What if in the future to handle emergency refugees...

[Shankapotomus]

…we (and other nations) built an artificial island(s) in the ocean with all the resources and comforts of the mainland as a transition post for refugees?

On this island (or islands) the emergency refugees can live in a microscopic version of the larger host nation (with stores, businesses and even work) while their backgrounds could be checked and confirmed as non-criminal or hostile before they are allowed to move on into the larger host nation.

That way you could avoid this whole controversy of should we let in emergency refugees in the future by having a livable environment always ready for them exclusively.

Would that be considered inhuman?

What do you think?

[whathehell]

1. It doesn't seem inhumane to me

but the building of what you describe seems like a Herculean task. Then again, I'm not an expert

in such things, so I could be wrong about the scope of the effort.

[HereSince1628]

2. Xenophobes would love it. Halliburton would love it

An island with no resources and no naturally occurring ecosystems.

Environmentalists would -hate- it.

I imagine that would be a GREAT project to consume the detritus of civilization, a place populated by peoples utterly without political power. What a great place to bury radioactive waste!

[Shankapotomus]

7. I didn't say it wouldn't have resources

I'm not sure environmentalists would hate it if it created artificial reefs.

[JackInGreen]

3. An internment camp by any other name

Is still an internment camp.

[TexasTowelie]

5. +1

You beat me to it. No matter how beautiful the surrounding and how much like home it might seem the people that are there are being held against their will without a home.

[Shankapotomus]

9. They wouldn't be held against their will

It would be just another option should there be issues with them being allowed entry into the host nation. Sort of like a safe neutral zone for them rather than sending them back to a hell zone where they could get killed.

[Shankapotomus]

8. They wouldn't be held against their will

Last edited Mon Nov 16, 2015, 11:43 AM - Edit history (3)

It would be just another option should there be issues with them being allowed entry into the host nation. Sort of like a safe neutral zone for them rather than sending them back to a hell zone where they could get killed.

You have to imagine how useful such a neutral island would be:

Because the refugees would be in a safe environment and out of their home war zone, nations could allow each refugee admission at a more deliberative pace instead of out of hysterical desperation.

Also, if you're a refugee on one of these islands, since you are safe from violence, you can take your time in organizing which country you which to apply for entry or apply to multiple countries at your leisure.

It takes a lot of the uncertainty and desperation out of being a refugee from violence.

[Downwinder]

4. Christmas Island?

[CentralMass]

6. Made me think of the 60's show The Prisoner