The Executive Council of Australian Jewry is a peak organisation of Jews in Australia. On some issues, the AJDS may have its differences, but its policy statement, adopted in 2010 is quite enlightened. It is a salutary reminder to Robert Magid, publisher and owner of the AJN that  even the political establishment thinks he is out of touch.  The policy was read out last night at the Jewish Community Council of Victoria, to which the AJDS is a member.
 
ECAJ Policy Platform, section 7 (http://www.ecaj.org.au/) .
7. Refugees and Asylum Seekers
This Council:
7.1 NOTES with grave concern the increase in the number of people around the world who have been made refugees as a result of war and civil conflict;
7.2 NOTES that a small number of these refugees seek asylum in Australia;
7.3 RECOGNISES the difficulties faced by successive Australian Governments in balancing the Government’s obligations to its citizens to carry out proper screening (including health and security checks) on all potential new entrants to Australia, in particular unauthorised arrivals, and the Government’s humanitarian obligations under the International Convention on the Status of Refugees (1951) (the Refugee Convention) and the 1967 Protocol to the Refugee Convention, as well as under customary international law;
7.4 RECALLS WITH SHAME that especially prior to, but also during and immediately after, World War II many thousands of Jewish refugees attempting to flee persecution in Europe were denied entry into other countries or forced to engage “smugglers” to try to escape to freedom;
7.5 RECALLS that the Refugee Convention came into existence in belated recognition by the international community of the great wrong that had been done by ostensibly civilised nations in refusing to grant asylum to Jewish refugees fleeing from Europe prior to and during World War II, and as a principled and compassionate response to the moral imperative of assisting European Jews in seeking new homes after the Holocaust;
7.6 NOTES the important and positive contribution that Jewish and other refugees, from many countries, have made to Australian society and the development of Australia;
7.7 NOTES that in the past, after proper processing of their claims by Australian officials, the vast majority of those seeking asylum in Australia have been found to be genuine refugees who had fled their country of usual residence because of a well-founded fear of persecution;
7.8 ACCORDINGLY CALLS UPON the Australian Government:
to process applications by persons seeking asylum in Australia as expeditiously as possible and in a spirit of compassion, regardless of whether those applications are made through the offices of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees; to work constructively with other governments and appropriate non-government organisations, to ameliorate the plight of refugees around the world and in Australia; to implement in good faith and with humanity, Australia’s important legal and moral obligations with respect to refugees; not to hold women and children asylum seekers in mandatory detention while their applications for recognition of their refugee status are processed; and to desist from actions that are likely to result in persons who seek asylum in Australia being sent to countries which are not parties to the Refugee Convention;

The Executive Council of Australian Jewry is a peak organisation of Jews in Australia. On some issues, the AJDS may have its differences, but its policy statement, adopted in 2010 is quite enlightened. It is a salutary reminder to Robert Magid, publisher and owner of the AJN that  even the political establishment thinks he is out of touch.  The policy was read out last night at the Jewish Community Council of Victoria, to which the AJDS is a member.
 
ECAJ Policy Platform, section 7 (http://www.ecaj.org.au/) .
7. Refugees and Asylum Seekers
This Council:
7.1 NOTES with grave concern the increase in the number of people around the world who have been made refugees as a result of war and civil conflict;
7.2 NOTES that a small number of these refugees seek asylum in Australia;
7.3 RECOGNISES the difficulties faced by successive Australian Governments in balancing the Government’s obligations to its citizens to carry out proper screening (including health and security checks) on all potential new entrants to Australia, in particular unauthorised arrivals, and the Government’s humanitarian obligations under the International Convention on the Status of Refugees (1951) (the Refugee Convention) and the 1967 Protocol to the Refugee Convention, as well as under customary international law;
7.4 RECALLS WITH SHAME that especially prior to, but also during and immediately after, World War II many thousands of Jewish refugees attempting to flee persecution in Europe were denied entry into other countries or forced to engage “smugglers” to try to escape to freedom;
7.5 RECALLS that the Refugee Convention came into existence in belated recognition by the international community of the great wrong that had been done by ostensibly civilised nations in refusing to grant asylum to Jewish refugees fleeing from Europe prior to and during World War II, and as a principled and compassionate response to the moral imperative of assisting European Jews in seeking new homes after the Holocaust;
7.6 NOTES the important and positive contribution that Jewish and other refugees, from many countries, have made to Australian society and the development of Australia;
7.7 NOTES that in the past, after proper processing of their claims by Australian officials, the vast majority of those seeking asylum in Australia have been found to be genuine refugees who had fled their country of usual residence because of a well-founded fear of persecution;
7.8 ACCORDINGLY CALLS UPON the Australian Government:
to process applications by persons seeking asylum in Australia as expeditiously as possible and in a spirit of compassion, regardless of whether those applications are made through the offices of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees; to work constructively with other governments and appropriate non-government organisations, to ameliorate the plight of refugees around the world and in Australia; to implement in good faith and with humanity, Australia’s important legal and moral obligations with respect to refugees; not to hold women and children asylum seekers in mandatory detention while their applications for recognition of their refugee status are processed; and to desist from actions that are likely to result in persons who seek asylum in Australia being sent to countries which are not parties to the Refugee Convention;