IF AFGHAN asylum seekers trying to get into Australia by boat are "queue jumpers", as talkback callers insist, where's the queue?

There isn't one. Instead, there's a bureaucratic maze that prompts some to use the dubious services of people smugglers.

There are only two Australian diplomats in the Afghan capital, Kabul, staffing an embassy that exists in name only, and they can't process visa applications.

So Afghans must apply at the Australian high commission in Islamabad, Pakistan, which is home to 2.1 million Afghan refugees.

But if they have a close relative in Australia who could sponsor them to come here, their application must be lodged in Melbourne  and then processed in Dubai. This is because the Islamabad high commission doesn't process partner and family migration applications from Afghans. This includes people seeking refugee and humanitarian visas.