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1. Violence and destruction should not be tolerated in our society. This is just what these people were supposed to be escaping. We have no place for this in our country.

   Posted By: David from Engadine

2. I'm not sure I agree with the stated position of Fr Pettena.
   There is a process as to how these boat arrivals will be managed and assessed and they do their cause no good in 'trashing' the Christmas Island facility.
   In fact, they make things more difficult for others who become entrapped by their actions.
   They would be dealt with far more harshly and severely if they stepped out of line in the countries from whence they've come.
   We only have to look at the treatment being meted out to protesters in Bahrain, Yemen ... and Libya!

   Posted By: peter, Melboune

3. I have read with horror some of the 'comments' made by Australians literally 'baying for the blood' of refugees on Christmas Island after the riots.
   It makes me wonder how these people would react if they were in the same situation?
   We Australians just have it too good to be able to have any empathy for 'the other'.
   We are too busy congratulating ourselves when we help our friends, family and immediate neighbours during a crisis: that is not being a 'good Samaritan' in the gospel sense. Neither is it a particularly difficult humanitarian response, if you prefer to view it through secular eyes.

   Posted By: Audra Kunciunas, Abbotsford

4. PS I should add that in no way do I condone the behaviour of those refugees who were involved in the riot. I suggest that we put this behaviour into context and try and sort out the situation that caused it (overcrowding etc).

   Posted By: Audra Kunciunas, Abbotsford

5. If unable to have empathy for the detainees on Christmas Island, it could be a good exercise to meet an ex-refugee, or even read The Happiest Refugee.

   Posted By: Patricia Ryan, 2/46 Walter St Sans Souci

6. It is not only legal, but also moral, to seek asylum and provide refuge to people fleeing the worse of situations.
   The violence is done by those who set up prisons to lock up the most vulnerable of peoples. That is the crime, the real scandal, the true violence, and the Christians of this country should know better.
   Let’s get rid of euphemisms like ‘detention'; it is not detention, it is high security prison in a remote place.
   To lock up asylum seekers and treat them as 'untouchable' is violence; mandatory imprisoning of asylum seekers is a crime against our own humanity.
   Anyone who has a heart should make a visit to one of these dehumanising detention centres and listen to the experiences of the asylum seekers we unlawfully imprison, and then examine their own conscience.

   Posted By: Ben, Sydney

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