Friday 4 September 2015

I have a Sari .....



I have a Sari. It was given to me by the matriarch of the refugee family I work with. I love it. Its red with a green trim and is beautiful. I love it not because of the colours or how I look when I wear it,I love it because of everything it symbolises.

To me that Sari symbolises the unique and privileged relationship I have with an amazing refugee family from Bhutan. It symbolises the difference in cultures that I am witnessing. It symbolises generosity beyond measure. It symbolises hope against terrible odds.

This week the world has been rocked by terrible images of a dead little boy. A child fleeing terror in his homeland and his mother,despite not being able to swim,seeing NO other alternative but to get onto a small boat to seek safety in another land. There has been uproar and petitions and tears. Rightly so. What has happened to this little boy is despicable. It is inhumane.

What I find so frustrating it that is has taken this one terrible image to galvanise people into action. This baby died like millions before him. For many years people have fled terror. For many years the world has shut its eyes and turned its back. This little boy may not have died if there had been a safer way for him to reach a peaceful place. He may not have died if the media hadn't dehumanised asylum seekers. He may not have died if people had not bought into the mass hysteria of 'illegals' taking all of our jobs. He may not have died if we had mobilised and stood up to our government and made them take notice.

In Australia just last week the Victorian government tried to implement 'random visa checks'. Essentially stopping any one and checking visas. Who do you think they would target ? White Caucasian people like me? I have a visa. I most certainly do not carry it.  It is likely they would have targeted non Caucasians. Social media went wild. Within one hour hundreds of people mobilised to protest in the CBD. The government backed down. There will be no random visa checks.

In Australia our government proudly proclaims - 'we stopped the boats' . Nope-they just pushed terrified starving people back into international waters. They 'process' asylum seekers offshore in 'camps' no better than concentration camps.They tell them they will NEVER be re-settled in Australia and have attempted to send them to countries with questionable human rights records.

 Children are abused and women raped in Naru and on Christmas Island. Men die of preventable illnesses or are beaten to death. Human Rights lawyers fight tirelessly to offer the government an alternative. A cheaper sustainable way to take in refugees has been offered. Over 90 % of those desperate enough to arrive by boat are found to be in genuine need of asylum. They are not 'illegals'. It is not illegal to seek asylum. They are desperate ,afraid people.

There has been little social outcry. There has been little media coverage.

We have failed this little boy with our silence. We have failed him because we turned our back and refused to take action.

Two years ago I got tired of 'liking' Facebook pages and signing petitions about refugees. I felt a fraud. So I made it my business to do something about it. There are lots of options out there for those willing to look.

Get up and do something .People power changes lives.

My Sari symbolizes the day I decided to stop just 'saying' and actually began 'doing'.