Refugees, Asylum Seekers and "Illegals"-- What Would Jesus Do?

This week I've been experiencing a lot of anger at situations that just shouldn't be. Just as Jesus was angry at the premature death of his friend Lazarus and the grief his friends experienced as a result, I found myself feeling angry at the death of a little baby born with too many physical limitations to survive. Then as the political debate in our country turned once again to asylum seekers and which party can be meanest to people who have no votes, I found a seething anger boiling inside me. ...

It just seems to me that there is nobody in Canberra prepared to put behind them the populist policies of appearing tough on boat people and instead act with principle, compassion and integrity.

Why are we so afraid of asylum seekers?

Why do the media go into such a frenzy when a boatload of people turn up on our doorstep?

Why do we have to dehumanise these people by calling them "illegals" and "queue jumpers"?

Why does nobody question the term "people smuggler" which suggest people with truly evil intent smuggling unwilling captives into the country to be used as sex slaves?

Where are the Christians?

It seems to me that if I was living in a place like Afghanistan it would take a lot of fear to make me uproot my family to move to a strange country, making a hazardous journey in a barely sea worthy vessel, not knowing what welcome I might get at the end of the journey-- if I survived.

I was reading the parable of the Good Samaritan this morning and I was reminded again that if we are to love our neighbour according to God's holy command, then we have to love those who might be our enemies. That surely involves laying down some of "our rights" to protecting our own comfortable lifestyle.

Of course there are no votes in that idea. And since Christians these days are a fairly small minority in this country, and many of those just go along with the dominant culture rather than critiquing it, maybe we need to reframe the debate another way.

Here is some information from the Government's own web-site about refugees and asylum seekers:

Offshore resettlement

The offshore resettlement component comprises two categories of permanent visa. These are:

Refugee for people who are subject to persecution in their home country, who are typically outside their home country, and are in need of resettlement. The majority of applicants who are considered under this category are identified and referred by the UNHCR to Australia for resettlement. The Refugee category includes the Refugee, In-country Special Humanitarian, Emergency Rescue and Woman at Risk sub-classes.

Special Humanitarian Program (SHP) for people outside their home country who are subject to substantial discrimination amounting to gross violation of human rights in their home country. A proposer who is an Australian citizen, permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen, or an organisation that is based in Australia, must support applications for entry under the SHP.

Outcomes of 2008–09 program

In 2008–09 a total of 13 507 visas were granted, of which 11 010 visas were granted under the offshore component and 2497 visas were granted under the onshore component.

In the offshore visa component, grants to people from Africa comprised 33.24 per cent; grants to people from the Middle East and South West Asia comprised 33.46 per cent; and grants to people from Asia and the Pacific comprised 33.09 per cent. A small percentage of grants were also made to people from Europe and the Americas. See the tables below for further details on the 2008–09 program outcomes.
2009–10 program

In May 2008 the Government announced an increase in the Humanitarian Program to 13 750 places for 2009–10. This year, the Refugee category will be set at 6000 places and the remaining 7750 places will be made available under the SHP category and for onshore protection needs.

Statistics

The number of Protection visa applications received has been falling in recent years. In 2001-02 the figure was over 8400, while in 2004-05 the number of applications had fallen to around 3200.

According to this, in 2008-09 just 13,507 people came to Australia as refugees, and of those less than 2500 visas were given to people who came to the country without a visa, including boat people.

There is no flood of refugees.

There is no flood of boat people.

The media and the politicians are lying to us and that makes me cross.

But what makes me really angry is that both sides of politics are perpetuating the lies and making the mistreatment of vulnerable people into some kind of virtue that they hope might win them votes.

Where do christians stand on this? How do we follow the exhortation of Jesus "when you did this for the least of these, you did it for me?"

While I was researching this and trying to channel my anger into rational thoughts, I came across an organisation called "A Just Australia" which is calling for a principled approach to immigration policy and border security. I don't know who these people are and I'm not endorsing them at this stage, although I have signed up for their newsletter and I may pay the membership fee if they turn out to be decent people. Their supporters include christian groups, unions, doctors and many others.

Here is a part of what they stand for:

Our principles

Our values


A Just Australia believes that the following values should inform all policy decisions.

Respect: For each other, for human rights and the rule of law.

Compassion: Awareness of the suffering of others and wanting to do something about it.

Generosity: Giving your money, time or skills to those in need.

Integrity: Putting your values and principals in action.

Fair-go: Treating people equally regardless of background and being prepared to stand up when others don’t.

Our policy principles

We propose the following principles for good policy and practice towards asylum seekers.

1. Australia has a legal responsibility to regulate and decide the entry of people into Australia. This responsibility must be exercised in accordance with its other legal responsibilities and standards of fundamental decency, including its human rights obligations.

2. Australia will accord to refugees and asylum seekers all their rights and entitlements under relevant international laws, including under the Refugee Convention, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention Against Torture. People will not be subjected to mistreatment in order to deter others from seeking asylum in Australia

3. Refugees and asylum seekers who are intercepted on their way to Australia will be treated with respect for their dignity and not be subjected to physical violence or threats of physical violence. They will not be forcibly diverted to third countries. They will be brought to mainland Australia to have their claims processed in accordance with the law.

4. Refugees and asylum seekers will not be detained arbitrarily, and will not be detained indefinitely. Asylum seekers should only be detained for an initial health and security assessment period unless individually assessed, subject to judicial review, as requiring to be detained on grounds of public health, public safety or public security. Any immigration facility will reflect a humanitarian approach with genuine oversight by welfare and human rights bodies.

Children and their families will not be housed in detention centres.

5. Determinations will be fair. Decision-makers will receive better training, so that refugee status decisions are more fair and standardised. Asylum seekers will have the same rights to review of official decisions as any other person within Australia.

6. All refugees will be granted permanent protection. Proven refugees will be granted permanent protection, not left in a limbo of renewing temporary visas.

7. Removals will occur only in safety and dignity. Not all asylum seekers are entitled to refugee status. Those who do not gain refugee status will be assessed against other humanitarian and human rights criteria before removal. Assessments will be made of the circumstances of those who are not able to return safely, and determinations made on the basis of law, safety and common sense. Removees will have access to counselling services to assist in reintegration.

I'm not sure what I can do as an individual or what our church can do as a small group of people living in a relatively remote location far from the levers of power and the refugee populations.

Maybe we can write letters to our politicians and candidates and tell them that we don't like the mindless descent into brutality. Maybe we can find some advocacy groups and add our voices to theirs. I've heard of some country churches inviting refugee families and groups for a visit.

Somehow we have to try and encourage a level of decency in our national policies- and from their move onto a genuinely Christ-like process with real compassion and true respect.