NYT's rips Australia new asshole - asylum seekers

If there was any doubt about how other countries feel about the inhumane way Australia and the Abbott gov treats Asylum seekers there isn't now. The New York Times has come out with a damning criticism of the Abbott gov's policy of turning back boats, and the two party policy of offshore detention.

The alternative Labor policy isn't much better from what I can see. Sort of Abbott lite. Toning down on the treatment a bit but still keeping the options open of turning back boats.

With Australia's population having the most immigrants per capita of any other country in the world (yes more than the US too) many of us are left scratching our heads in anger, wondering how the fuck our unrepresentative swill arrived at this disgusting point. Both parties in a race to the bottom to see who can be the meanest to the most vulnerable.

European officials have traveled to Australia on fact-finding missions recently. Mr. Abbott, who argues that aggressively intercepting the boats saves lives, has urged European governments to follow his model, and some European leaders seem so inclined. 

“The Australian model may seem attractive to politicians,” said Leonard Doyle, a spokesman for the International Organization for Migration. “Politicians love fences, but what fences do is create a market for smugglers and major humanitarian problems.” 

The world’s war zones are all but certain to continue to churn out an extraordinary number of refugees and economic migrants in the years ahead. Those people understandably will head to the most prosperous nations, hoping to rebuild their lives. It is inexcusable that some find themselves today in situations that are more hopeless and degrading than the ones that prompted them to flee. more

Truth is most Australians aren't like that at all. Yes there's the usual redneck rhetoric, but much of that is fed by the gov and the Murdoch media massage. A few western Sydney seats have a whole bunch of Aussie rednecks, those seats being important in a federal election. So we've ended up with both major parties developing policies that pander to those racists.

Sadly, racism often simply breeds more racism. It would be a human and moral tragedy if other nations adopted Abbott's hard line stance on refugees.