Tracey Barnett on asylum seekers

For the most part, writes Journalist Tracey Barnett, when it comes to asylum seekers, NZ along with Sweden and Belgium has been seen as a world leader - lauded for it's community based approach. Instead of locking them out of sight in barren detention centres, claimants can wait in the community until their case was decided - but there has been a new punitive tone creeping through - what amounts to mandatory detention for any 'mass' asylum seeker arrivals of thirty or more.