2015-10-28
The Philippines' refusal to work with Australia on a refugee deal shows how out of touch and behind the times the Coalition government really is, the Australian Greens have said.
"Malcolm Turnbull needs to give up on this absurd policy of dumping people throughout the Pacific," the Greens' immigration spokesperson, Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said.
"The families locked up on Nauru need a safe place to call home and they won't find that in Cambodia or the Philippines.
"This colonial mindset that sees Australia touring the Pacific with a chequebook in hand, expecting other nations to do our bidding, is offensive.
"We should be accepting people who are seeking asylum into our community, not dumping them in countries dotted around the Asia-Pacific."
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