A story about a Middle Eastern family seeking refuge.

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.