I am trying to so hard not to read the news

[dreamer_easy]

But I failed.

Australia Puts Its Refugee Problem on a Remote Island, Behind Razor Wire. New York Times, 5 November 2009

"The arrival of illegal boats filled with Asians evokes a primordial fear here, one that has been instilled over past decades of anti-Asian immigration policies."

(The NYT errs here, of course: seeking refuge in Australia is 100% legal.)

Comments

[redrose999.livejournal.com]

I heard about what they're attempting to do to the Midwives too... Sometimes it's best to avoid bad news. I blow a casket over it....

[hiraethin.livejournal.com]

Indeed. The phrasing is incorrect. But, to be sure, to be a non-citizen in Australia without a valid visa is to breach the Migration Act. It would be more accurate to say, "The arrival of boats filled with unlawful Asian non-citizens..."

But an accurate understanding of the law on this point is uncommon enough in Australia; one might excuse the NYT for its failure, half a world away. Or not - they are journalists, for whom the collection and accurate publication of facts is their role.

This is the nub of the migration debate: seeking refuge in Australia is legal, but entering Australia without a visa is not.