Boat People

So it looks like we’ve got boat people problems again. Sigh.

The gov’t has taken a hammering in the polls because we the people don’t think they’ve got it right. But I’ll bet you that if Ruddy and his mates took the opposite stance they’d get just as hammered.

Anyhoo, What to do about the Tamil refugees?

I might piss a few people off with this opinion, but bugger it, this is the internet and I can say what I want.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for helping out refugees and I’m all for immigration, but you gotta draw a line for what is OK and not OK.

When you are claiming asylum, it basically means that for whatever reason, the living conditions in your home country are so bad that you feel that you cannot live there anymore. It could be because of religious or political persecution, or it could simply be because of famine, drought and severe hunger. Either way you are desperate and need to out of there. That’s all well and good, I have no problem with this. You need to escape your country and get to another one, where you can actually have the possibility of a decent life.

Here’s where I have a problem though. In the case of these Tamil refugees that are beligerently refusing to disembark the Oceanic Viking in Indonesia and are demanding that they get brought to Australia, here’s what I have to say:

You are running away from something, you are not running to something. Yes you have the right to escape the dramas and persecution of your homeland, but this does not give you the right to DEMAND that you get taken to the tropical paradise of your choice.

I know how easy it is to say this coming from such a relatively privileged life as I have had, but come on people. The old adage “beggars can’t be choosers” holds true here. As an asylum seeker what you are basically doing is making open statement to the world along the lines of “please help me, I can no longer live safely in my homeland and need somewhere else to go. Who will look after me in this time of dire need?” You are throwing yourselves at the mercy of the internaitonal community and pleading for help. I know it sounds cruel and heartless, but you are in no position to be makingdemands of where you end up.

Your #1 priority, and the whole reason you are seeking asylum, is to get out of which ever country is persectuing you. Demanding that you get taken to a particular country does not smack of someone who is just desperate to escape a desperate situation. “Any port in a storm”, unless you just want to get to Australia I guess.

No offense you Tamils you, I feel for you I really do, but you are not in any position to make demands. We picked you up, we took you somewhere safe. Just be fucken’ grateful for that.