Tim Blair

I just wish that the Australian government would give these people some option other than a hunger strike.

It's so sad.

Nice try with the repitition there, Tim, but it's clear that there are people who refuse to believe the truth, no matter if it's spoken once or 100 times. Too many idiotarians, like Howard Glenn and his ilk, have such an egotistical investment in the "plight" of these "refugees" that no words of truth reach their ears.

So what does the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees have to say about their claims for refuge status?

Ho ho er ho

If they're in detention, what's stopping the govt from sticking them in an airplane and forcibly =sending=them=back=?

I don't understand -- I believe here in the U.S. we forcibly repatriate illegal aliens that are caught. What's the hold-up over there?

What if the Australian government were to offer them assistance in returning to their country of origin? I suppose first the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees should assess their refugee claims.

Ya know Tim, it doesn't matter how much you repeat it those who wish to vilify Australia will continue to do so despite the UN's ruling.

Probably because there are Strain cowboys, and we all know how much they hate cowboys.

Kal

Truth doesn't matter. Propaganda matters. Propaganda that is aimed at showing how mean and hateful Australia is towards these 'poor people'.

Doesn't matter these folks have a choice. It's a choice they don't like. They will act like children until they get what they want. Their supporters will make sure the fault will be Australia's for letting this situation continue.

Put them all on a plane or a boat, direct the boat to whatever country they came from. Drop them off and leave.

How can chocos be fading fast in the insufferable heat? Isn't it more likely they are turning black(er)? Typical sloppy journalism!

"Howard Glenn, a spokesman for refugee group A Just Australia, said people would die unless the Government acted. "

And the downside is?

Tim the message isn't getting across about what the UNHCR decided.

Maybe some leftists will pay attention to this fact and complain about it. The UN needs to be attacked from all sides of the political spectrum.

Freddyboy, the next comment like that out of you will be deleted.

Simmer down Andrea. Don't start using left wing tactics. If you think Freddyboy's comment was wrong, then say so. Don't just go into shut down mode.

Personally, I think what Freddy meant was that these people come from very hot countries, so it is unlikely that they will be as unused to heat as the journalist who wrote the article insists.

"If they're in detention, what's stopping the govt from sticking them in an airplane and forcibly =sending=them=back=?"

Various Middle Eastern countries, certainly Iran and (I suspect) Afghanistan, have policies of refusing to accept failed asylum seeker citizens unless they are returning voluntarily. I suppose the RAAF could simply dump them somewhere in Afghanistan whether the Afghans liked it or not, but it would be a serious breach of Afghanistan's sovereignty to enter its airspace and territory without permission, so I guess that's why they don't do it.

With countries that don't accept involuntary return of their own citizens, the only practical alternative is to keep them in immigration detention until they give up and realise that they're not going to be allowed to stay under any circumstances. That's why the "refugee advocates" aren't doing these people any favours by giving them false hope. Not even Labor, especially under Latham, is going to allow non-refugee illegal arrivals to remain in Australia.

Leave them where they are. They obviously love birdshit.

Today's Age has a refugee action group accusing the federal government of poisoning the minds of Australians "making them think of the refugees on Nauru as nasty, child-abusing, queue-jumping and unworthy unauthorised arrivals due for deportation".

Disagree with the UNHRC? You have a poisoned mind, courtesy of the Australian Government. As for the UN, one minute it's the left's ultimate arbiter, next it's the devil incarnate. Mood swing alert!

Meanwhile, a further spokesman says "When women and children see their protector, their partner, the father who has carried them all the way throughout the dangerous zones, all the way to Australia and Nauru, fainting, blacking out, getting close to dying. Just imagine, what would you be doing?"

I'd be saying "Dad, can I have your dinner if you're not going to eat it?"

Why are we offering them "assistance"? It's not our problem, remember?

Bite me, Toryhere. Terms like "darkie" (which Freddyboy used elsewhere -- yes, he's a repeat offender) and "choco" are not cute, they are blatantly racist and I am not tolerating them on a site I maintain. For one thing, I don't enjoy the self-righteous leftist prigs that comments like Freddyboy's attracts coming here and blathering on about how "racist" this website must therefore be if one jerk blathers racist spew. For another thing, I don't enjoy the racist spew. If you don't like the way this site is run, there are so many other blogs.

What I think is really cool is that you Assuies have summer even in the winter!!!

Colvin's last question rates a beta for stupidity: vanstone can't do a damned thing if some of them wish to starve themselves: unless of course they are constrained and force fed. Colivin or someone would then accuse the govt. of brutality for stuffing vittles down their gullets.

Andrea

We chocos always call each other chocos. For us its a term of endearment. From you, it's racist.

throw abuse, then take the moral highground

one of two things

adolescence, or if grown up, cowardice

"For us its a term of endearment. From you, it's racist."

Actually, dipwit, it's racist either way. On the one hand, it's ractist hatred. On the other, it's self-hating racism.

You don't get to do the defining. To permit you to do so simply because of your color would be, well, racist.

Sure, Freddy. You're a "choco." And I'm a green-skinned Venusian. (In other words, since on the internet no one can see what you look like, drop the goddamn racial terms of endearment. I don't, in fact, believe your skin is any color other than lily-white -- with perhaps a sunburn -- though I could be wrong. But you'll never be able to prove it to my satisfaction, and that's what counts here. Don't like it? Please see my reply to Toryhere above.)

What if the UNHCR got it wrong?

I wouldn't be surprised if activists suggested the sewing of lips together. It's perfectly possible to do a hunger strike without sewn lips, it seems to be more something activists would want them to do to symbolize the Australian government "silencing dissent".

I can't believe the Australian government is getting the blame here.

If the situation in Afghanistan and Iraq is so dire after the overthrow of the Taliban and Saddam that people would rather have their kids starve to death than return there, then obviously most of the blame lies with Bush. Sure, stonings and decapitations may be way down, but it's turbulent there people! Have you no souls?