This is the first time I have ever canvassed a politician about an issue that I feel strongly about, so I apologise in advance for my lack of form.
I am a 28 year old lawyer living in The Gap. For four months early this year, I spent time in Kenya, working with a legal NGO advocating for women’s rights. My time in Kenya opened my eyes to the universality of the human spirit, and ignited in me a passion for human rights.
The purpose of this email is to communicate my dismay that the situation aboard the Oceanic Viking continues after 19 days of these asylum seekers being detained. Whilst I understand that the issue surrounding refugees, asylum seekers, and other immigration issues are complex and diverse, I am disappointed that the human rights of these people are being abrogated whilst politicians dally in making a decision.
Perhaps I do not truly understand the implications of allowing these people to be ‘processed’ (and what a demoralising, dehumanising term that is) on Australian soil, but I cannot help but ask the question ‘what is the harm?’ Surely the inconvenience of having these people swiftly moved to a more suitable holding facility is vastly outweighed by their rights as human beings?
Article 14 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights declares that every person has the right to seek and enjoy in other countries freedom from persecution. Article 9 states that no one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile. These two pivotal rights afforded to all people are being blatantly disregarded as those of us who enjoy complete and utter freedom from persecution watch – some, like me, in disgust that we can allow people to be treated thus, and others who jealously ‘protect’ those freedoms, denying the humanity in those who seek a better future on our shores.
During my time in Kenya I learned about an African philosophy called ‘Ubuntu’. You may be familiar with it – it is a philosophy talked about by Nelson Mandela, but most famously espoused by Archbishop Desmond Tutu. He describes it thus:
“Ubuntu is the essence of being human. It speaks of the fact that my humanity is
caught up and is inextricably bound up in yours. I am human because I belong. It
speaks about wholeness, it speaks about compassion. A person with Ubuntu is open
and available to others, affirming of others, does not feel threatened that
others are able and good, for he or she has a proper self-assurance that comes
from knowing that he or she belongs in a greater whole and is diminished when
others are humiliated or diminished, when others are tortured or oppressed,
diminished when others are treated as if they were less than who they are. The
quality of Ubuntu gives people resilience, enabling them to survive and emerge
still human despite all efforts to dehumanize them.” (Tutu, Desmond
(1999). No Future Without Forgiveness. ISBN 0-385-49690-7.)
Perhaps these people are not genuine asylum seekers, and perhaps they do not deserve admission to our beloved country, but they do deserve every human right that you and I are entitled to. They certainly do not deserve to have their human rights extinguished.
Mr Johnson, I urge you to take a stand on this issue in the spirit of Ubuntu. Denying the human rights of our brothers and sisters upon the Oceanic Viking not only communicates our selfish disloyalty to their humanity, but it dehumanises us as well.
Humbly yours,
Litte Miss Random
No comments:
Post a Comment