As Christians we should be concerned at the plight of the homeless, displaced, asylum seekers and refugees in the world. Does this mean we should all agree on the way we respond to the matter?
I took this photo recently. The camera was so focused on the flower that other than one leaf everything else is out of focus. This may be good if you want a picture of the flower, but it tells you nothing about it - where it is, what grows next to it, the time of day it was taken and so much more. There is a bigger picture.
I hear a lot about refugees, asylum seekers, illegal immigrants or whatever else you want to call them. But labels don't matter. They are after all human beings. The problem I have with all that is said and done about these human beings is that most of it is about a few people on Manus and Nauru and the inhumanity of the Australian Government. But, like the flower, there is a bigger picture.
Latest available figures from the UNHCR show there are 65.6 million forcibly displaced people around the world. Of these, 22.5 million are classified as refugees, more than half being children under the age of 18. A little over 89,300 of these were resettled in 2016. In that same year Australia's population was just over 24 million.
As I understand it most, if not all, those boat people who are now held on Manus or Nauru are recent refugees, fleeing from recent conflicts. They, their families or friends, have been able to raise the money to pay people smugglers and they come here demanding resettlement. They have a vocal support base only too ready to tell the media every atrocity committed against them.
According to Wikki there are something like 400,000 Karen people homeless, with 128,000 living in camps on the Thai-Burma border. These have little opportunity to earn anything, let alone save for a people smuggler.
Palestinians form the largest refugee group in the world. These people lost their homes and incomes with the establishment of the Jewish state in 1948. Many of the survivors continue to live in refugee camps with their children, grandchildren and later generations.
Australia has historically been one of the most generous hosts to resettled people on a per captia basis, a record we can be proud of. We are also the fastest growing nation in the developed world and that is stretching our resources if we are to believe some of the voices in the media of late.
So what is our response? Or, what should it be?
If we continue to resettle refugees who should get priority? Those from recent conflicts who have the means to pay people smugglers? Elderly Palestinians who because of their age would be unable to contribute to our economic growth? Poor Karens? Or should we give priority to those younger refugees who are in greater danger of harm? By this I mean those who live closer to conflict or in more hazardous situations than Manus or Nauru?
And what of those 'horror' stories from these near islands? Without all the facts it is hard to comment. However I find it difficult to believe they live in conditions that are anywhere near as difficult as Palestinians, Karens or many other refugees and asylum seekers around the world.
That I may not be as passionate about a particular group of people who tried to make the journey to Australia by boat does not mean I lack compassion. It may simply be that I see beyond the media hype, that I believe we need to have a limit, and that there are others who may be in greater need of assistance.
http://www.unhcr.org/en-au/figures-at-a-glance.html
