By Fr Michael Hardie SVD

Co-ordinator for Justice, Peace and the Integrity of Creation

On the matter of providing safe harbour and unconditional welcome for refugees, migrants and the stranger, all four Evangelists agree: “Whoever receives such little ones in my name, receives me.” (Mk 9:37; Mt 18:5; Lk 9:48; Jn 13:20). The Synoptic Gospels also remind us of the woes that may befall any whose actions initiate war, destroy families and create refugees: “It would be better for them to have a great millstone tied around their necks and be drowned in the depths of the sea.” (Mk 9:42; Mt 18:6; Lk 17:2).

The use of ‘little ones’ as a category of persons helps us to understand that the refugee is someone who is often marginalised, often vulnerable, often powerless. The combination of all these factors means that they are always deserving of our compassion and concern.

World-wide, the number of displaced and stateless persons is increasing as conflicts escalate and war enacts its terrible toll. UNHCR figures (2016) reveal 65 million forcibly displaced, 22 million who are refugees, 10 million stateless and only 190,000 individuals successfully resettled. The suffering and loss of this group of people, each one deeply loved and valued by God, cannot be imagined. (See: http://www.unhcr.org/en-au/figures-at-a-glance.html )

Whereas Australia’s present population base has historically been built on immigration, with approximately 50% of today’s 24 million claiming one or both parents born overseas, Australia has also contributed to the suffering of asylum seekers and refugees who have arrived, distressed and unheralded, on its shores by boat. In a desperate attempt to limit arrivals into the country by this means, Government enacted repressive legislation whereby unscheduled arrivals could be incarcerated in places like Christmas Island for ‘offshore processing’ until their status as refugees could be determined.

However, when the numbers of arrivals by boat increased, more draconian measures were put into place. In August 2001, 433 refugees were rescued from sinking on the high seas by the m.v. Tampa. The Howard government sent the military to remove the refugees from the Tampa and dump them on Manus Island. Thus began our unhappy relationship with this otherwise beautiful island.

Australia’s policy of overseas proxy-detention on Manus and Nauru islands continued under the Rudd-Gillard-Abbott governments. The legacy of rioting, suffering, abuse and mental torture of refugees in those places is now well-known and documented. A class action, brought by refugees themselves on Manus against the present Australian Federal Government has recently succeeded in an out-of-court settlement (always advisable, as Jesus recommends in Lk 12:58).

The figure agreed upon by the minister for immigration, Peter Dutton, was 70 million dollars: a bargain, considering what it might have cost to pursue the matter with legal costs. The money will be divided amongst the refugees on a needs basis - but then what? one wonders. Although the refugees have scored an undeniable victory, the resolution of the Manus problem in no way mitigates Australia’s responsibility for the welfare of all refugees who have applied for harbour, nor does it exonerate the country from its obligations to the principles of restorative justice for each and every man, woman and child marginalised and traumatized by repressive legislation and its implementation by departmental bullies.

In fact, monetary compensation is a short-lived solution for this small group of people, and only serves to delay the real solution: the formulation of bi-partisan legislation that transcends successive governments, puts an end to treating refugees and asylum seekers as political footballs, and restores the international reputation of Australia as a signatory to the 1951 Refugees Convention and the 1967 protocol - both of which are currently in breach.

On the occasion of the annual World Day of Migrants and Refugees, Pope Francis in his address, “Child Migrants, the Vulnerable and the Voiceless,” has asked each one of us to help those who for various reasons have been forced to seek shelter far from their homelands and separated from their families. The Holy Father instructs us to go back to the beginnings when he says, “It is absolutely necessary to deal with the causes which trigger migrations in the countries of origin.”

So far, we have been able to deal only with the consequences of migration, and not the causes. The war in Syria and Iraq goes on, Africa still suffers from poverty, drought, civil war and religious conflicts, and the spectre of global warming looms over everything. It is not too late to make changes, but it will take a concerted effort on behalf of governments, agencies, NGOs and ordinary thinking people to face up to the responsibilities we have towards the Earth and each other - especially the most vulnerable.

To echo the closing statement of the Elders at the Uluru Convention, recently held in Alice Springs near the end of May this year, “Let us walk beside each other into a shared future.”

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PHOTO: Young Syrian refugees forced to flee their home because of war and violence (Shutterstock).