Animalclub,
Quote
"It burns me up when I hear talks of "rights". No one has rights - except the right to persue a goal whether it be good health, a job, hapiness, release refugees, education, etc. That right ceases as soon as it infringes on someone else's "right" to persue something or it breaks the law."
I have to disagree with you, Australia is a signatory to the International Human Rights Convention 1948, and whilst the practical application of her policy in this regard is self-serving and indeed may be self-preservation at the most extreme end, those people who come to our shores do indeed have rights, unless Australia wishes to refute her position, which leaves us with a difficult proposition to consider, are we worth it or not, are we a signatory of this accord or not.
I do not see where these immigrants are infringing my right as an Australian/Irishman.
A most cursory glance at the following pages will indicate where Australia has contravened her responsibilities in this regard.
http://www.ohchr.org/english/law/
Specific contravention of individual articles:
http://www.hrweb.org/legal/udhr.html
I have no immediate concern nor support for the rent-a-crowd in many ways it is counter productive, however the problems are a little deeper than that, in particular I do not have a problem personally with initial and "reasonable" detention of migrants where they have disposed of all identification, there has to be due process to identify them, however it is in the particular case of children that frankly makes me mad.
Besides, continued pressure in the last two years on Australian Diplomats in the Hague/EU has forced a silent turnaround by the Howard Government, in such that many Detainees being released into society, and don't tell me that you did not realise this.