Even if every single person that came by boat was a “genuine” refugee [1], it would still be good “christian” policy to block them coming to Australia. Each asylum seeker we allow into Australia cost more than helping a 1000 refugees in places like Iraq, Jordan or Lebanon. If the aim is to help the most people then helping boat arrivals is the worst option possible.
1. The refugee convention has so many holes in it in the definition of who is a refugee that it is basically a joke to catch out the extremely honest or ignorant. To be a refugee under the UN rules you just need to claim you are one and the only evidence you have to present a plausible story of persecution. You don’t have to provide any evidence beyond your own word. This is why all the boat arrival tear up their passports before getting on the boat so the only evidence for them being a refugee is their own story.
