Every time I hear “Silent Night” I think of her. The young girl I met a few months ago who was born in Syria and moved to Sydney two years ago.
She told me that it took her months to adjust to sleeping in this country. The silence kept her awake.
In Syria, she had become so accustomed to drifting off to sleep with the sound of a whirring war in the background, that silence was unnerving. She isn’t the only refugee on my mind this Christmas.
At this moment, it is estimated that there are 43 million refugees worldwide. That is two times the population of Australia, all of whom have nowhere safe to live.
We live in the only country in the world that keeps asylum-seekers in detention. We give them labels like “illegal” and “boat people” to dehumanise their plight. And despite a change of Prime Minister, who employs different language and has shifted the political energy, the policy of turning back the boats remains. We are still running a campaign in Indonesia that warns “No way: you will not make Australia home”.
Just last month the Treasurer and former Immigration minister Scott Morrison said, “We don’t just let them walk across the border and pitch a tent”. (I think the fact people aren’t walking across the border to Australia has less to do with policy and more to do with the fact we are an island.)
Only a few months ago, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said “Let me be absolutely clear, there will be no resettlement of the people on Manus Island and Nauru in Australia. I know that’s tough…you could say it’s a harsh policy…but it has worked”.
For who? Who is this policy meant to have worked for? The innocent human beings who fled their home countries and are now suffering from PTSD and have been re-traumatised during the process of detention? Those who are suffering with mental illness and self-harming? Those who have been sexually and/or physically assaulted? Surely, detention centres haven’t “worked” for displaced people who fled in search of hope and were met with absolute despair?
I won’t pretend to have the answer to one of the most complex issues our world currently faces. But I know history. And I know that there is a reason why we have told the same story every year for over two thousand years.
Watch the University of Western Sydney’s ad featuring Deng Thiak Adut, a refugee from war-torn Sudan:
I remember first learning the story in primary school from picture books, where all the characters were far whiter than they should have been. Mary, who was pregnant at the time, travelled with Joseph from Nazareth to Bethlehem. Once they got there, various innkeepers turned them away because they had no more room. Eventually, they found a stable and it was there that Jesus was born. King Herod then ordered the massacre of all boys less than two years old, so the family fled to Egypt and then later settled in Nazareth.
Most people know this story. Whether they believe it or not, it is a familiar tale. The story of people being displaced through no fault of their own and being turned away by innkeepers because they are “too full” has become awfully familiar in recent years. Even for those who aren’t religious. Who don’t believe in Jesus. Whether you are religious or not, Jesus’ birth can be about the crappy presents, the gorgeous trees, indulging in all manner of food and rituals that we associate with Christmas.
But can it also be about the story of a baby who was born into dire circumstances? About the mothers and fathers all over the world who, through no fault of their own, are on a journey to escape conflict? A time where we remember that all children, all human beings, deserve safety and hope? When we look at the houses adorned in fairy lights this Christmas, covered in out of place snow, with a red-suited old man half stuck in the chimney, can we take a moment to reflect?
Can we look at the little doll in the manger in the nativity scene and remember this. That there are millions of babies, children and adults in the world right now, with no home and no sense of safety.
And can we please do what we can to ensure Australia is the inn that is blessed enough to have them?
Top Comments
What always happens when the refugee issue comes up is we are accused of lack of compassion, but it's a very complicated issue. Do we have room to let everybody in? And remember that if we made it easy then lots more people would come, so that the ones who are trying now would only be the tip of the iceberg.
A lot of the refugees that are coming now are from a different culture and religion from most of us which can causes clashes, not to say that they can't bring positive things also but I live in an area where a huge amount of refugees have come and unfortunately we are now seeing arrests for terrorists in my area and increased gun violence. Naturally there are plenty of others living peaceably in my area also but the reality is it is scary knowing I am living amongst terrorists, this is something I couldn't have dreamed would have happened in my suburb twenty years ago. And this is caused because currently we are having a war without borders with "some" not all but "some" Muslims. Which of course means not all Muslims present a problem but it means that some do. So when you let in a lot if them some as it has turned out end up being terrorists. In fifty years time maybe these people won't present any problems, but if it was 1940 I would be hesitant to let Japanese people into our country because at that time a number of them wanted to kill us. However I would have absolutely no issue in allowing Japanese people into Australia now because they no longer pose any threat.
But there is also the issue that the refugees end up in certain areas of major cities, mostly sydney where I live, and it becomes very overcrowded, although that's immigration in general, but in my area we do have a lot of refugees, and we are starting to live on top of each other. So people like myself bear the brunt of the overcrowding because I can't afford to move somewhere else. There are culture clash issues too. For instance on Christmas Eve I couldn't sleep because a lot of Arabic people were having parties and throwing fire crackers (I'm pretty sure these are Christians by the way so this isn't a go at the Muslims as I doubt they would be celebrating Christmas), this made me a bit upset as it was hard to sleep and I was so tired today even though like many Aussies I really look forward to Christmas Day. And this is because there is a culture difference that my culture predominantly has a quiet Christmas Eve so that the kiddies can sleep, the women who have slaved all day cooking etc can get some much needed rest to have some energy to get up early the next day. But I think in their culture the big celebration is perhaps on Christmas Eve, so they are noisy when we are trying to sleep. It made me a bit depressed because I thought gee the one day I look forward to each year is ruined because I can't sleep in Christmas Eve anymore. Obviously if I came from their culture I would be doing the same thing, I am just pointing out that if I lived in an area that was more my own culture there wouldn't be these issues, of cultures not always understanding each other. On the other hand I am aware that every different culture brings some good things to Australia and I have friends from many different cultures, but sometimes I just get a bit weary of having to always adjust to other people's way. We also now have a religious tax on our food, being the halal tax, as it's not my belief I don't wish to contribute towards a belief that I don't agree with, but most foods are now halal. In Britain now they have been pressured to introduce sharia law, so sharia law now exists in some areas in Britain due to Islamic areas, some of it is very discriminatory towards women (such as women not being able to get full property rights etc if their husband divorces them), as a woman I find this deeply concerning whic is another reason I don't wish to contribute to halal as it goes to Islamic causes, schools mosques etc.
The other thing about the current refugees is that other Middle eastern countries aren't letting them in despite being much closer and of a much similar race/religion, why are the only people's expected to let them in are the predominantly Christian west?
And the last thing to remember is that Mary and Joseph were Jews, which most middle eastern people themselves would not want to give refuge to. If you told this story to the current, predominantly Muslim, refugees I doubt you would find too many of them keen to help Jewish refugees.
Also many Islamic countries are extremely oppressive when it comes to women's rights, I'm also concerned about letting ina lot of people who have been raised with an attitude that it is ok for women to be treated unequally and in many countries horribly oppressed, naturally I don't think everyone who comes from these cultures thinks that way, but many do otherwise they wouldn't have such oppressive laws in place, so people won't magically just reset a lifetime of sexist indoctrination by simply landing here. And I think this is where we need to be involved in re educating these people about what is the correct way to treat women.
I do understand on the other hand that these people are suffering, but it is a two way street if I see them fighting for women's rights in the Middle East then I will be more keen to embrace them here, but they can't expect me as a woman to fully embrace people who think it is ok for a man to have 4 wives, whilst a woman can be serverly punished for sleeping with more than one man, or she has to ask permission from her husband to leave the house etc etc.
"The other thing about the current refugees is that other Middle eastern countries aren't letting them in despite being much closer and of a much similar race/religion, why are the only people's expected to let them in are the predominantly Christian west?"
Exactly. The day their 'brothers' in Saudi Arabia do their bit, considering it's their own people affected, is the day I'll change my stance on the refugees. They're currently not taking them because they're a....wait for it.....SECURITY RISK and yet we, the west, are the only idiots dumb enough to be ignoring that risk and continue to take them. Nope, Saudi, UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, your turn is up!!
Historically, there were many Jewish communities in many Arab countries. None left now. Jews were persecuted, killed and ejected- effectively banned.