This statement is developed from an e-mail sent to the Prime Minister earlier this month.
A STATEMENT ON ASYLUM SEEKERS
TO THE PRIME MINISTER AND THE AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT
Wes Campbell, November 2009
I offer these reflections as a way of gaining some clarity about our response to asylum seekers in the light of the Prime minister’s espoused source of inspiration from the German theologian and Pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer.
I am pressed to this piece of writing because the issue of refugees has reappeared, and along with it, harsh rhetoric by politicians from the Coalition (including those former Ministers Downer and Ruddock), responsible for Coalition policy and, regrettably, from Prime Minister of the Labor government, Kevin Rudd.
During the rule of the former Labor Government and the subsequent Howard Liberal Government I had the opportunity to meet many people who came seeking asylum. They sought to be accepted as refugees having fled their country at a time when refugees were often vilified and dealt harsh treatment by departmental officers. Some had arrived by ship or plane, and some by boat. Some had fled to avoid conscription into war, others had already been imprisoned, some left their families to make this journey, and others came with family members. It became clear to me – as one who has also spent time away from Australia as a foreign student – the decision to leave one’s family home and country is not an easy decision but is a major step, prompted by many factors including fear of persecution and death. When the Tampa incident took place, then the sinking of SIEV X, two things were alarming. One, the vilification of those who sailed in these boats and, two, the government’s rhetoric declaring that Australia was to be ‘flooded’ with such people, and this should be regarded as a threat to Australia’s security. It was rarely acknowledged that many of these people were fleeing war zones (as they are now), and often belonged to minorities within their countries. Certainly little acknowledgment was given to the way in which Australia has been enriched by people fleeing, such as Jewish people during World War II.
It is significant that the question of asylum seekers was a pressing issue in the 1930s, and when people fled Germany they had difficulty finding acceptance from other governments. The classic case is the ship which sailed around the Mediterranean, being refused entry. (see the account from a Socialist perspective; http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/art.php…)
In the light of the Prime Minister’s stated appreciation of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, it is worth exploring his attitude to the Jewish people. One might have expected that members of the Confessing Church, such as Karl Barth, would have raised their voices against the anti-Jewish policies, but they were largely silent. Dietrich Bonhoeffer was one of the few churchmen who protested. He was particularly critical of church movements which interested themselves in ecclesiastical and liturgical matters but failed to speak out in protest at the treatment of the Jewish people.
Certainly, it is not a simple matter in referring to Bonhoeffer and his attitudes in a situation different from our own. I make no appeal to the other over-simplistic and flawed approach: WWJD (what would Jesus do?), although there is certainly precedent for listening carefully to the ancient prophets who insisted on care and support for orphans, widows and aliens.
There will be those who use language which refers to ‘waiting lists’, jumping queues, economic migrants, and ‘illegals’. It will be rightly pointed out that there are many thousands of people who are displaced into camps, marshalling an argument which insists that such people should wait their turn. And there will be those who speak in alarmed tones of the ‘floods’ of people waiting to get into Australia. The Australian Government has the tak of ensuring that this discussion is not driven by fear or hysteria but is based in the socio-political realities of our region and the desperation of those who fear for their lives, taking the only option available – fleeing their home country.
Bonhoeffer did accept that the State should ensure good order. Such a State is therefore obliged to act justly.
What does Bonhoeffer’s view of the Jewish people have to say to us? The Jews were vilified, treated as financially rapacious and as a-group within the civilized society that could be legitimately placed in ghettos, treated as sub-human and murdered. Bonhoeffer knew that none of this is acceptable – not merely for theological reasons (they are the ‘chosen people’) but on grounds of sheer humanity, and in the name of justice.
In today’s world of war and displaced persons, I believe Bonhoeffer is a reminder that there is a costly task awaiting those who live in relative comfort; that is to welcome those in danger and in need. For those who claim to be Christian there is an extra level of interpretation – an understanding that in responding to those in need, we respond to Jesus Christ himself; or, more fundamentally, to God’s need.
In the case of people seeking asylum in Australia (whether by means of entry with adequate documentation, or those who risk sailing to our shores in small boats) we must – at the very least – provide them with the opportunity to put their claim for asylum, dealing with those claims as expeditiously as possible. We need to permit that process on Australian soil (not Indonesia, not Christmas Island, nor any other island). If that is done, we will be honoring our obligation to them as human beings, and as required by our international commitments.
I therefore encourage the Australian Government to remember the Australian experience of welcoming refugees, having received displaced peoples from many wars, including Jewish people who escaped the Nazi genocide, reminding our populace that Australia deals with but a small minority of the world’s displaced peoples. I therefore encourage the Australian Government, in the face of the deep-seated Australian fear of those who sail to our shores from the north, to make the case strongly for their welcome.
I appeal to the Australian Government to acknowledge the power a government has in shaping a national ‘narrative’, and to take seriously the role of government in shaping human society with justice. Contrary to the view that political courage is foolish or fool-hardy, I encourage the Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and to the Australian Government to take up this task.
Wes Campbell
11th November 2009