Do you think Australia should be granting a safe haven to more refugees?
That was the question posed to the panel on ABC’s Q&A on Monday night. And it sparked a moving plea for compassion from singer Missy Higgins.
Higgins told of how she was “devastated” by the 2015 photo of Aylan Kurdi – the little Syrian boy who washed up on a Turkish beach after his family’s boat capsized during one leg of their journey to a hopefully safe home in Canada.
The 34-year-old was inspired to write her song Oh Canada, explaining how deeply the story affected her.
Missy Higgins said the story of Aylan Kurdi hit her hard. Post continues.
“Like most people that saw that photo of this three-year-old boy washed up on a beach in Turkey, I was absolutely devastated.
“Because it put a human face to the crisis, and I think a lot of the time so many of us are so removed from it, especially with this rhetoric that comes out of the Government, calling these people criminals, calling them — even the word asylum seekers has a stigma now.”
The songwriter continued, saying that the way Australia treats refugees is “appalling”.
The Out Loud team explain what is happening in Syria right now. Post continues.
Top Comments
No.
no, what? You condone Australia's record on human rights?
I find our gulags abhorrent and I think Australia is lacking a moral compass. Peter Dutton should be jailed for his crimes against humanity and we should taking in all the refugees we can from the places we are helping bomb. Good on you, Missy Higgins. We need good Australian people to keep calling this out.
"Gulags"? I assume you mean detention centres, of which 17 have been emptied and closed down since Labor lost power. Don't worry, I'm sure that when Labor win the next election they'll be reopened and filled back up in no time.
Stop believing propaganda. There are still men locked up on Manus island and women and children on Nauru. And our gulags have been condemned by the UN, as the imprisonment of these people amounts to torture. We have broken international human rights law, with a case in the ICC right now, we are housing political prisoners, Dutton has broken existing Australian law in getting his measures past. And there are no plans to let these people settle anywhere, Australia or otherwise, even though NZ, for one, has offered to take them.
Also, not a Labor voter because of this.