3 SEP 2013
Refugee queue jumping: Myth or fact?
There's a widespread view that there is a queue for the world's 10-million existing refugees and for asylum seekers.
But the United Nations says that's a myth.
"The simple fact, there isn't actually a queue, there never has been. The fact that somebody waits in a desperate situation in another part of the world has nothing to do with the phenomenon of people coming and claiming asylum in Australia," says Richard Towle of the UN Refugee Agency.
During the Tampa stand-off in 2001, the immigration minister at the time devised the Pacific Solution to deter boat arrivals, believing they shouldn't take precedence. Philip Ruddock's policy of processing asylum seekers offshore was in line with the belief that they were avoiding proper channels in order to get an outcome sooner.
"There is a queue. It's a very long queue but it doesn't, because of its length validate the argument that you shouldn't operate a system to assess those who need help most," Mr Ruddock told SBS.
http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2011/06/20/refugee-queue-jumping-myth-or-fact
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