US/Australia Refugee Swap Deal.

[Matilda]

CANBERRA (Reuters) - Australia and the United States have struck a deal to swap refugees, which immigration officials said was aimed at deterring people-smuggling into the two countries.

Cuban refugees held by the United States in Guantanamo Bay will be resettled in Australia and Australia will send boatpeople from its Pacific detention centre to the United States under the agreement signed last week.

"It is part of our policy to reinforce the message to those who would engage in people smuggling that this country has a very tough border protection policy," Australian Prime Minister John Howard told local radio on Wednesday.

http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSSYD26945620070418

So call me stupid, but I can't for the life of me see the point of this exercise. It seems that
Cuban refugees will be settled in Australia, which isn't too bad, and boat people trying to come to
Australia will end up living in the US instead, which is something I'm sure they won't object to.

Nope, still don't get how this is supposed to be a deterrent to anybody.

[Esra Star]

1. So JWH wants to make them losers by deporting them to the US.

And GWB figures that the Cubans will regard a life in Oz
as a fate worse than death.
I must be missing something.
Seriously, it can only be some sort of election pitch.
Or a diversion. Maybe collecting a suite of diversions.
Stay tuned.

[Aussie leftie]

2. How much sooner would David Hicks be home

if he had said that he was Cuban and not an Australian citizen