Then there's the secondary concerns like whether these people are even genuine refugees and just the fact that they've 'jumped the queue' to get into this country (suggesting that refugees have access to a formal process of leaving their own country).
If these boat people do actually make it to Australia we spend thousands (millions?) of dollars putting them into detention centres on neighbouring islands, spend months processing refugee status claims and, now, ship them off to Papua New Guinea for resettlement.
What the hell, Australia?
Why not turn this problem to our advantage and put the onus back onto the countries these people are fleeing from to secure their own damn borders. Get them to stop their own boats.
Perhaps we could offer people smugglers a big fat bonus if their boats are approved to a certain level of sea worthiness and not overcrowded when they arrive here?
Lets stop spending on detention centres and start building refugee towns/communities near where the boats are arriving - why not even build ports for the boats?
Why not make these communities 'halfway communities'. The intention being that they are a pleasant place to stay and learn about Australian culture/lifestyle whilst each person's refugee application is being processed. Hire the refugee's themselves to maintain the community. Get them started on earning money for themselves and their families. Once their application is approved give them choices about where to resettle so they can put their knowledge into practice and really start a new life in the lucky country.
At the end of the day a refugee has just as much of a chance of creating new business and jobs as they do becoming reliant on welfare. There's no absolutes. There are plenty of stories of refugees becoming successful business people in our history. Since we're processing applications anyway, why not direct skilled refugees into locations that need those skills?
I've never bought into the idea that refugees will take our jobs. If that was really a concern, then stop letting people immigrate here through conventional channels, those people are taking our jobs too.
Let's start treating refugees like people. Let's show we actually care about giving them a new life and recognize their potential as a resource for economic growth. Let's stop wasting everyone's time with 'stopping the boats'.
If those countries don't appreciate their biggest resource enough to keep them from leaving then it's their loss and our gain.