Posted by Kyo on October 16, 2009 at 07:39:09:
In Reply to: [Hillary Clinton] - Seeding a safer world posted by Kyo on October 16, 2009 at 07:29:59:
Kyo's comments :
The way the world runs today, the government systems run, the way economies and financial systems are today, are seriously screwed up when governments are 'forced' to turn away (and condemn to die terribly) fellow human beings seeking refuge (basic human rights) pleading for their very lives; for the sake of preserving the 'economic integrity' of the nation. The monetary system on Earth results in the vast majority of people on the planet to starve painfjully to death (when food is actually abundant and routinely wasted in rich countries), people to become miserable and angry, and out of desperation resort to illegal crime which only causes more pain and suffering for everyone, all under the oppression of the unethical corrupt rich & powerful.
This isn't a criticism directed at Kevin Rudd or Australia - he/they did what they had to do... and isn't that the really sad part. This is a criticism of how humanity on Earth have allowed themselves/ourselves to be trapped in limiting systems (eg. of economics & finance) that actually work against themselves/ourselves, in many ways.
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Asylum seekers give up on Australia
Kevin Rudd has been described as heartless by Sri Lankan asylum seekers holed up on their boat in Indonesia, but the prime minister says he will not bow to emotional blackmail.
As two of the asylum seekers were on Friday taken to hospital in critical condition, the group's spokesman made a plea to the rest of the international community, having given up on Australia.
The 222 men and women on board the rickety cargo boat, moored in the port of Merak in western Java, have gone on a hunger strike as they plea to be resettled. The 31 children among the group are not taking part in the hunger strike.
The group's spokesman, Alex, said from the boat that two of the asylum seekers had been taken to hospital and several had fainted.
"This is day two of the hunger strike and already two people have been taken to hospital. Two people have gone to the hospital in critical condition," he said.
"They are very critical, both of them, they are elderly people."
But he says the asylum seekers have given up on Australia, because the prime minister had given up on them, Alex said.
"We're tired. We're very tired of speaking to Kevin Rudd, we're now speaking to the rest of the international community," Alex said.
"I don't think Kevin Rudd has a heart for us anymore. We don't want to waste the energy that we have on speaking to a person that has those views."
He said they were prepared to name the people smugglers who organised their trip to Australia, The Australian and ABC reported.
"We are offering that we will hand over our agents who are involved in this if the Australian government accepts us," he told ABC Television.
The Indonesian navy apprehended the Tamil asylum seekers, who were trying to reach Christmas Island, on Sunday after an intelligence tip-off from Australia and a personal plea from Mr Rudd to Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
Mr Rudd on Friday said he did not like to see people suffering, but that the plight of the Sri Lankan asylum seekers was now a matter for Indonesia and the United Nations.
"Noone likes to see anyone in pain, noone likes to see anyone in difficulty, but my job as prime minister of Australia is to make tough decisions which are balanced, tough, fair," Mr Rudd said.
But the prime minister said he would not bow to emotional blackmail.
"I understand something of the plight of people around the world. There's been an awful civil war in Sri Lanka, and I understand what parents and children might say and might do, but we have a UN High Commission for Refugees."
The group's spokesman said they those on board were peace-loving, and simply trying to flee a country where they were no longer safe.
"We are speaking to the rest of the international community to plea with them, not to blackmail or threaten anybody, but to plea with them and ask them to look at our situation, look at our desperateness," Alex said.
"We cannot go back to Sri Lanka.
"The international community already knows that even though the war is finished, even though the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam) has been annihilated, there are many kidnappings going on and there are many murders going on.
"We cannot be in a country where genocide is the only solution for that country, for their problems that they have because they fear every Tamil is a Tamil Tiger."
Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull said the circumstances surrounding the Tamils' case were tragic.
"Unlike Mr Rudd, I did see the pleas of the little girl on the boat in Indonesia and it was heart-breaking," Mr Turnbull said.
Earlier in the week, nine-year-old Brindah, one of 31 children aboard the boat, made an impassioned plea for international help.
Mr Turnbull said every Australian "who saw those people would have been deeply moved by it", but that "we cannot help everyone".
http://www.theage.com.au/national/asylum-seekers-give-up-on-australia-20091016-h11v.html