Refugees are people too!

First up I would like to state, as boldly as I can, that refugees – however they are portrayed – are actually PEOPLE. Never forget they are people, as I am a person; as are you, the reader. As people, individuals, we all suffer – physical and emotional pain, stress, anguish and anxiety and we all have a desire to be treated justly and without prejudice. This is as it should be and this has been recognised in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the United Nations in 1948. It is a noble document and Australia (rightly so) is a signatory to this Declaration.

When some people, citizens of Australia, and others, denigrate and demonise refugees as “boat people”, as “illegal immigrants”, as “queue jumpers” or as “criminals”, I wonder just how many of them have actually put themselves in the position of these “refugees” and have reflected on what they would do had they experienced a similar background of poverty, injustice and discrimination. And I wonder, also, how many Australians have actually read the Universal Declaration of Human Rights? Some Australians (the Federal Government included) in violation of the Declaration actually, do nothing to prevent prejudice and discrimination, not to say violence against these individuals, ignoring the fact that, for instance:-    

 Article 7 states that: 

All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protec­tion of the law. All are entitled to equal pro­tection against any discrimination in violation of this Declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination.

And Article 9 seeks to ensure that: 

No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.

And then Article 14 which rightfully proclaims: 
Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution.

By keeping the refugees/boat people/illegals - whatever - in detention for years Australia is, I believe, in breach of the very Declaration they signed and are hypocritical when they castigate others for not upholding the same Declaration.

And what about charity? This is a quality which is woven into the fabric of every culture and society.
In term of Christianity (and Australia is nominally a Christian country) charity implies love of one's fellow men (from the OED - Oxford English Dictionary). It means 'Love; kindness; natural affection; spontaneous goodness; a disposition to think favourably of others and to make allowances for their shortcomings; beneficence; liberality to or the provision for this in need or distress'.

Is this how we are treating these people who are desperate and in need of succour?

And there is the adverb 'charitable' which, again in Christian terms, means charity or the love of God and man; tender hearted; loving; benevolent; generous in giving to the poor.

Again I ask are we, as Australian, displaying these virtues and giving assistance to those who ask for our help?

There should be no need for a Universal Declaration of Human Rights. If we treat people the way we would like to be treated we are applying the universal principles, so powerfully declared. We don't do this because politicians, for political reasons, and a few mischievous individuals, for personal reason, use terms which portray these refugees as "different" - they are illegal immigrants; they are queue jumpers; they are disparaged as 'boat people' as if this is something to be despised. 

Once this term enters the public consciousness it is easy to assume that because they are considered "different" it doesn't matter if they are treated differently. This is "scapegoating". This is a dangerous step which leads to a slippery slope of persecution - and history has provided many unfortunate examples of what this means.

To avoid the accusation of breaching the spirit of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights all applications for refugee status should be considered carefully in the true spirit of the Declaration.

'Twas a famous victory!

December 31, 2018 - added: - Well it seems as if Assad has really won this time! But at what cost in human lives and materiel? With the Americans deciding to pull out of Syria and Iraq, this gives free reign to Assad's allies, Iran and and Russia. Good luck to the Kurds and any others in opposition to Assad, still in Syria! Assad will have a field day with any opposition still in the country.

If you thought his father, Hafez al-Assad was bad - who killed 20 000 opposition countrymen and women - I'm thinkin you ain't seen nothing yet! Son of Hafez, one Bashar al-Assad, has presided over at least 200 000 deaths, millions displaced and the cities and infrastructure destroyed. Now there is no one to stop him!

And in spite of various claims to the contrary, ISIS, that murderous fundamentalist Islamic group has not been defeated or destroyed. Weakened? Yes. Destroyed? No.

March, 15. 2018 - added:- According to the latest news with the assistance of both Russia and Iran the "rebels" who have been fighting to free Syria from the murderous regime or Bashar al-Assad have been all but driven out of Syria. Likewise the ISIS, at least what is left of them have also, more or less, been defeated. So, shortly, there will be proud proclamations that Syria is free!

The trouble will be rebuilding a shattered country. Aleppo - formerly a large thriving city - is now absolutely devastated. And there are many similar situations. And what about the people - homeless, injured, refugees in their own country?

This will be no "victory"; this will be an example of brute force applied indiscriminately to prove a point.

Sept, 15. 2017  - added:- According to the latest news what I have written below is coming to pass. The Russians are now in control of much of what was ISIS controlled Syria. So be it.

I wonder at the “victory” the Syrian President, Bashar al-Assad will inherit after his "civil war" is over. He will win but he does not have the ability to do it his own.

With Russian help he will win. But at what cost?

What I fear is that what was a country with an ancient history – stretching back thousands of years – I fear it will be in ruins. My concern is what will remain after the “victory”?

Cities devastated; infrastructure in ruins; half the population (about 12 million out of a total of about 24 million people) either dead, injured, displaced or homeless. For what? So Bashar al-Assad can claim “victory” and satisfy his ego and support the legacy of his megalomaniac father?

As my one loyal reader knows I like poetry. Now there is a poem by Robert Southey (1774-1843) called “After Blenheim”, which satirizes the concept of “victory”, which I believe is very appropriate in this situation. I won’t burden my reader with the whole poem – just the last three verses. They will give some idea of the gist:-

…..

‘They say it was a shocking sight

            After the field was won;

For many a thousand bodies here

            Lay rotting in the sun;

But things like that, you know, must be

After a famous victory.’

‘Great praise for the Duke of Marlboro’ won

            And our good Prince Eugene.’

“Why ‘twas a very wicked thing!”

            Said little Willelmine;

“Nay …. Nay … my little girl”, quoth he,

“It was a famous victory.”

‘And everybody praised the Duke

            Who this great fight did win.’

“But what good came of it at last?”

            Quoth little Peterkin:-

‘Why that I cannot tell,’ said he,

‘But ‘twas a famous victory.’

As always in war it is the innocent, the women and children, who suffer the most.

What a "famous victory" Bashar al-Assad will have won!

My thoughts on Injustice and fear.

Well! It has taken me quite a while to get this far in writing a new post! My “muse’ had temporarily abandoned me – I experienced what I assume is “writer block”. I know that my one loyal reader will have been very disappointed but during the last month or so I have tried to write about any number of topics but stopped after a few paragraphs.

I am not sure if it is age creeping up on me or the fact that it has taken me quite a while to adapt to retirement; to the fact that I had little regularity in my day to day activities; that I had to, as it were, entertain myself. Now I have never been frightened of being alone and I enjoy my own company – as long as I can read, listen to music and can, when so inclined, go out and re-join the world and engage with people. I – we all – need the company of others of our kind to keep our sense of identity and to maintain our humanity but I prefer to choose when I do so.

This talk of people brings up a topic which has always – since I was child – engendered a sense of outrage: injustice. Injustice leads on to fear and these two – fear and injustice - inevitably have corruption as a third “ingredient”. Whether corruption causes injustice and fear or whether fear causes the other two is immaterial. The result is suffering, human grief and pain (emotional and physical) and also, I might add, the same for other sentient beings that inhabit this planet with us.

It is the mental aspect of this suffering that concerns me more than anything else. I mean just imagine the suffering that refugees, the alleged “boat people” suffer, particularly females. They would have lived in a violent society – where ever their “home” may have been. Maybe I should use another word rather than “home” with its connotations of peace and respite – possibly this place should be referred to as “their place of birth”. Whatever, they have suffered and now have an earnest desire to move to a safer place, as would I if the situations were reversed.

I am outraged at the shrill calls for the “boats to be turned back” or for the conditions made so unpleasant – waiting their “turn” in the queue that these unfortunate people would be glad to return to their place of birth. This well documented tactic, to dehumanize prisoners (for that is effect what these refugees become) then blame the victims for their sorry condition is unworthy of a country like Australia. These tactics were used by the Nazis, by Stalinist Russia and are still used by the Chinese, North Koreans, the Americans (see Guantanamo Bay Prison) and I am sure there are others that I cannot recall at the moment.

For God’s sake Australia was founded upon the inhuman and degrading policy of transportation of prisoners from England! This current “victim blame” is abuse pure and simple. 

At the very least Australia is in breach of the Declaration of Human Rights (see the following Articles of the Declaration):

Article 9

No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.

Article 14

(1) Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution.

(2) This right may not be invoked in the case of prosecutions genuinely arising from non-political crimes or from acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.

These refugees having suffered sufficiently to force them to find a safe haven (Australia) then suffer a horrendous and dangerous journey only to be intercepted by Australian Customs or Border Patrol Authorities and then transported to either Christmas Island,  Manus Island or Narau for “processing”. This process can take years.

Such a process is not only degrading, it is unjust (see Declaration of Human Rights Articles above), it may cause fear and abuse of process – corruption.

Treat these unfortunate people as human being in distress and need of succour. There is no alternative to treating people the way you would like to be treated in similar circumstances.