Australia’s Treatment of Asylum Seekers - The Catholic Response. [cont.]

146 Children, 142 Women, 65 Men.

Positions taken by the Australian Government after their 2001 election campaign prevented any attempt being made to save the lives of these people after the sinking of the Siev X, in international waters off Christmas Island, in late October of that year.

Crossing the waters between Indonesia and Christmas Island in search of a better life is an action taken by asylum seekers despite its dangers. In recent years, our country has made it harder for these people to achieve happiness, and has denied people not reaching the Australian mainland the right to seek asylum.

Those asylum seekers who have reached Australian Territories have experienced public hostility and are treated like criminals. These people are locked up, and isolated. The situation inside Australia’s Detention Centres is miserable. With many experiencing psychological problems caused by the physical separation from the freedom they sought & the uncertainty of waiting for a decision on your future, your life in someone else’s hands.

For those eventually granted refugee status, life is often difficult, as there are limited support systems, and large cultural and language barriers which often need to be addressed. Failings in the government’s welfare system such as this pose difficulties to many migrants in their initial adjustment to Australia.

The Catholic Church teaches that asylum seekers deserve to be treated with respect and compassion. It works to assist refugees and migrants in the community and in detention centres and advocates the plights of refugees migrant and within the church and in the wider community.

The wellbeing of those in detention centres is of great to concern to the Catholic Church, the violation of human dignity and punishment of innocent people are seen as offences against God’s people. By keeping children in detention the church claims the government is denying them the right to proper development in an environment suitable to growth as human beings.

Various church groups make visits to detention centres providing the people in the centres with outside support and regular contact, something which can keep people going, and inspire hope in an otherwise devastated and hopeless view of Australia.

Migrant and Refugee Offices throughout the states, along with institutes and organisations like the St. Vincent de Paul society provide support to refugees and migrants by assisting them in easing the transition into Australian society.

The actions taken in response to the issue are based on the principles of love for one another, and the sanctity of human life. These principles, along with stories from the Old and New Testaments, form the basis of Catholic doctrine relating to migration and refugees.
The stories of the Good Samaritan, the crossing of the Red Sea, and Jesus’ commandment to love one another as I have loved you, convey a message of compassion towards everyone, especially those who are fleeing persecution, and in spite of religion or race, the 2nd Vatican council builds on this calling on Catholics to be a “neighbour” to immigrants.

Jesus was himself born away from his home and forced into exile, and when he returned to Israel, he spent much of his life moving through towns and villages relying on the hospitality of those he met on his way. The welcoming of strangers was a characteristic of the early church, which provided and relied on this hospitality.

The people our government has locked up are not terrorists or “queue jumpers” they are human beings searching for a way to lead a better life, and a happier future, we have a responsibility to protect their right to live the gift of life.

“I was a stranger and you made me welcome” Mt 25:35