How many times does it need to be reiterated that:

- The people who arrive on our shores seeking asylum have a legal right to do so. They are not “illegal immigrants”, they are ordinary people like us who have been forced to flee their home country in fear of death or persecution. Government statistics show that the vast majority of asylum seekers are found to be genuine refugees and allowed to stay here.

- Asylum seekers do not get preferential treatment, whether monetary, legal or in any other way. Theses stories circulate endlessly; I used to hear them about indigenous people, now I hear them about migrants. I suggest racism is at the heart of people’s willingness to believe these stories.

- If the government wishes to avoid the courts imposing compensation payouts, then it needs to look at the way people are treated in detention centres and the length of time they are forced to stay there. Visiting health professionals and legal representatives have warned for years about the inhumane way asylum seekers are treated in detention.

Are people suggesting it’s somehow okay to treat people badly because they come from another country? How does that square with the Australian belief in the fair go?

In recent years two “boat people” have been named Young Australian of the Year: Khoa Do and Tan Le. How much more of an “outstanding contribution” could we ask for?

— LOUISE D’ARCY,

Yackandandah