attempting to imigrate to Australia are from Iraq and Afghanistan. A bit of background:
Afghanistan
In 1979 at what is now reflected upon to be at the second 'peak' of the Cold War, the USSR invaded Afghanistan in the interests of further cementing its periphery sphere of influence. During this period of tense Soviet/US relations many proxy wars were fought between these two powers in their respective battles for perceived security dominance, and Afghanistan was unfortunately one of them. The US, in age old fashion, took to supplying arms and money to the Taliban in order to resist the Soviet occupation. They did this despite foreknowledge of the rebel groups fundamentalist ideals and lack of regard for human rights. Eventually, due to a combination of factors including a crumbling economy and decline of the Union, the Soviets withdrew in 1989. Since the Taliban controlled large supplies of US armaments, they siezed control in the resulting power vaccum. This has resulted in constant violence and civil-war.
This from the UN High Commissioner on Refugees (UNHCR):
20 years after the 1978 Soviet invasion in support of the communist regime in Afghanistan, and 10 years after the withdrawl of the last Soviet soldier in 1989, Afghanistan is still a country in which armed conflict over power between opposing political factions continues. Afghanistan has in the process been devistated, producing the world's largest ever single refugee case-load, at times as high as 6.2 million persons.
For the sake of pointless self serving Cold War politics, this is currently one of the least desirable places to be on Earth. Most western UN nations currently also have trade sanctions enacted on Afghanistan, for the Taliban's failure to turn Osmar bin Laden over to international authorites (US and Australia are also complicit with these). This is only aggravating conditions within the country. The role the US played in putting the Taliban into power cannot be overlooked.
Compared to the total number of Asylum seekers circulating the globe, Australia has seen comparitively litte.
Iraq
Iraq invited the wrath of the entire western world when it invaded Kuwait (a territory historically belonging to Iraq anyway). Western nations and particulary the US swung into action at the prospect of their oil reserves being threatened, and the rest as they say... Is history. What is notable however is the fact once again, the US had been funding and supplying arms to Saddam throughout the 1980's during their war with Iran. It was largely through US support that Saddam's ruling socialist B'aath party was able to maintain a stable leadership of the nation.
What is interesting about the Gulf War is that the international task force failed to complete the job and perform a land invasion thereby deposing Hussein. Rather, the world has placed trade embargos on the nation in an effort to destabilise his regieme. It seems this however has had little effect, other than to drastically decrease living conditions for the Iraqi people, hence the outflux of refugees. The UN is no longer welcome in Iraq, largely due to the US exploiting UNESCO weapons inspections as a cover for CIA intel operations, which was exposed after the commander Scot Ritter went public. This has hampered efforts to resolve issues on an international level within the territory... The US's solution was to bomb targets within Iraq as part of the 1998 Desert Fox campaign. The rationale of that action was the elimination of weapons of mass destruction, however this seems unlikely, as UNESCO inspections themselves had been unable to succesfully find any such sites even when they had access to the area some months before. Most targets included party headquaters, and industrial infrastructure.
It should not require a whole lot of explanation as to why refugees are trying their damndest to get out of this place...
Finally, I urge everybody here to read about the ill fated voyage of the
SS St. Louis "the ship of shame" back in 1938. It was filled with Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi Germany... It is interesting to note the numerous parralels its situation draws with the present. Remember, one who does not learn from the mistakes of history is doomed to repeat them.
Read it here:
The voyage of the St. Lois
To those quoting John Howards current popularity over this issue as an excuse for its ethical grounds... I thought you of all could rise above populist politics and examine things with an eye for independant thought.
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The woods are dark and deep, and you have miles to go before you sleep...
