23.
When real refugees began to arrive, the response on
the part of those who ratified the Protocol was to say that they
were not refugees.
The present Government has set up the DORS (Determination
of Refugee Status) Committee to ensure that people purporting to
...be refugees meet the Convention definition.
But the fact remains that Australia stands out in the
region, as does New Zealand, in having ratified the Convention and
Protocol. Some people have said to me that Australia should
denounce the Protocol. That would be inconsistent with our
attitudes and beliefs. It would be a denunciation of acceptable
standards of behaviour in the international community and a bad
source.
example to other countries with far fewer resources than Australia.
It would also not answer any of the questions posed by large
numbers of unauthorised arrivals on Australian shores.
That does not mean that we should accept the present
.situation as satisfactory. The present Convention and Protocol
are not the most satisfactory means of affording protection and
basic rights to refugees in the vast array of different situations
and circumstances that can arise.
The definition of a "refugee" is deficient.
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