The interception of two vessels off Christmas Island on Thursday night has prompted Julia Gillard to warn of more asylum boat arrivals, laying the blame on the Opposition Leader's doorstep.

One of the vessels was carrying 66 people and was intercepted in international waters about 100 kilometres north of Christmas Island, while the other, initially thought to have 60 people onboard, was in Australia's contiguous zone north-west of the island.

A further 50 people, 49 asylum seekers and one crew member, were found on the boat under a second hidden deck.

The Prime Minister says if the Opposition blocks amendments to the Migration Act that would allow offshore processing, then people smugglers "will get the message to send more boats - and that will be Mr Abbott's responsibility".

She also said Mr Abbott would also have to take responsibility for onshore detention centres expanding.

Mr Abbott has vowed to block the Government's amendments to the Act that would have legalised offshore asylum seeker processing, saying Malaysia is not a safe place to send people.

He wants asylum seekers sent to Nauru, which, unlike Malaysia, is a signatory to United Nations refugee conventions.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-09-23/two-more-boats-arrive/2924738

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Note: Nauru only signed the convention in mid June this year (2011). During the Howard years, Nauru was used as a dumping ground. Nauru signed the convention mostly "because it can see lots of money in the processing of refugees"... One of the key point is that nearly all people sent to Nauru ended in Australia anyway within a couple of years.

''When people discuss people smugglers, they often group together those who conduct the slave trade with those who legitimately help refugees,'' says Murray, born Laszlo ܨrge. ''One is despicable. The other has its dark side, too. But the point is, in order to successfully negotiate an escape through many dangers, you need help.''

About 200,000 people escaped Hungary in two months in 1956. Some smugglers expected payment. Others didn't. Murray's family was poor and perhaps offered some old jewellery. He remembers Julius as warm, caring and sympathetic. ''He held mine and my brother's hands across the border,'' he says. ''Then he kissed us all, turned around and disappeared. He told us which way to walk to an Austrian village and we were free. My people smuggler was always my hero.''

Last weekend, representatives of 54 countries, mostly heads of government, attended the bi-annual Commonwealth Meeting. High on the agenda was a report by the Eminent Persons Group (EPG), established to reinvigorate the Commonwealth, strengthen its Secretariat, and transform its approach to human rights. The group included former Australian High Court Justice Michael Kirby, former British Foreign Secretary Malcolm Rifkind, former Malay Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, and Mozamibique’s former first lady (and wife of Nelson Mandela) Graça Machel, among others. The group’s recommendations were unanimous.

But the Commonwealth's assembled leaders ignored the report's key recommendation, which concerned the establishment of a Human Rights Commissioner to oversee and report on the actions of member governments. The human rights performance of Commonwealth countries, both developed and developing, needs improvement in many areas. Unfortunately, some African governments regarded the report as targeting developing countries, though the recommendations would have been just as relevant to certain developed countries that, especially since the terrorist attacks of 2001, have violated basic human rights protections.

The record of the Commonwealth countries in regard to ethnic minorities can also be substantially improved. In too many countries, minorities, especially indigenous groups, are treated heavy-handedly. Similarly, as refugee flows have altered direction over the past 15 or 20 years, treatment of refugees - enshrined since 1951 in the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees - needs to be re-examined.

Many Commonwealth countries live on the edge of these particular problems. Some have large refugee camps within their borders. Others receive entire families fleeing persecution and terror in their own countries. More light needs to be shed on this problem.

http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/opinion/2011/11/2011113124443121996.html

Is this little piddly site (yourdemocracy.net.au) the only outlet in Australia for some of the best commentary made in the world? Though I never liked Malcolm Fraser much, he is a decent chap, unlike that rabid dog of his own party of ritewingnuts (The Liberals [conservatives]), of which the present leader, Tony Abbott, is the pits of political idiocy but the cream de la creme in crass populism and extremism worse than an ayatollah...

Now is most definitely the time for politics, Mr Clare, as this process of collecting dead bodies out of the sea must stop. The best news these grieving families can hope for now is that these deaths serve to prevent next month's, or next year's tragedy.

Ms Gillard, swallow your pride and listen to those of your ministers who grudgingly acknowledge that John Howard was right.

Mitch Geddes Killara

As refugee activists have been repeating for over a decade the numbers of asylum seekers who come to this country and the manner in which they come here is simply a non-issue. All the discussion we have about how we, as a country, can “Stop The Boats” just takes up valuable hot air that could be better spent on other issues that are actually important to us. Like Jackie O. Wait; no. Let’s NOT talk about that…

Yesterday, the United Nations High Commission for Refugees released its annual report onAsylum Levels and Trends in Industrialized Countries. The data about the levels and trends in Australia is certainly interesting. But to people who are not caught up in the hyperbole of the so-called "debate", the numbers are actually not at all surprising.

The UNCHR Report indicates that while the numbers of people seeking asylum around the world increased by 20% last year, applications in Australia and New Zealand was 9% less in 2011 (11,800 claims) than 2010 (13,000).

http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/3917952.html?WT.svl=theDrum\

see toon at top...

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/sbs-sends-celebrities-back-where-they-came-from-20120525-1z8on.html#ixzz1w3GULCgE