tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11224468.post113096783647286064..comments2024-02-15T07:19:24.972-05:00Comments on The Daily Doubter: We do have a secret CIA prison system, say anonymous officialsUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11224468.post-1131018796586423692005-11-03T06:53:00.000-05:002005-11-03T06:53:00.000-05:00You probably haven't heard because it's not intern...You probably haven't heard because it's not international news, but Australia has a small archipelago of detention facilities in South Asia for housing people who try to come here illegally. Yes, this is true -- if they set foot on Australian soil the government has to follow its obligations under refugee conventions, so they grab them on the way and lock them up on Manus island and Nauru. It's been heartbreaking for activists but we seem to be in an age where people just don't care.<BR/><BR/>They call it "The Pacific Solution".<BR/><BR/>How did this come about? Well, in the 90s our gov adopted a policy of mandatory detention for people who came her without a valid visa. No matter what, lock them up until they can show they should be granted a visa (or get deported). Then in 1998 a lunatic far-right party called One Nation won a staggering percentage of the vote in the Queensland state elections. The Liberal party, governing in coalition with the Country party, was forced to adopt even more hardline policies to win back the xenophobe vote -- so, now they detain them before they even land on Australian soil.<BR/><BR/>The height of lunacy for this policy was when the Howard government excised several islands from Australia because immigrants were about to land on them. Yes, our government actually cut back our country's territory to protect us from immigrants.John Lombardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12959755263848992742noreply@blogger.com