Commenting on the recently released report by an Australian expert panel on asylum seekers, Jan Jananayagam of Tamils Against Genocide (TAG) told Tamil Guardian,
"Offshore processing defeats the spirit of the refugee convention - which is to offer safe haven to those fleeing persecution. Instead offshoring creates gulag-type settings in some parts of the world on our behalf."
"Offshore agreements send a signal to partner countries that it is acceptable for them to continue to refuse to sign the refugee convention, thus undermining its international scope."
"Not only do offshore processing solutions lack transparency and accountability - that is precisely why they are offshore - they are also massively inefficient. There is no net benefit to the international community in building up ever-increasing backlogs of people in legal limbo over extended periods of time."
"Shunting a problem out of sight should not be confused with solving it."
