Very good article... The ABC ought to be congratulated for shining a light on the Abbott government’s rigorous and successful effort to stop the people-smuggling trade into Australia. Sadly, perhaps predictably, the national broadcaster viewed matters from a different perspective, using its exclusive inside look at the boat turn-back operations to air criticisms. But by interviewing asylum-seekers from a thwarted people-smuggling venture and broadcasting vision filmed on the journey, the ABC’s 7.30 has added to our knowledge about Operation Sovereign Borders. While the ABC continues to focus on complaints of rough handling by the asylum-seekers and questions from the UN about the policy, what viewers saw was a unique insight into the difficult, dangerous and important work of our navy and Customs personnel, and the tactics and motivations of asylum-seekers. The key protagonist was Arash Sedigh, an Iranian trying to emigrate with his wife, Azi. Mr Sedigh claimed he had applied to come to Australia under the skilled migration program and been rejected. Only then did he seek entry as a refugee. “We decided to go the illegal way,” he said, “to make them accept us.” Mr Sedigh mentioned religious persecution but stressed the “many job opportunities” in Australia where he could “make a wonderful life for my family”. We all understand those ambitions — hundreds of millions of people around the world would love to make a life for their families in our country — but this does not sound like a convincing case to be accepted as a refugee. Especially given camps in places such as Sudan, Pakistan, Jordan and Somalia are brim full with millions of legitimate refugees hoping for resettlement in countries such as Australia. Every economic migrant who manages to get to our continent by boat and pass themselves off as a refugee takes the place of a person in the camps. Mr Sedigh had tried to come by boat once before the journey filmed in late January and early February. He has now decided not to try again. The policy is tough but even the ABC concedes it is working. Having been thwarted, Mr Sedigh and a fellow traveller could be forgiven for spitting “F..k Australia” at the camera but the comments about 9/11 were less forgivable. Saying those terrorist attacks were caused by “your very deeds”, he offered what sounded horribly like a threat: “Remember 9/11 for United States, all the world should know why.” This ugly venting only served to highlight the importance of border security and the need to ensure it is not subverted by boat arrivals. As for the methods, the footage aired on the ABC showed how the asylum-seekers had been placed into one of the special-purpose lifeboats and towed close to Indonesia before being told to make their own way to shore. It appeared uncomfortable but it was much more safe and secure than their initial risky voyage on a small wooden boat. As critics bemoan the vision of the rejected asylum-seekers towed in their cramped vessel, we are tempted to think of other images. There is the horrific vision of the people-smuggling boat being dashed against the rocks of Christmas Island in December 2010 when 48 of the 90 people on board were killed. With more than 1100 asylum-seekers killed over the past five years these are the tragic events the current operations are aimed at preventing. Also we think of images from those refugee camps in North Africa or the Middle East where millions of refugees in dire need cling to the hope they might be resettled in a country such as Australia. They don’t have the opportunity to apply for skilled migration or pay thousands of dollars for a people-smuggler’s fare into Australia. On the ABC’s reports we also heard the asylum-seekers admitting they had threatened the lives of the navy and Customs personnel who first rescued them, then kept them safe and turned them back. This highlighted not any overreach by our servicemen and women but rather the extreme difficulty of their task and the obvious professionalism they have displayed. Given 90 days have now passed since a boat successfully made it to Australia, it is a job that has been done well so far.
Posted on: Tue, 18 Mar 2014 21:17:49 +0000
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