Mike Mitchell <m.mitch@exemail.com.au> wrote:
On 26/09/2011 11:39 AM, Russell Coker wrote:
The problem is that the only reason for processing them overseas is to permit treating them worse than could be done in Australia.
The reason, as I said, is as a deterrent.
But if the processing procedure were as just and afforded the same legal rights as that available in Australia, with the same guarantee of resettlement, then it wouldn't function as a deterrent. Put differently, off-shore processing is only a deterrent (in so far as it works as one) to the extent that it offers less protection to the rights of refugees. I leave aside the question of whether there ought to be a deterrent in this case - I would argue that there should not be.
That is NOT the point I made. Refuge is a privilege not a right.
No, quite the opposite - it is a right under international law, and there are solid moral grounds for its being so.