ASYLUM SEEKERS DEMONISED BY THE HATE OF GOVERNMENTS AND MEDIA

Ponder the fact that there is no outcry from the population, no outcry from the media, and most politicians are silent on the issue.

Ponder the fact that where money is involved, discussions are loud and widespread.

Ponder the fact that people in Australia all come from other countries except the indigenous Aboriginal people of Australia.

Ponder the fact that all these boat people - read aeroplanes for mid-20th century onwards - are so antagonistic to the latest newcomers and try and explain.

Xenophobia has become a national pastime, and because so many of the asylum seekers are from Muslim countries because of the imperialist wars waged in their countries by the likes of Australia, you have a country whose population is amongst the most racist in the world.

Asylum seekers are sent to concentration camps in other countries where they are out of sight, out of mind, and when there are incidents involving Australian military or naval personnel the asylum seekers tell lies about what has happened to them in the hands of these personnel.

Then you get ministers saying they would sooner believe version given to him by the military/navy than some asylum seekers who wouldn't be truthful in any event, and you return to the "children overboard" lies of the Howard government era.

So what has changed in all the years since Paul Keating introduced the first concentration camps in Australia?

The situation has worsened year by year and governments have become more like South African and Israeli jailers in their apartheid states, and you get democracy having disappeared altogether.

The outcome for these poor people fleeing from the horrors inflicted on their countries by the likes of Australia is tragic in the extreme, and for those of us watching from the sidelines and feeling more and more helpless as time passes, one can only wonder why more and more of the people in these desperate situations are not committing suicide at a greater rate.

When there is no hope, what else can one do?

Border protection - but from whom?