First it was a Chinese boat causing a stir. Now it's Afghan allies turning to us for safety.
About five Afghan interpreters working with Kiwi troops have approached Defence Minister Jonathan Coleman, fearing they'll be killed by the Taleban once our forces return to the homeland.
It is a fear completely warranted, and if Immigration Minister Nathan Guy ever learnt his Bible lessons about giving an eye for an eye, it is a deal that should go down fairly smoothly.
In retrospect however, you've got to wonder how well prepared any potential asylum seekers are for the sheer amount of idiotic bigotry they'll have to filter out of their every day activities if they do ever make it to our shores.
The moral panic over a boatload of Chinese asylum seekers who never even made it here gives an indication of how welcoming we can be to those not considered "real New Zealanders", whatever that may mean.
In a sparkling burst of insight, online commentator, "The Dude" asked his "Dear PM Key" the following, "Please show that we are not an easy target for this sort of thing and grow a pair. Tell these non-English speaking Chinese that our country already has enough uneducated poor people living on our benefit system. Tell them we won't let them come to NZ and pollute our country. We don't want them here!"
Not to be outdone in the delirious ranks, nzrlgraham claimed it was a "well known fact" the country has too many Chinese and in a piece of prose straight out of Stephen King stated "a precedent like this could haunt us forever".
Like a bunch of wussy 50s housewives with a spider on the floor, New Zealanders have leapt up on the proverbial chair, squealing warbled absurdities and demanding the appropriate ministerial services shoo the so-called imposters away until we don't have to look at them anymore.
The question behind the boggling attitude then is why? What is so wrong about these people who are biologically identical to us that we boo them away before they even have a chance?
These are not terrorists, drug-smugglers, or any other insidious label immediately linked with those of a different creed. These are people clever enough to escape their own impending demise in the hope they might find something better across the globe.
At the very least the most reasonable explanation I can cogitate for our ignorance is the name. Whoever thought it wise to associate a word also used to describe a dumping ground for the insane with people seeking safety was quite possibly under the influence of something they regretted in the morning.
One wonders if they were called something more whimsical they'd get a slightly friendlier reception. Unfortunate Nomads perhaps? Aid pursuers? Pilgrims of relief?
We have kept Fergal at No532. In fact, we're quite fond of him. When there's no one else home he squeaks to keep you company, pops out from behind the TV, wiggles his nose politely and disappears again.
We know he's there but he's harmless, and keeping him makes us feel good. Like we're doing a favour without even making any kind of active effort.
I can't help thinking that changing our attitude towards asylum seekers would be much the same. To do an entire group of people a life-changing favour, we don't need to do anything. In fact, without the media it is unlikely we would even notice their arrival.
You are not going to find an asylum seeker eating crackers out of your handbag, nor are you going to find them nimbly scaling your work pants in your wardrobe. You are most certainly not going to find the remains of their excrement in the gas heater. Literally speaking, these would-be refugees are more harmless than a mouse. So why the terror?
The government is never going to allow asylum seekers in to the point of takeover, neither are they going to let the masses alight when there is nowhere to put them and no resources to spare. Love it or hate it the powers of current government surely have enough collaborative mind power to figure out when enough is enough.
At the moment we could do a little more.
