Australia and US to Swap Refugees

Australia has a camp for asylum seekers in Nauru.
The USA used Guantanamo. Both are off shore islands.

Huh? I put aside this article because I just didn't know what to say. I still don't.

"The move is aimed at deterring would-be refugees by preventing them from reaching their destination of choice...The hope is that potential refugees might think again about trying to get to the US if there was a chance they could end up in a faraway place like Australia, and vice versa."

This seems to be a new philosophy of refugee management forged with Australia's John Howard. The article is cruel, if it weren't so weirdly funny and, er, ignorant. This stance is right up there with the US refusal to consider Iraqis for immigration to the USA. This is a difficult issue, because we do not want to let Iraqi terrorists into the country. We should be very careful to keep out those who would bring harm to our families through terrorist attack. However, we have even refused the entry of Iraqis who have served the American war effort: journalists, photographers, interpreters, Green Zone workers, American Embassy workers. These people have aided the US in the war effort. Now that their lives are in danger because they are "collaborators" with the US, we refuse them entry to the country. We did this to the Vietnamese as well. Remind me, why is it that we are not trusted, globally?