Asylum Seeking - a reasonable perspective

Asylum Seeking – A Reasonable Perspective

Our beloved recycled PM and the Leader of the Opposition are racing each other to the bottom of the barrel when it comes to policy on asylum seekers.

We will use the military, we will use the rule of law, and we will use anything we can find lying around except good old compassionate common sense.

Refugees and boat people

In writing this I must admit that I am not a fan of boat people, not because I am a racist, but because I work with those in the refugee camps who live in squalid conditions and who until recently had their places taken by boat people. Recent changes to the regulations means that the boat people have no advantage over those in refugee camps in that everyone has a number and you are processed once your number comes up.

However, unlike our detention centres, refugee camps have diseases such as malaria and TB raging through them. Health and dental checks are few and far between, malnutrition is not uncommon as is rape, and the spread of HIV. So to say the the new regulations will give no advantage to those arriving by boat is really not altogether true. They should be substantially better off in a detention centre than a refugee camps. (Oh and for the uninitiated, refugee camps have barbed wire and guards too!)

Recently the newspapers carried a story about a pack rape of a young man in an Australian detention centre. This incident is reprehensible and the culprits need to be brought to justice! Detainees need to be safe. You might see that behaviour in a refugee camp but it should never happen in a detention centre. Today one of our papers said our detention centres were Gulags, but please let me take you on a tour of a real refugee camp and then compare that to Manus Island and you will see that there is quite a difference.  In detention centres people should be secure, and they should be safe, and they should be well fed and they should be healthy and they should have access to health services counselling services and education. If you think a detention centre has a bad effect on children just visit a refugee camp. Detention centres are basic but they are a lot better than camps!

People complain about the time people spend in detention but there are good reasons, one they have to wait their turn (remember the refugees in the camps) and two people smugglers tell them to destroy their passports and other forms of ID and many of them do, so how is it that you can prove someone is the person they say they are; but a few years in a detention centre is much better than a few years in camp, and those who complain about the length of time taken to process asylum seekers should at the very least take these points into consideration.

Money talks loudly

So, let’s talk about money asylum seekers are paying $10,000 in gold to come across on a leaky boat, so where did that money come from. Yes some of them are dying in the process, but they are paying good money to have a chance to get to Australia! Their choice to get on a leaky boat should not be used as emotional blackmail in the political debate, any more than we should blame ourselves that a young person tragically dies when they drink drive, it was their choice!  Yes asylum seekers are desperate to get to Australia, but those they are seeking to replace in the immigration queue, (those who live in the camps) are even more desperate, they just do not have the funds with which they can try to change their circumstances.

People living in refugee camps are not allowed to work, not allowed to accumulate wealth whilst living in the camps they can be deported for doing so. So they cannot compete with those who are cash rich, who can afford boat passages, satellite phones and other such luxuries!  In one camp I was in just last week I was told that that people who have been on the waiting list 30 years or more are now being pushed down on the list by newly arrived cash rich refugees who are bribing authorities to put their names at the top of the list. Who speaks for those who are missing out, why it is that the presence of money is allowed to cause such injustice!

So I am not a fan of boat people, and my reasons are based on compassion not racism; however let us now turn our attention to the race to the bottom of the policy barrel.

Setting the attack dogs on them,

Even though asylum seekers arriving by boat are well funded and desperate to come to Australia are we going to set the attack dogs on them? Are we really going to get our Navy to act like a police force, or like bouncers at a disco to rid us of all the undesirables approaching the rim of our shores? Are we going to not allow every asylum seeker who comes by boat to settle here; if their lawyers find one exception you will soon have two then three and soon your policy is in tatters.

Despite the UNHCR having problems with the Rudd plan, which is a worry in itself, if PNG pull out of the deal, how many islands off the coast of Australia and in the Pacific are we going to fill with asylum seekers before we wake up to the fact that the policy is unsustainable?

Yes I believe detention centres maybe a necessary evil and they in themselves could be deterrent enough for people wanting to attempt the journey, especially if they understand that they will have to wait in a controlled environment much like a refugee camp, until they are processed and that processing times will be longer if they destroy their identity papers.

What about tweaking our aid program to try and make it more inviting for people to stay in their own countries. What about increasing our aid budget instead of the size of our navy?

And for those who are genuine asylum seekers who have proved their identity, waited their turn and ticked all the right boxes, and who fit into the annual refugee quota why don’t we find a place for them, after all we are the Lucky Country and we have enough to go around.

A Confusion of wrongs

A Confusion of Wrongs

The revelation in the US that three teenagers could be abducted and kept prisoner for 10 years is horrendous. What is more worrying is that they were kept captive within a short distance from where they were abducted!

The fact that these young women were systematically tortured and raped for that period is equally horrifying. According to police one man is the lead suspect and among other things he has been accused of is starving at least one of the girls and systematically punching her in the stomach to abort children that were conceived in this den of horrors. The prosecutors of the case say that they may seek the death penalty for the murder of the unborn children.

Here I am confused. The man who did these things needs to face a just penalty for his crimes, they are inexcusable! But how can a state legislature that allows abortion (which devalues the life of the child), try a man for a capital crime of murder (which values the life of the child and demands retribution for the life lost) for a crime that involves the death of an unborn child? 

By allowing the unborn to be killed in the womb by doctors you have to render the child to be a non person, something that has no value. Terminating the life of a child life then is removing something that is of no value and holds no moral guilt. The pro-abortion lobby have spent years pushing the point of view that a fetus is a collection of excess cells nothing more, so if you believe their argument, an abortion is about as morally wrong as clipping your toe nails.

If an unborn child has no value under the Ohio state law then how can a government seek the death penalty for killing an unborn child? The wrongness of what happened to these young women must be exposed and culprit(s) bought to justice. 

Perhaps one positive that night come out of it is that the horror of what happened to these girls might instill in the minds of many the horrors of abortion. Perhaps people will rethink the value of of the unborn and perhaps abortion laws will change because of it.

The Pope Has Resigned

The Pope has resigned.

On February 28, 2013 Joseph Ratzinger will cease to reign as Pope Benedict the 16th. He will be 85 years old and is the first Pope to resign in office since Pope Gregory the 12th in 1415.

Strange that the man seen by some as God's representative on Earth has resigned due to failing health. A courageous move that shows humility but to think that a Pope can and would resign is just a little mind blowing.

Once Benedict has left office the world's 1.2 billion Catholics will have to wait for the Catholic Cardinals to meet in Rome and for a new Pope to be elected from their midst, this process should be completed by Easter. So for the next few weeks at least we will be inundated with news stories about certain candidates, their pasts and policies and suitability. Already the jokes and jibes are beginning to flow and there is a lot more to come.

This is a serious time for Catholics and it should be serious time for Protestants as well.  The choice of a new Pope is as crucial as who wins the US Presidential elections. In politics it is not just America who has to live with the policies of Barack Obama the whole world is effected by the decisions he makes. If his policies drive down the US share market Western Europe, Japan, China, South Korea the Middle East, Australia, everyone else is effected because our economies all linked.That's why people who are not US citizens should pray when America goes to the polls! A bad US President is bad for everyone!

In the same way a new Pope can make a difference to the way the Catholic world relates to the Protestants. It is important that Protestants pray that the right man to become the leader of the Catholic world. The world needs a Pope who can lead the Catholic church in wisdom and righteousness, in truth and humility, in healing and honesty with respect and dignity. The world needs a Pope who reflects the character of Jesus.

Whilst Protestants do not recognize the Pope's infallibility or  his leadership over them we do recognize that a bad Pope could make a big difference to how the church works and functions together in communities all around the globe.

That's why now is a good time to pray for the Catholic church!

Buzz Off needs your help to save lives

Buzz Off Needs your help to save lives

Recently I had to write a report about Buzz Off our malaria initiative. For the last three years we have had an emphasis on Burma (Myanmar) and some of the stats are worth repeating because they are quite amazing.

Just in Burma in that last 3 years Buzz Off has:

• Distributed 21,151 LLIN mosquito nets (18,101 in IDP areas) that are protecting 63,753 people from malaria.
• Provided 21,110 Rapid Diagnostic Testing kits to clinics in IDP areas and other remote areas inside Burma.
• Treated 15,425 cases of malaria.
• Trained 395 attendees at malaria seminars held in greater Burma (Yangon, Mandalay, Lashio,Maubin, Hpa 'an, and Sittwe)
• Trained 122 primary health care workers in malaria awareness and treatment on the Thai / Burmese border.
• Trained 30 IDP medics in microscopy and maintained microscopes in 8 clinics
• Established 4 healthcare networks in the remote areas of greater Burma with another expected to be established this year. 
• Produced educational flip charts, and training resources in the Burmese language together with the establishment of a Burmese language malaria website with downloadable resources in the Burmese language. (www.myanmar.buzzoff.org - you will need Burmese font on your computer to be able to view it).

These stats speak for themselves and are an amazing accomplishment of which we can be justly proud. However, the outside funding for the program is over and we are now in a serious predicament where we have lost funding of $US115,000 a year yet the need we are trying to address in Burma alone are as bi as they have ever been.

In May this year the monsoons will start in South East Asia and with the increased rain mosquitoes will breed   and malaria outbreaks will increase and people will die if we cannot distribute mosquito nets into the impoverished areas of Burma where we have been working.

Last year in total Buzz Off gave away 14,280 LLIN mosquito nets. (These were given away in Thailand, Burma, Indonesia, Africa, PNG and Timor Leste). This year we are aiming at 20,000 mosquito nets. For budgeting purposes we cost each net at $10, last year the average net price was $7.74 per net which means that with the money we have left over from we just buy more nets.

Each family sized net we give away protects on average 3 people and saves at least one life.

We need to rise up an army of people who will donate nets to help us to save lives. Do you have 10 dollars to save a life? Can you raise enough for more than one net.

Please pray about joining the helping Buzz Off to save lives in Jesus name.

Donations to Buzz Off can be made here

https://australianmercy.org/giving/ (select Buzz Off donate a net from the menu)

Australian donations are tax deductible. US and Canadian donors should click on the flags to find out about tax deductibility in those countries.

Rape in India

The gang rape in India

The brutal gang rape and murder of a young woman in India has put rape and the abuse of women firmly on the front page and hopefully in India change will come, but how much change can we expect to see?

India is a nation whose cultural world view hold women in low esteem. Pandita Ramabai was the first and as far as I am aware the only female intellectual that India has produced whose specialty was what the Hindu writings and Scriptures say about women. Her passion and study led her to the conclusion that under Hinduism there was no hope for women. She converted from Hinduism to Christianity and became a social reformer who stood up for the the rights of women in the the Indian culture. She founded the Mukti mission and died a national heroine in 1922.

Ramabai in her book the High Caste Hindu Woman cites passages of the laws of Manu. The laws of Manu (according to about.com) "are traditionally accepted as one of the supplementary arms of the Vedas, Laws of Manu or Manava Dharma Shastra is one of the standard books in the Hindu canon, and a basic text for all gurus to base their teachings on."

Some of the laws quoted by Ramabai include the following;

213. It is the nature of women to seduce men in this (world); for that reason the wise are never unguarded in (the company of) females. (Laws of Manu Chapter 2)

154. Though destitute of virtue, or seeking pleasure (elsewhere), or devoid of good qualities, (yet) a husband must be constantly worshipped as a god by a faithful wife.  (Laws of Manu Chapter 5)

155. No sacrifice, no vow, no fast must be performed by women apart (from their husbands); if a wife obeys her husband, she will for that (reason alone) be exalted in heaven.  (Laws of Manu Chapter 5)

156. A faithful wife, who desires to dwell (after death) with her husband, must never do anything that might displease him who took her hand, whether he be alive or dead.  (Laws of Manu Chapter 5)

Hinduism sees women as being the property of men whom must be kept busy and subjected to the will of the man whether that be the father, brother, or husband.

148. In childhood a female must be subject to her father, in youth to her husband, when her lord is dead to her sons; a woman must never be independent.  (Laws of Manu Chapter 5)

So with a world view that is so anti-women can we really expect serious reform on issues such as rape? Remember it is in India that 25,000 women are burned every year and 5000 are killed because the bridal dowry is too low, it is in India that some men sell their wives into prostitution and the ease with which this can be done lies in the fact that India's dominant religion teaches that women are not worth all that much.

So a woman and her boyfriend get on a bus in India, they are hijacked she is gang raped for an hour and beaten and they are both thrown off the bus at high speed, the girl dies the men are caught and what do you think their excuse is? It was all her fault. 

This is despite reports that the bus driver allegedly confessed to police that "he tried to kill the young woman and her companion so they would be unable to identify their attackers."

Today the press is reporting that as the accused front court preceding s their lawyers are saying that it was the woman who was at fault it was the way that she was dressed that was the problem. This reasoning says that the woman provoked irresistible urges in the men that drove them into a frenzy that resulted in her continued rape and murder because she was not wearing a Sari. Therefore it was not the mans fault. The rapists are the real victims. After all she was a woman, and women are held in low esteem under Hindu teaching.

Two things here, one men are moral and can say no to their sexual urges, and, it is not the natural disposition of men to be rapists. No man whether he be Hindu, Moslem, Christian, Jew, Jane, Seik, Buddhist, Atheist or anything else can justify rape. Rape is an intentional aggressive action and for these guys to blame the victim holds up the Myth that somehow men cannot control themselves, and that a girl on a bus in a dress not a Sari put herself in serious danger by dressing the wrong way. This argument is rubbish! Real men control themselves. Real men respect women. Real men are not prone to rape if they see someone dressed differently. Real men are safe for women to be with in public and in private.

Men can control their urges. The world should be a safe place not matter how sexually frustrated a man is because men can control themselves and can say no to their libido if they want to.

All men struggle with lust at some point, a Bikini clad woman on a public beach may invoke some thoughts of sex, but what you do with those thoughts is the issue, mull them over and consider the possibilities and act on them, or do you refocus and get on with what you are doing?

If you are sitting in your living room and a voluptuous naked women with a drop dead sexy body walks in  is she going to get raped, are you going to sit there with your tongue hanging panting furiously or are you going to ask her to to put some clothes on? I mean really in the REAL world what would you do?

Men need to be real, yes we have strong libido but it can be controlled and its presence can not mean imminent danger for the nearest female.

So how much change can we expect in India in the way that women are treated? If there is going to be significant change then people are going to have to break a few of the laws of Manu in order to look at women with a whole new set of eyes.

The Indian rapists need to own up to what they did and India needs to do some soul searching and change the way it values their women!