Meanwhile in the quote queue unquote

Today's SMH:

"Teenage refugees joining the so-called queue in Indonesia to apply officially for protection visas, instead of jumping on a boat, say they are being told Australia will not take them until they are 18 years old.

The boys, who are stuck in limbo in Jakarta, said that even though they have been determined to be refugees and did the right thing by applying through the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), they were told they would not be considered or their applications would be delayed until they are considered adults...

A 14-year-old Hazara boy... who asked not to be named, said the advice was one of the reasons why there is such a high number of unaccompanied children arriving on boats. He said the alternative was to live for years in a shelter with little support, no money and no chance of going to school or working."

The Herald concludes its report by noting that there are 503 unaccompanied minors in "closed detention" in Australia, despite the readiness of community detention centres to take them.