Australian born - but unwanted !

A Brisbane Federal Circuit judge certainly threw the cat amongst the pigeons with a ruling that an eleven month old child born in a Brisbane hospital is not eligible for a protection visa.  His pregnant mother arrived amongst the "boat people " and was promptly removed to Nauru, but difficulties with her pregnancy required the services of a big city hospital - and hence her child was legally born on Australian soil.

This ruling enters new territory. Despite the Australian birth the child is described as an "Unauthorised Maritime Arrival " and as such will never be allowed permanent residency within Australia - but it does not specify his position if he applies for Australian citizenship - which is a totally different issue.

There is also every likelihood that this court ruling will go for a final determination in the High Court of Australia and by that stage the issue of Australian citizenship will also need to be resolved, and that is an issue that will certainly draw the attention of the United Nations.

It has long been the protocol that children born in any country are legally entitled to the citizenship of that country, but not all nations agree with that ruling.  In particular, the United States has an ongoing problem with asylum seekers from south of the Rio Grande and many who were actually born in the United States are still not recognised as legal citizens.

The problem here is purely political.   One side of politics foolishly relaxed immigration laws and created an opportunity for people smugglers to make their fortune by cramming asylum seekers into leaky boats.   This only stopped when the other side of politics enacted tough new laws and demonstrated that new arrivals would be sent to less hospitable camps offshore - and never allowed permanent settlement in Australia.

For a while, the people smugglers continued their trade in the belief that the government would capitulate, but the removal of new arrivals offshore soon sapped the confidence of their clients - and the flow slackened - and finally ceased.  Those asylum seekers that fell into that unfortunate category are now awaiting settlement somewhere other than in Australia and it looks like most will probably end up in Cambodia.  The government is unable to show mercy - because any act of clemency would be interpreted by the people smugglers as the signal to re-start their very profitable trade and send boats to Christmas Island.

This eleven month old child will probably become a feature of this nation's history books.  He will be the applicant in the type of court action that changes history, just as Eddie Mabo's name has become synonymous with Aboriginal land rights.

Whether he gets to actually live in Australia will decide the future of many with aspirations to be citizens of this country !