Village of the Damned !

'"Stopping the Boats " became a matter of survival for a past Australian government.  Public feeling was ever mounting and the constant arrival of refugees on our shores was turning the tide of sentiment.  A desperate situation led to a desperate solution  !

A promise was made that no arrivals after a given deadline would ever settle in this country.  The people smugglers believed that was bluff, and the arrivals continued.  Those unfortunates became the meat in the immigration sandwich.   They were packed off offshore to primitive refugee camps on Nauru and Manus Island - and there they still languish today !

The government is stuck between a rock and a hard place !   Should they backtrack and break that promise by bringing those six hundred in Nauru to Australia for resettlement the people smugglers would again swing into action and start taking extortionate fees to resume their trade.  It would only take a rumour that Australia was "open for business " for the refugee boats to again be landing on our shores.

The government  of Nauru hopes these facilities stay open forever because the the millions Australia pays for that privilege is the islands main income, but the general population has become restive and ill will has developed between the refugees and the native population.  The refugees are locked away behind razor wire barriers and closely guarded - and most see their detention as a prison.

Now, new thinking will apply.  The razor wire will disappear and this refugee camp will become an "open institution ".  The refugees will be permitted to roam freely and swim in the harbour.  Australia will send lifesavers to provide water safety, but while this may be seen as an improvement - no final solution to the problem is offering.

Put simply, these six hundred men, women and children are people that nobody wants.  A mere handful have been relocated to Laos - at great cost to Australia - but there are no other countries raising a hand and offering to take in a few on humanitarian grounds.  This camp exists with the minimum provision of education for the children, job prospects or training - or health care at the level considered normal in Australia.

Sadly, this situation arose because these refugees became the "guinea pigs " in the fight between the Australian government and the people smugglers. In  almost every case they had already escaped from the danger in their home country and found shelter in Indonesia or Malaysia, but their driving ambition was to reach Australia - and it's valued way of life !

The United Nations refugee agency is very clear on the rules that apply.   Refugees are required to register in the first country in which they make landfall, and then go on the waiting list for refugee resettlement as slots become available.    This is a slow and tedious process and many prefer to pay their life savings to people smugglers who invite them to "jump the queue " and risk life and limb on leaky boats on an unforgiving sea.

With every passing month, those still stranded in these offshore camps are becoming an increasing burr under the saddlecloth of the Australian public.  It is becoming a test of wills.   These refugees are adamant that they will not settle for less than resettlement in Australia and successive governments are not prepared to pay the price of resuming the refugee boats as the consequence of such a move.

It seems to be a case of an immovable object coming into collision with an unstoppable force.