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ustralia does not want to renounce its commitment to UNCLOS or the UN Charter for Refugees. So, Australia does not want to stop the refugees at all costs.  There are about 60,000 undocumented immigrants in Australia who arrive by plane.

Some of these people have been in Australia for over 10 years. What about them?  Among the top source countries are China and Malaysia, both requiring visas to enter Australia.

There is something very wrong in the Australian visa section in China and Malaysia. The US and New Zealand are also top sources of undocumented migrants.

The second thing is, there are an equal number of people who claim asylum in Australia, but they come by plane. Most asylum seekers coming from Arab countries come by air.  From this set of asylum seekers, most are from China, Iran and India. Most of the asylum seekers who come by air are usually economic migrants.

To be frank, it'€™s not really about asylum seekers, it'€™s about politics. Stopping boat people looks nice. The Australian navy likes it because it gives them something meaningful to do. Stopping 200 refugees coming in one boat gives the impression that something is being done.

Asylum seekers by air trickle in one flight at a time arriving at a variety of airports.  It could increase fourfold and no one would be any wiser. There are about 1,000-1,500 Chinese entering Australia every year, through a variety of visas, and declaring asylum, 80-90 percent of which are fraudulent.

Because they have money and can appeal and appeal, it can drag on for years. No one complains because they have a lobby group '€” immigration lawyers.  For X number of refugees you stop by boat, a good percentage will instead come by air.

Indonesian officials look at the number of asylum seekers arriving by air, and the many migrants in Australia, and wonder why the hysteria about the boat people? If Australia can'€™t monitor overstays, how do you expect Indonesia to?

Australia can stop a lot of asylum seekers arriving by air by slapping much larger fines than they do now on airlines that allow people to board without a visa. Australian embassies issue a lot of visas to people who end up abusing the asylum system.   

Australia'€™s policy toward boat people is a method to screen out poorer refugees and those that can'€™t get a visa at an Australian embassy (like Afghan Hazaras). Whether they are genuine refugees is secondary. If Australia wants to why doesn'€™t it just remove itself from the Convention on Refugees and start selecting refugees on race, education and money?

Weilim
Jakart