"Illegals” and the Right to Seek Refuge An oft-cited issue in the debate about refugees refer to the legality of seeking Asylum regardless of circumstances. Certain politicians and political commentators have commented that Refugees who arrive by boat, or to use the sanitised bureaucrat-speak “irregular maritime arrivals”, have the Right to Seek Asylum. The unstated assumption is that this is not dependent on circumstances. However Article 31 of the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, actually states: “The Contracting States shall not impose penalties, on account of their illegal entry or presence, on refugees who, coming directly from a territory where their life or freedom was threatened in the sense of article 1, enter or are present in their territory without authorization, provided they present themselves without delay to the authorities and show good cause for their illegal entry or presence.” I read that to mean that firstly the individual has to be coming “directly from a territory” in question and secondly that there is an obligation placed on that person to “show good cause for their illegal entry”. Just seems to me maybe we should be talking about this? I.e. Australia does have a right to take issue to people entering our territory illegally unless where absolutely necessary i.e. if you are coming to Australia from Sri Lanka (for example) via Indonesia, your claim to seek refuge isn’t guaranteed.
Posted on: Mon, 16 Sep 2013 04:52:24 +0000
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