Discussion topic – illegal immigration: economic impact
I am going to open up this topic for discussion because it is something that impacts all of us. Here in Australia we have illegal immigrants (I refuse to call them asylum seekers and think that it is a misnomer to label them as such) arriving almost daily by the boat load. One journalist has dubbed the RAN as the RAN Taxi Service because the navy is being called upon to not just intercept the illegals and their boats but has been used to “tow them to safety”.
Here in Australia these illegal immigrants are a drain upon the economy in many and various ways. I am sure that this is one thing we have in common and I think that it is well worth discussing the ways in which these illegals are such a drain. Over here it used to be that the illegals were placed in detention camps for years at a time. Then they caused riots, committing suicide, and going on hunger strikes. This is despite the fact that in detention they get everything handed to them including use of the internet and a TV.
Since the people over here were foolish enough to put the ALP back into power the situation has been rapidly deteriorating with the number of illegals increasing rapidly and the number of boat arrivals growing at a phenomenal weekly and even daily rate. Their trick is to send out a distress signal and the navy will not turn them back towards Indonesia.
In terms of cost, we can start with the costs of having the navy patrolling the northern waters on the lookout for illegal fisherman and illegal immigrants. It adds up to millions of dollars each year. To this you can add the cost of accommodation for these illegals, and then there is the welfare payments, on top of that. They are preventing Australian families who are in need of emergency accommodation from getting that accommodation, and that means more Australians living on the streets whilst these illegals are being housed.
Illegal immigration is an enormous burden on any economy, especially when these people are getting our tax dollars being spent on them.
A world in economic crisis 
Good article, Aussie. I’ve read some about your situation there, and it seems to be even worse than here in the USA, although I think both our governments are trying hard to outdo each other in mishandling the situations. Good luck!
another boat allegedly in distress has been “rescued”. It is absurd.
Sri Lanka is doing something about the situation. Indonesia does nothing about their people smugglers.
Australia lets the people smugglers become citizens.
You nailed the problem. They are trying to outdo each other to see who can make the smelliest fart!!! Seriously, we had it under control with the Pacific Solution and it was Kevin Rudd who nixed that program. What was put in place was no answer… then the boats started to come, first at a trickle and now it is full steam ahead.
The problem over here is that the Watermelons have too much power, and their farts are smellier than everyone else – it is the Watermelons who are the Marxists. They want these people coming into Australia because they have no clue at all about what is required to be an immigrant. So they get up in the Parliament and cry and make dumb statements, all the while signalling to the people smugglers that they can continue to put people on those boats.
The problem right now is that these people are being clever, in that they are sending out distress signals knowing that they will be picked up.
It would be far better if when that happens they are not picked up, but are in fact escorted back into Indonesian territorial waters. Let the Indonesians take care of their own people smugglers.
Of course that is only one tiny part of a bigger issue which is the fact that these people are not suitable as immigrants in the first place, and that they like the idea of an indolent life where they get paid to do nothing, as well as being given access to the Internet etc.
The fact remains that these people are queue jumpers. There are genuine refugees in camps waiting to be allowed to come to Australia. By processing these people ahead of the genuine refugees, the ones in need remain in the camps. It is unfair. On top of that they are taking public housing away from needy Australians, and they are taking the Australian taxpayers’ money.
All of these things are bad for Australia’s economy. Why should Australian families be forced to live in their cars whilst these interlopers are given a roof over their heads. I think we should have charity beginning at home, and that these people should be sent back, at least as far as Indonesia.
Sri Lanka is making the move to stop the boats, and Indonesia could do a lot more to round up the people smugglers.
I absolutely agree. This is why your situation is worse than ours. You have mostly Indonesians being smuggled in who are apparently content to be taken care of by the government, and being Muslims mostly, they have no desire to assimilate into the Australian culture. Here, the predominant illegal immigrant is Mexican. In the worst case, they are sometimes criminals, but in most cases, they are hard working, productive people who are strongly family oriented and religious (Christian). There is still the problem of “queue jumping” and job-flooding, but I think we are far better off without the massive Muslim influx. Both our Marxist governments are certainly doing their best to worsen each of our situations, however.
They are not Indonesians being smuggled in, the Indonesians are doing the smuggling.
The illegals are from Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Iraq and Iran in particular.
Only Sri Lanka is doing anything about stopping the boats from leaving their shores.