Door 'shut but not locked' to Africans

October 03, 2007, the Australian

THE Federal Government is slowing down the intake of African refugees until challenges facing their communities settling in are overcome, Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews says.

Mr Andrews, responding to claims that the door had been slammed shut on African refugees, said the Government had a duty to ensure new migrants settled adequately into their new surroundings.

Mr Andrews said pretending there was no problem was not going to help the refugees.

He said many of the refugees were young men in their teens and 20s who had an education level equivalent to grades two or three in primary school.

"Many of them have spent up to a decade in refugee camps and much of their lives in war-torn situations, then they have to settle in a country with a culture vastly different from where they came from," Mr Andrews said ...

In August Mr Andrews announced the proportion of African refugees to be accepted in 2007/08 would be cut to 30 per cent, from 50 per cent of the humanitarian refugee program.

Australia has accepted or is processing around 4000 African refugees this year to fulfil the 30 per cent quota for the program.

Mr Andrews said more than 40,000 African refugees had come to Australia over the past five years.

Australia is shifting its refugee focus to Iraqis displaced during the ongoing war, and helping the large number of Burmese in camps along the Thai border who have fled the military regime.

I wouldn't be surprised if little Johnny sped up the African intake this year so the quota was all filled by the election. Just so he can again look tough on immigration - when he really ain't.

UN contradicts Andrews over Sudanese - SMH

"UNHCR is not aware of any empirical evidence that suggests there are integration difficulties associated with Sudanese compared with any other comparatively newly arrived group of refugees," a UNHCR spokeswoman told AAP.

Ahem, so when the Lebanese, Pakis and Sri Lankans rape our girls that sets the standard for the Sudanese to "do no worse"? Excellent logic. I'm sure that will comfort these two victims of African immigration:

"After chroming and injecting amphetamines, Hakeem and an associate entered a derelict Scout hall on March 10, 2005, dragged a 16-year-old girl to a toilet and repeatedly raped her.

A day later, Hakeem broke into the home of a 63-year-old woman and punched her head and face repeatedly, before biting her and raping her at knifepoint." (source)

ninemsn readers fire up about migrant freeze

Vote: Do you agree with the ban on African refugees?
Yes: 42913 No: 17783

The issue of African refugee immigration to Australia has struck a chord with ninemsn readers.

Over 300 of you have written in so far and the submissions keep on coming as debate over Kevin Andrews's announcement that all refugee emigration from Africa would be stopped until July 2008 rages.

The ratio of votes for-and-against is running at roughly three to two in favour of the freeze, with most respondents citing impacts on physical and social resources as key to their objections.

"Has anyone stopped for a moment to think about the consequences that continually adding to our population will cause?," asks Kat in Victoria.

"We are one of the driest continents in the world and can barely sustain the current population with water shortages and insufficient infrastructure!"

"At present our resources are stretched to the limit catering for the refugees that are here already who cannot speak English and in many cases cannot even read and write in their own language," says Trish from Brisbane.

"This makes assimilation into our cities extremely difficult as they cannot get work and arrive here without even the basics.

"This puts huge emphasis on volunteers working with govt departments to feed and house them."

"Better to empower the opposition to usurp their despotic rulers than develop a refugee programme — after all that, the problem still exists," Beenthere from The Bush believes.

"Mogadishu was a classic example."

"If Madonna is better off paying for infrastructure in her adopted child's village than selfishly taking the child for herself, then why doesn't the same apply here?" asks D Smith of Sydney.

"Surely putting in all the dollars we spend on refugees would be better spent on solving the problems in their countries of origin." ...

Immigration program must continue: Greens, Labor - ABC

Greens Senator Kerry Nettle says it is appalling the Government is cherry-picking Australia's humanitarian intake.

"It's not appropriate for the Government to chose which refugees they want on the basis of who is easier to support when they arrive in Australia," she said.

"It's just ridiculous for Australia to say we can't support these African refugees, we've got the capacity to invest into settlement services and help migrants to settle here in this country."

The Victorian Premier John Brumby says he also opposes the Immigration Minister's comments.

Mr Brumby says all immigrants take time to adjust.

"I would strongly support a continuation of this program into the future," he said ...

Dear Mr Brumby, immigrants only adjust under the weight of a dominant culture. And there ain't no dominant culture left in the areas where immigrants gravitate to. I can quote Melanie Phillips again, but that would be boring. Today, immigrants are "taking time" to assert a dominant culture: not quite the adjustment you think. You suffer from Tony Abbott's disease: an overconfidence in the "gravitational pull of Australian customs and values". That era of immigration has passed, Messrs Brumby and Abbott, we are in the cultural vacuum era. A whole new ball game.

Brumby slams refugee decision - the Age

African refugees may have trouble settling into Australia, but the nation is ultimately richer for having them here, Victorian Premier John Brumby says ...

He said he would be "very upset" if Australia stopped taking refugees from Africa in the future.

People who criticised waves of migration in Australia had always been proven wrong, he said ...

"So, yes, with some groups it will take time for them to settle in, but if you look at the history of our migration program, you go back and you look at all the waves of migration, there have always been critics along the way.

Mr Brumby said migration had enriched Australia.

"We're richer for the diversity that we've got in Victoria and Australia," he said.

"I think Australians generally would agree that we do have an obligation to play our part in the world ... to help those that are less fortunate than we are."

Again, comparisons with past waves of migration is dumb: back then there was a dominant culture to coerce immigrants into line. And they weren't so radically different as Africans and Muslims. There should be no more nonwhite immigration because it leads to segregation, which inevitably means conflict, or white genocide by imbalanced birthrates, or even war in Australia. When you're in a hole, stop digging.

Africans have 'trouble settling here' - the Australian

Opposition immigration spokesman Tony Burke said some migrants from all backgrounds had trouble settling into life in Australia.

But the Government could be doing much more to help new arrivals become accustomed to Australia, Mr Burke said.

"Labor is committed to having a cohesive Australia where integration works," he said.

"That's why Kevin Rudd established the integration portfolio last year, to make sure there are federal programs working so that new arrivals learn English and find employment."

Mr Burke called for improvements to English language tuition for new arrivals, saying nine out of 10 people at present exited the Adult Migrant English Program without functional English.

Australia under a Labor government: be afraid ...