World War II resonance to 'stop the boats'

Tony Abbott - his plan to
 "stop the boats" resonates with
 WWII Japanese behaviour.

Beneath the Wisteria supporter/convenor, John Pettigrew, has personal knowledge of how the Japanese attempted to “stop the boats” during World War II and says it has a resonance with what Tony Abbott is now proposing.
John has written a Letter to the Editor about that plan suggesting it echoes what happened during the Second World War.

Abbotts hired vigilantes.

Tony Abbott has announced a $20 million program with the International Organisation for Migration, part of which is to enlist Indonesian villages as paid vigilantes to disrupt the transit of refugees.

This program mirrors tactics used by the Japanese during WWII to capture and execute escaping Australian POW’s in the jungles of Malaya and Burma, using local Malays and Burmese as paid informants.

Our POW’s only crime was to attempt escaping death camps, enforced death marches or the work parties of the infamous Burma railway and were at the mercy of locals and these tactics.

Returning POW’s often spoke little of their experiences, but this issue was spoken of, and with bitterness and lasting resentment by my father and his POW friends.

I hate to think that we as a nation need to resort to similar tactics against those less fortunate than ourselves fleeing who knows what atrocities.

 John Pettigrew