published letters

Published in The Australian on Wednesday, July 18, 2012

THE reason people are dying while waiting to be granted a refugee space in Australia (“In the real world, people die in the queue”, 17/7) is because the government refuses to alter the cap of 13,700 refugees a year. It could increase the cap and regard the 500 to 5000 boatpeople who risk dying each year as a separate group from those who have managed to find the queue. 2005 Young Australian of the Year Khoa Do was a boatperson whose parents couldn’t find the queue. Why are we so afraid of these desperate people who must prove they are genuine refugees and then contribute so much to our society?

Tim Woodruff, Richmond, Vic