This obsession the refugee movement has with shoving UN reports and foreign newspaper editorials down everyones throats is pretty bizarre. Its not as though those in the community who are hostile to refugees and the perceived threat to their way of life are just going to be like Oh wow UN bureaucrats think we should do something different? Lets do it!. Plenty of people will disagree with this but I would say to them - look at the past 15 years. Refugee policies of all parties have shifted to the right, conditions for refugees have gotten worse and the descent is accelerating. If you wont change tactics now then when will you? Extract above is from my friend Osmans post. As someone who has heard my own mother express resentment towards boat people, Osman is spot on. To most people in the community, the issue of asylum seekers is not about international law or human rights - unless youve been to uni and done an arts degree or volunteered at the veggie co-op, international law is pretty much like #McCafe, people like the idea of it but theyre certainly not going to let it get in the way of what they really want. Serving up this argument time and time again is preaching to the converted and alienating people who dont eat #kale. I dont know what the real reasons are behind peoples hostility towards asylum seekers, but (from speaking with family members) I suspect that asylum seekers are stigmatised and feared for the same reason that motivates a minority in the community to feel compassion for them - because they come from troubled, often violent and lawless places. For the very reason some people see them as victims, others see them as a threat to our way of life and our standard of living. A bit like parents telling their children to stay away from another kid in the playground because theyre known to be from a rough family. Whatever it is, to most people it has nothing to do with international law.
Posted on: Tue, 08 Jul 2014 12:51:05 +0000
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