2015-09-21
In the world's response to the Syrian refugee crisis we are seeing the best and worst of humanity. Turkey is hosting half of the 4 million Syrians who have fled the civil war. Hundreds of thousands are going further afield. Australia has agreed to accept 12 000 additional Syrian refugees, which is a good thing, although sadly inadequate. As German Chancellor Angela Merkel says:
The fundamental right to asylum for the politically persecuted knows no upper limit; that also goes for refugees who come to us from the hell of a civil war.
Much of the public discourse over the last decade in Australia has been aimed at conditioning us to think of refugees as burdens. We applaud ourselves for the money we spend on refugees and asylum seekers, yet there are so many falling through the gaps without access to basic living necessities. The vicious irony is that, as we worry about resourcing services, we spend billions on offshore detention centres and a farcical Border Force.
Refugees and asylum seekers are often traumatised people who need a lot of help when they first arrive, but they also provide enormous benefits to the places that give them a home. This is no more evident than in Victoria, which has developed a strong, resilient branch of multiculturalism found in very few other places. We can fully welcome refugees, and we should. We are strong enough.