Now you’ve got right off the rails. The Howard government stopped the boats to stop the people dying. Only idiots can’t see that. There were children overboard. Asylum seekers held small children over the side of their boats threatening naval crews that they would drop them in the water. Is that the action of a loving parent?
The people who died in the process, died because evil people smugglers (I note you’ve made no mention whatsoever of this particular maritime service plying its trade. Why not?) sent unseaworthy boats overcrowded with their paying passengers on dangerous open ocean voyages for exorbitant profits.
Stop preaching to me and Australia about how we handled our crisis. We fixed it. It is fixed today. I note you’ve also made no mention of the Labor government’s policy of more compassion. The boats had stopped under Howard. Labor wanted more compassion and eased the policy. Boats started, asylum seekers flooded in (all totally predicted) and an estimated 1200 PEOPLE DROWNED, but hey, who knows? They drowned unseen at sea.
That’s what your compassion does in practice. Comment about that in particular please.
We’ve learnt our lessons. Paid a severe price and stopped the boats. It works.
Finally, you aren’t going to solve all sides of the ‘refugee boat people crisis’ by reference to maritime law, no matter how old, traditional, international or magnificently moral and compassionate. You just won’t. Stop trying to justify everything by your own morality standards, as wonderful as they are.
Australia accepts about 19,000 immigrants under its humanitarian intake scheme ie legally recognised refugees annually. How many does Norway? Or any other nation?