Looks like the PNG solution is working.

[i-need-a-martini]

I'm surprised it is making an impact so soon. Whilst I am still no agreeng with the policy in it's entirety, if it means that we have less people in vulnerable positions at sea then that has to be a win.

Tough policies preventing settlement in Australia appear to be deterring asylum seekers, with signs of boat arrivals tapering off and reports of people demanding refunds from people smugglers.

...And a senior Defence source said that arrivals appeared to be tapering off since Prime Minister Kevin Rudd announced his hardline solution of sending asylum seekers to Papua New Guinea. The highly placed source noted that poor weather was also a factor but was unlikely to account for the extent of the downturn.

One asylum seeker in Indonesia told Fairfax Media that people smugglers could now find ''hardly any'' people willing to board their boats.

Boat arrivals have been down about a quarter since Mr Rudd announced the PNG plan. But that includes a massive spike in the week after the plan was announced, with about 1250 arrivals in those seven days, including six boats with nearly 500 passengers in one day.

Mr Burke: ''There is no doubt that the message is getting through. For everything that's been attempted in the past with people smugglers, it's become clear that the only way to affect them is to take their product away and to take their customers away. When I say the demands for money back are widespread, they are absolutely widespread.''

A senior Defence source said there did appear to be a slowing of arrivals, although poor weather to Australia's north was likely having an influence.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/federal-election-2013/dropoff-in-boat-arrivals-20130807-2rgur...

[newstart2380]

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@azureline** wrote:

Did anyone see this guy on tv earlier in the week? no idea when or what channel, OH was watching and I was mesmerised.

He went back with prosthetic limbs and showed us the hospitals and the children who have no feet, no legs, no hands, from explosive devices..... just walking to school.

It gave me a new perspective on the life of civilians in Afghanistan......... and an understanding of why they would leave there.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/12/world/asia/12photographer.html?_r=0

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How can they walk to school wkithout legs or feet ? not trying to be facecious just wondering.

If the boats are slowing down that is great but where willthe people go who are waiting in Indonesia to catch a boat to Australia ? Indonesia can not support them nor has the space to house them.

[polksaladallie]

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@azureline** wrote:

Did anyone see this guy on tv earlier in the week? no idea when or what channel, OH was watching and I was mesmerised.

He went back with prosthetic limbs and showed us the hospitals and the children who have no feet, no legs, no hands, from explosive devices..... just walking to school.

It gave me a new perspective on the life of civilians in Afghanistan......... and an understanding of why they would leave there.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/12/world/asia/12photographer.html?_r=0

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Yes, Azure, I saw it. 4 corners.  Very sad, because of what war does to innocent civilians as well as the combatants.

But leaders of countries would be unfazed if they saw it, and wars will continue.

[azureline**]

They stepped on mines walking to school......... I assume they had feet then.

Now, they wait months for prosthetics,  basic ones, so they can learn to walk again, if they don't die from infection.

[kengillard]

Isn't it  called "collateral damage"....what a polite phrase.

[polksaladallie]

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@newstart2380 wrote:

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How can they walk to school wkithout legs or feet ? not trying to be facecious just wondering.

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Why can't children with prostheses go to school?

But what Azure said was that they were injured when doing nothing more than walking to school.

[mtnlane]

If you were 'just wondering' perhaps you should have read the link or, perish the thought, searched out the programme to see for yourself rather than ask a question like that.

I am sure Azureline can answer for herself but I found your question appallingly insensitive and in very poor taste.

The young lad Azureline was referring to lost his left leg and left arm 'walking to school' when he stepped on a land mine.

Expand your horizons and watch the programme.

[i-need-a-martini]

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@azureline** wrote:

Did anyone see this guy on tv earlier in the week? no idea when or what channel, OH was watching and I was mesmerised.

He went back with prosthetic limbs and showed us the hospitals and the children who have no feet, no legs, no hands, from explosive devices..... just walking to school.

It gave me a new perspective on the life of civilians in Afghanistan......... and an understanding of why they would leave there.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/12/world/asia/12photographer.html?_r=0

---

I saw it too az.

The stats are heartbreaking - something like 55,000 Afghans lose limbs yearly and the majority are children playing or walking to school. And no hospitals to help them excpet for volunteer ones.

The bit about the ex-Afghan military guy was tagic - whilst a western photographer can get flown to a hospital within minutes, he gets no help whatsover.

And then some have the hide to question why people would want to leave their at any cost in the hope of giving their children a better chance at life...

[lakeland27]

vietnam and its neighbors still have the same problem as well as others.. what a wonderful legacy .

[***super_nova***]

... just as every country that we went to "save" is now polluted with depleted uranium, which causes dreadful birth defect and sickness in the population, especial children.  Modern wars leave countries full of mines and poison = unlivable.

[newstart2380]

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@mtnlane wrote:

If you were 'just wondering' perhaps you should have read the link or, perish the thought, searched out the programme to see for yourself rather than ask a question like that.

I am sure Azureline can answer for herself but I found your question appallingly insensitive and in very poor taste.

The young lad Azureline was referring to lost his left leg and left arm 'walking to school' when he stepped on a land mine.

Expand your horizons and watch the programme.

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No thanks, I see to much misery in real life to have to watch poor unfortunate children who have their limbs blown off because of stupid men starting stupid wars. I was not being insensitive and you don't know me, to suggest otherwise is very presumptuous of you