A tent on Christmas Island beats living in fear

With yesterday's arrival of 53 boat people the Christmas Island detention facility -- capacity 1,400 -- is now full, forcing the government to house the overflow in tents. Curtin University Professor Linda Briskman is aghast:

Remember the asylum seekers who come here have suffered greatly in their own countries, they might have been languishing in Indonesia for sometime in poor conditions and also they've undergone quite hazardous boat journeys.

What it does signal is that the Government can't really handle the small increase in boat arrivals and I guess I just want to echo the calls of others that the processing should all be done on the mainland.

A ten-fold increase in boat people is something more than a "small increase" and the year isn't yet finished. And if those in detention are desperate to get to Australia they'll be happy for a camp-out adventure on Christmas Island.