NOT EXACTLY JUST LIKE

The Federal government's plan to offshore process asylum seekers reminds former Federal Court Justice Ronald Merkel of Switzerland's turning away Jewish refugees during the Holocaust:

"The very context in which this bill has come before the Parliament, namely the West Papuans, has chilling reminders of what occurred in the Second World War."

Making refugees wait offshore while their cases are considered isn't exactly what Switzerland did:

• Swiss officials were involved, when Germany introduced a new stamp (a red J) to mark passports of Jews.

• Switzerland did reject between 20,000 to 25,000 Jewish refugees at the border, even after the government (not necessarily the population) was informed, that the Nazis would not only send them to labour camps but rather murder them systematically.

Gee, I hope rumours of refugees having ID numbers tattooed on their forearms aren't true.