This contributed article from a lady of Armenian background shows that it is not just the Australian-born who are not happy with the current “refugee invasion” and view them as “queue jumpers”. Christelle provides an interesting viewpoint that is worth reading:
Views on boat people from an immigrant
My name is Christelle. I’m 30 years old. I am married and I have 3 young children. I was born in Beirut, Lebanon to Christian parents of an Armenian background. I was born in the middle of the Civil War in Lebanon. My earliest memories are of watching bullets fly through the air from our balcony, and hiding in bunkers while the ground shook from bombs.
My parents and grandparents were frantic, trying to relocate us. I remember countless weekly trips to the Australian Embassy. Begging for visas to move to Australia. My grandparents had been doing this for the last 5 years. Finally they are granted! My grandparents make the move and fly to Australia. They purchase an average house in Sydney and my grandfather begins working.
Meanwhile, my parents and myself are still in Beirut dealing with life in war. Jumping on a boat never even crossed my family’s minds. Finally when I was 6 years old, the Australian Embassy granted my mother and I what we wished for. They flew us to Sydney. My father was to stay behind for another 6 months or so. All in all, my family spent 10 years trying to come to Australia and finally, legally, we were able to. My parents worked very hard in Australia to buy a home and provide a good education for me. We are good Christian people.
Now when I see boat after boat invading our waters, the anger that rises in me is extreme. I cannot believe the nerve of these people, regardless of circumstance.
They say they will die in their countries, that they will be shot. Well my mother did get shot once. The police in Beirut accidentally shot at our car once. The bullets missed my head through the back window by an inch. My mothers head was grazed. But still we persisted. We didn’t try to find some illegal way to a better life. We put our lives and trust in Australia’s hands and after 10 years they let us come here.
These people on boats are everything I hate. We suffered for a decade. They just want to jump the queue? What about the other people in the world like my family? That have been waiting for a decade to come here. And they have to wait even longer because of these boat people. My family was educated. Doctors, dentists and engineers. These people cannot even speak English. They are of no benefit to our community.
Our housing is given to them. There are so many Australians doing it tough at the moment, who have been on the housing waiting list for years, yet these people come on boats and our government gives them not one, but many houses? Look at this Captain Imad character. He is a smuggler and our government gave him 3 houses! Three!
In my opinion, every single boat should be turned around. They should not step one foot on our lands. Our Navy should be put to better use and have a stronger hand in defending our lands.
After all, this is an invasion but with a pity story. I have nothing against immigrants. After all, I am one.
What I am against, is people jumping the queue when there are good Christian people out these waiting so that they can legally come here. Whose lives are just as much at risk than anyone else’s. But still they wait their turn. We are a Christian country. Therefore the majority of our immigrants should be Christian too. This is what benefits Australia.
I have worked my whole life, got married and have 3 beautiful Australian children. English is our first language and we do everything that other Australians do. We are proud of our Australian flag and honor our queen. And even though I wasn’t born here, I will fight for this country I love.
No boat people. At all.
I agree with most of your views. However, I do not believe with your views about Christianity in Australia. Why do you believe Christian people are 'better' than everyone else? I wouldn't think believing in an ancient irrelevant book of tall tales would make anyone more deserving to live in Australia than others. Also you make a unjustified claim that christian immigrants would "benefit" Australia. Why would they? Why should we remain backward?
Daniel I am not a god fearing christian but it is clear that christian ideology is the most civlilised and responsible for the success of western nations. Now that secular ideology is widespread I approve but secularists have not yet established a moral compass and until then they are a mixed bag.Islam has no moral code so barbaric acts like killing children and everything else despicable is to be expected of muslims.
When is the Government going to realise that the boat people in many cases are NOT refugees in the true sense of the word in so far as they have paid for their passage and in many instances have initially flown to Jakarta gone through immigration , then burned their passports and waited at at designated area for a boat to take them to Australia .. without a passport the Australian authorities have little chance of verifying their stories regarding persecution etc . As to the lives lost at sea , whilst this is distressing the legal dictum Caveat Emptor would seem relevant here
Minh truong, the greens are desperate for votes, they know they will lose seats. They are hypocrites, they are quite happy to flood this country with people who only want to come here and get what they can out it. A true greenie would be sayiong cut all immigration as we are at the begining of climate change. No water=no food, cut population or we are all in trouble.
Tony Bourke admitted there are those ïmmigrants"worried that their relatives have been missing for 6 weeks-illegals on boats. How it works? There are those who already are here funding their positons on these boats. I see it all the time money posted via western union, our Aus Dollars are funding illegals. Why hasn,t Mr bourke called for a full investigation on funding these illegals? Where does the Australian Federal Police intervening? Once again Govts have failed the Australian people. Multicultalrism is just a pipe dream. It has never worked in the past and will never work now.
I haven't been in Australia for 10 years…should I come back?
This is a touching story for sure and I'm sure there's many like this. But Australia is at a point now where we simply can't afford to bring any more third world refugees. Australia has done an enormous amount for refugees over the years. We have more than pulled our weight. We spend billions on them, whilst 100,000 Australians are homeless. Enough is enough. Whether they come here by boat, plane or fly by magic carpet, most refugees nowadays are Muslims, and these are people we don't want or need. The displacement of white Australia continues unabated. It's well past time to withdraw from the outdated UN Treaty on Refugees.
I agree Stan but anti- islamic protest is suppressed if not banned in Australia in recent times. Muslims will succeed by outbreeding us and turning australia into a war torn mess. No means to prevent this from happening look at britain and europe.
Hi Christelle,
Thanks for your honest story.My parents came from Germany in the 50's. They lived in tents in NSW till they got simlpe housing…..Simple as in no flyscreens, NO aircon and NO 3 free meals a day. They had go out and find work just like everyone else!! I also don't agree with the theory of the Greens in regards to all the damage with children staying in these campsWhat's happening in these war torn areas??Bombs, Rapings. killings etc…gross atrosities I agree…BUT is this happening in the camps that have been set up aroung Australia ????I think not. Then they have the hide to set their dwellings alight and to protest which angers me and lessens my conern for them.Since when do refugees have the money to pay for these dangerous boat trips?? Politicians must think us an uneducated lot to believe these are all legitimate refugees.
Christelle I love this country too and what we love will be eroded away because as Tony Abbott so rightly put….people who come here to live should adopt our way of life not try and fit all these different ideals into it.
Well written Christelle and your views, comments and your christian background makes you welcome in Australia and you are a proud Australian.
Islam teaches that every child born is a Muslim and is led astray by non-Muslim parents and society. The more Muslims in the population the sooner Sharia law will be implemented and imposed on Non-Muslims.
“One day, millions of men will leave the Southern Hemisphere to go to the Northern Hemisphere. And they will not go there as friends. Because they will go there to conquer it. And they will conquer it with their sons. The wombs of our women will give us victory.”
Houari (Mohamed) Boumedienne, President of Algeria, 1965 – 1978, in a 1974 speech at the UN
Mullah Krekar, a refugee from northern Iraq and living in Norway said in 2006: “Just look at the development within Europe, where the number of Muslims is expanding like mosquitoes.” Another translation says: 'We will take over Europe because we Muslims multiply like mosquitoes.' Islam teaches that non-Muslims are only good as a source of labour and wealth, in other words, as servants/slaves to Muslims.
Islam doesnt need to spread by the sword anymore, they have already infiltrated the west, watch this video re:
Fertility Rates, very scary: http://youtu.be/6-3X5hIFXYU
The refugee action group, Greens with Sarah Hanson Young, Alan Bandt and others, please shut up the mouth, you all don't know about refugee. The asylum seeker and refugee are the same situation when they just come to the other place, both claim to be faced in danger, but after became the resident status, who came back safe to where they escaped, they are asylum seeker.
In Australia, Europe, US…there are so many false refugee have returned safe to its homeland, even working and doing successful business there. The asylum seeker sent to their country multiple billion US dollars a year, so the economy of western states bleeding currency, while the country is needing the money to look after the homeless, hospital waiting list and the other public interests.
The Geneva convention on July 28, 1951 confirmed the refugee couldn't return to homeland, even contact to embassy. So the UN member, including Australia have no responsibility and compliance the asylum seeker hidden under the title of humanitarian program. The western states have to have the right action as soon as possible to protect countries being abused by so-call" human rights". The UN humanitarian program has been cheating long time.
In France, the OFFICE FRANCAIS DE PROTECTION DES REFUGIES ET APATRICE ( OFPRA) reported just in Vietnamese refugee who cheated UN and government after discovered 22,417 Vietnamese refugees returned safe many times to Vietnam, so the OFPRA disqualified the false refugees, then the government has no longer grant the social, health and the other beneficiaries. The false refugees have to extend the visa at the Vietcong embassy. Actually, annually, the Vietnamese refugee turned asylum seeker in the western states provided to Vietcong regime up to $10 billion USD ( unofficially, it estimates $18 Billion).
There is just Vietnamese refugee, but the others could be more harm the economy. The asylum seeker today are not refugee at all, they have no facing the danger, they are free and safe to buy airfare from its homeland, then coming to Indonesia. There they just pay money to people smuggling rings, and taken a trip to Australia.
The refugee action Group, Greens politicians have to open the eyes, if not, they are blinded, then accept the fraudulence as dignity. If Greens taken government power, so total tax pay of Australia won't be able to cover for the cost of asylum seeker. Where is your brain?
Hoa Minh Truong.
( author of two books: The dark journey & Good Evening Vietnam.)
* notes: I am a Vietnamese boat people, escaped from Vietnam 1982 and never return. No one know refugee
than me.
right on
those “refugees” that return to profit spoil it for the rest
having worked with hundreds of Viets i can only count 2 who have not returned
ex south viet. servicemen.
SBS is leading the charge to make us believe in what in the end may turn out to be very destructive "multiculturalism." I have not watched, nor will I watch "Go Back To Where You Came From' as I know it is just "multicultural propaganda." If many immigrant communities practiced "multiculturalism" they would not go around suicide bombing one another now would they???
SBS has most likely been taken over by Political Islamists, which is why they support multiculturalism. Multiculturalism is Sharia compliant, which is why political Islam supports it. Multiculturalism isn't a benign concept of allowing people to retain quaint cultural habits and their own cultural food.
Multiculturalism allows a fifth column to flourish with critics being socially silenced by accusations of racism, bigotry and intolerance.
Sharia Law is being practised in this country against the wished of the domestic population because multiculturalism is the vehicle being used to drive it.
There was a recent report on 20,000 people being turned away from shelters and public housing. How is housing meant to be reserved for asylum seekers? We should withdraw from the outdated 1951 Refugee Convention. It's an anachronism from a former time. The problems today are ongoing and greater than the solutions we devise. Our troops are in Afghanistan trying to create security so people should be trying to rebuild their lives and homeland. There are no new colonies to plunder, no new frontiers to settle in. Australians are doing it tough too – many of them.
Very true.For 200 years the Aboriginals have had it tough….and I'm not an aboriginal but I would rather the government would fix that first before trying to help everyone else.Maybe the world leading nations should concentrate on getting these countires inline so there won't be mass exodus.
Myself and my family had to leave South Africa after several violent attempted break ins on our home in Johannesburg. 99% of white people in South Africa can relate similar stories of the horrific crime that prevails all over the country. Not so much in the Cape (Yet !!!).
So we spent thousands of $s on immigration agents in order to come to Australia and we spent nearly two years whilst we gathered all the paperwork required by the immigration department.
Having been raised in West London in the 50s and 60s I witnessed the take over of our community by Indian and Pakistani migrants.
Since 2007 I have now witnessed a massive uptake of Asian migrants to our Brisbane community. It's a terrible dejavue nightmare for me. I find the Chinese, Vietnamese assimilate far better than the Indians.
The Indians insist on retaining their culture which is devasting for the host community that wants to be Australian in all things. The Indians do not assimilate as well as the Chinese.
As you all know the UK is a multiculture disaster with the Brits being a minority in their own towns and cities.
Soo, what do I think about boat people????
The best answer is for Australia to reverse out of its UNHCR obligations. That will stop that arrival of these illegals.
As for existing migrants and other misfits in our society, they should be returned to their country of origin.
Well Len you should see Sydney as most of the suburbs here are becoming majority asian with the local shopping strips resembling China towns. In the Inner west, Marrickville is becoming like a little Vietnam and the local RSL has just been demolished to make way for units. Ashfield is another Chinatown along with Campsie, Burwood and Strathfield is a Korea town. Now this is only the inner west. Hurstville has the biggest Chinese population in sydney and the local shopping strip is nearly all Asian shops. Parramatta now is supposedly majority Asian. I could name many more. All across Sydney massive high rises are going up. The former royal south sydney will be replaced by 40,000 new residents to add to the 100,000 or so already surrounding it in the constant building of high rises. Prince Henry Hospital has been demolished and replaced with some houses but mostly units. It is shocking the amount of high rises that have appeared in the last five years since Kevin Rudd massively increased immigration.
You are right that Asians(oriental) assimilate more than Indians. On a daily basis i am beginning to see more white man/asian women couples than white/white couples. Is this kind of assimilation a good thing though?
I also agree Good on you Christelle. We are proud to call you Aussie
Good on you Christelle. We are proud to call you Aussie. 🙂