"Are they asked why they didn't seek asylum closer to home? How they made it to Indonesia, esp entering by plane which requires passports and visas? Why is the documentation not still available when on the boat to Australia? Why are you able to travel back home unpersecuted yet left because of persecution? Why isn't the family you intend uniting dead/raped or in jail if persecution is rife?"
Yes, they are asked all those questions except the reference to travelling back home as that does not become an issue until after residency is granted.
Essentially, after thorough investigation, the majority are granted residency. It may even come down to, 'we can't prove that they are not refugees so on the balance of probability and compassion ( misplaced though it may be) we decide to let them stay'.
I merely attempted to cut through a lot of the emotional posts and show that there is only one solution.
Withdraw from the UN convention that allows others to decide who comes here and who doesn't.
We should continue to accept refugees but the requirements should be much more rigorous and permanent residency should be earned over a long period of time. Deporting refugees for serious criminal behaviour should also be part of that.
