Most illegal immigrants arrive with valid visas

."

The fact is that virtually all illegal immigrants arrive here by air with valid visas issued by Australia's overseas representatives.

If we are going to concern ourselves with this issue, therefore, the first question must be how so many manage to pass through screening by our issuing authorities.

It argues either gross incompetence in our procedures or corruption in our reviewing personnel (or, most probably, both).

If Ms Moverely is concerned about tightening Australia's borders, this is where she should be concentrating her attention.

Ms Moverely is also concerned that illegal immigration should not go undetected.

The fact is that detection of illegal immigrants is reasonably efficient, and most of them (after they have exhausted all their legal avenues of appeal) are eventually deported.

The illegal immigrants who escape detection are largely British and American and, the suspicion is, that the authorities do not pursue them very actively because few are considered a threat to Australia's sovereignty.

Boat people, of course, are not illegal immigrants (a fact that Mr Abbott doesn't yet seem to have grasped), but legal asylum-seekers under Australian law.

Furthermore, they are insignificant in number, compared to illegal immigrants, and the fact that over 90 per cent are eventually issued protection visas demonstrates that their claims are mostly just.

In virtually all cases, their citizenship is established at a first interview, but the assessment of refugee criteria is time-consuming and, often, controversial.

This is why there is a vast backlog of refugee applications, a backlog that will only be worsened by political stunts such as detaining applicants on Manus Island.

Email, 29 May 2013

Bruce Hyland, Daleys Point