The Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, has announced a pre election quick-fix of the problem refugees who arrive by boat on our shores. He has signed a deal with Papua New Guinea which effectively makes them eligible for PNG residency but not Australian residency. Somehow, with some serious funding for PNG institutions, Papua New Guinea has agreed to accept them as permanent residents and later eligible for citizenship.
I reckon this is designed to deter boat people rather than give them a safe place to live. They want to come to Australia, not to a country which is likely to give them another set of problems assimilating with the indigenous population which already has shown great displeasure with the number of Chinese entering their country.
Iranians, Afghanis and Sri Lankans etc would want to form close knit communities which in itself could cause resentment. Land around the main cities and towns is scarce and even the indigenous population has large squatter camps of villagers who drift to the towns looking for something better than village life. Port Moresby and Lae, the two largest cities, have high crime rates.
Yep; once the word gets out about what they may face in PNG, I am sure the number of boats arriving on Australian shores will drop significantly.
Refugees arrive in Indonesia and make their way towards Australia in leaky old fishing boats of which many have sunk with a high death toll.
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