Australia no longer accepting criminals?
I thought that was its raisin d'etre*
I'm all for catching criminals, but how are they going to do it? Is it a "read, check against known convicted criminals, get the answer and discard the biometrics?" I doubt it. I'd guess more like, "Haha, everyone wants out at some point so we'll tag pretty much the entire country even if that would create an immigration database too large to check against at border control." At what level do you stop people? Non-payment of a parking ticket? Public urination (a sex offence in some places)? Unpaid back-taxes in their country of residence? Petty theft? Do we move on people with accusations but no convictions? Reincarnation apparently is illegal in China. Are we sending the Dalai Lama home?
Like AVM, Snowden, and the OPM crack, someone, somewhere is going to crack these biometric databases and spill their guts onto the internet. Then there may be a few countries which regret taking out the human element from border control.
Where is all this data coming from - 5Eyes? Is there that much child trafficking between the 5Eye countries?
I'm not sure how the issue with refugees fits in... oh wait, I know - the government has manage to persuade a large proportion of the population that seeking refuge is in itself a criminal activity if conducted using the wrong mode of transport. There's lots of talk about "illegal refugees" although unless someone has already been processed, I'm not sure how the determination is made that the refugee is seeking refuge illegally. Perhaps there are large numbers of known criminals showing up with their biometric passports on refugee boats, but surely, that would make them disqualified to seek refuge, not an illegal refugee. Is it it illegal to show up in a boat? Let's ask the First Fleet shall we? Nope, it wasn't illegal in the past, and it still isn't illegal. Its merely policy that We Don't Like You and we'll tow you away before you set foot in our beloved country (LoveItOrLeaveIt) where we would have to follow our own laws about what constitutes "human dignity." /rant
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*currently