Source: CNN.Com
(CNN) — A riot on a tiny island in the Pacific that killed no one would usually go unnoticed by the world.
But when some 100 asylum seekers burned down their shelters in an Australian refugee processing center Friday on Nauru Island, it did not. Instead, it drew attention to a new restrictive law made in Australia the same day banning “boat people” from living in the country.
“As of today asylum seekers who come here by boat without a visa will never be settled in Australia,” said Prime Minister Kevin Rudd in a statement announcing the law.
The asylum seekers did not revolt because of the new law, an immigration spokeswoman said. They may have not even known about it when the mayhem broke out.
Categories: Australia
Australians do not like to be “had”. Recently there was the “Captain Emad” affair, where one of the people smugglers was shown to successfully pose as an asylum seeker, and even got his family money and public housing. Some say that only real refugees would risk a boat journey, but the reality is that people have long traveled to the far reaches of the earth for little more than a few animal pelts. Often the ruse begins before arrival – out of 200 calls for help to utilize Australian maritime agencies, only 8 calls were found to be from boats in distress. Australians would simply prefer to get poor refugees from the camps, and preferably peaceable people, than have them arrive well shod, demanding or manipulating the system.