it is always welcomed when one's words and/or deeds is positively endorsed
and reported on by others of the calibre of john falzon as it shows that
our
future is not all doom and gloom or we are not all dumb, drunk and racist,
to steal a name.
i have made comment on our first visit to the villawood asylum seeker
detention camp to 2 tamil brothers suffering indefinite detention on the
unknown analysis of our very own spooks, asio. they keep their reasoning's
to themselves so that one is unable to prove them wrong, an easy task i
would argue.
it is said, and it is a given, that patriotism is the last refuge for a
scoundrel and so it is with governments and their spooks. they hide behind
their worn and hoary call of national security as though that by the very
calling of it, it becomes somehow sacrosanct and unquestionable. what
rubbish! as has been said many times, if terrorists wished to come and do
damage to australia they would fly in in comfort. they most certainly
would
not risk their lives and mission by travelling on leaky boats and, should
they make it, then to be locked up possibly for years.
if adverse reports were being made against the tamil asylum seekers then
it
is obvious to me that that adverse report was coming from the sri lankan
government who probably have their own reasons for those who managed to
escape to be held until they can be returned for further punishment for
whatever reason. we know for a fact that both sides committed human rights
atrocities but only the tamils are paying for it. then again they could be
merely pawns of asio showing us how good they are at 'finding' security
problems. this country is an alleged democracy (it is not, it is an
elective
oligarchy) and we are always told that we live by the rule of law
including
human rights laws. this is not happening to and for asylum seekers due to
our racist and xenophobic governments. we still are ruled by a strong
whiff
of the white australia policy.
last sunday, along with other good friends, we visited the 8 afghani men
at
villawood in sections 2/3 rather than the more secure unit we attempted to
visit previously. having obtained my photo id i had no trouble obtaining
entry and after linking up with marlene we began being processed. marlene,
as she does, brought boxes of fruit, drinks and containers of prepared
food
and salads. as in the gaols everything needed to be put through the
security
scanning system and this security scanning was facilitated by those
visiting. the rollers quickly filled up and a female serco officer came to
make some room on the rollers.
on thinking about this further and discussing it with another visitor who
was present, i am firmly of the opinion that this serco officer
deliberately
and with malice aforethought targeted the food containers and very roughly
pushed them off the rollers and on to the floor. the salad container
remained in one piece but the large container containing a rice dish was
spilled on to the floor. nothing was done at the time as i think myself
and
another visitor were the only one's to see it and it would have proved
nothing. another female serco officer cleaned the mess up. after
processing
and several doors/gates we eventually made our way to the main visit area.
the time spent with the afghani men was at least worth the bother of
obtaining my id even though i still rail against its use as being merely a
tracking device for police and asio, among others. we talked and ate and
exchanged information on their life and our lives and many many everyday
human things. the young man i spent most time with told me that he was of
the hazara group and thus were discriminated against by the ruling elites.
during the time of the taliban his father, and i think another relative,
was
executed by the taliban for their advanced political views and he fled
afghanistan to europe and thence to canada and then to australia. he came
here because he believed australia was where he wanted to settle, work and
to raise a family. others had similar tales to tell but all were blocked
by
negative asio reports.
apparently they had been told that asio and our government had been
assured
by president kharsai that there was not going to be a problem with them
returning and like the cowards they are this very shaky assurance was
pounced upon by our racist federal government. the position of president
kharsai is as temporary as the return of the taliban when the current
foreign armed forces pull out in utter defeat, as did russia before them.
the taliban will then come to power once again and the plethora of human
rights abuses will occur once more as the world turns their violated eyes
onto other resources elsewhere.
prior to the time that we needed to leave there was a request that we
share
with them a prayer session, all complied of course. it was explained to us
non-muslim worshippers the significance of their prayers. i then requested
if i could address them and permission was given to do so. i began with
the
blessing of salaam al ekum to all present and went on to show that their
struggle for freedom and their recognised human rights matched that of the
traditional owners of the aboriginal lands as we also continued to
struggle
also for freedom and our human rights. i also stated that i had learnt
much
from our meetings on that day and that their right to fight was in my
heart
and in my mind but more importantly, they were always going to be on my
conscience until they were accepted as full australian citizens. i then
welcomed them onto the aboriginal lands. it was also explained that we
were
actively working to present to them the aboriginal passports.
it was indeed a damned good day and one i enjoyed immensely and look
forward
to my next visit.
fkj
GUEST EDITORIAL
Eureka Street
Aboriginal solidarity with refugees
John Falzon June 17, 2012
In May this year, Ray Jackson, President of the Indigenous Social Justice
Association, issued
passports on behalf of Australia's First Peoples to the two Tamil men
indefinitely detained at
Villawood Detention Centre. He said:
Locking people up doesn't solve any problems, it only causes harm. We have
seen that time and
time again with Indigenous people, and now the government is making the
same
mistake with
asylum seekers. This has to stop. The Australian Government must stop
imprisoning Indigenous
people, and they must stop imprisoning asylum seekers. I am proud to
welcome
people in need
into our community.
This week is Refugee Week. It's a good time to reflect on this powerful
coming-together of the
First Peoples and the people who have recently come to Australia seeking
refuge.
At the same time we are witnessing a mass campaign opposing the Stronger
Futures legislation.
The Australian Catholic Bishops and Religious, for example, stated:
Social inclusion does not result from intervention, imposition,
discrimination and exclusion. We
call for an urgent shift from punitive controls to measures that restore
community control, rebuild
Aboriginal initiative and capacity, improve living conditions and show
respect for Aboriginal
languages and culture.
This is a beautiful expression of solidarity that comes at a time when the
dominant discourse in
Australia is swift to blame the First Peoples for the exclusion to which
they have been subjected.
Lasting solutions can only come from the Excluded. As a member of the St
Vincent de Paul
Society from the NT told me: 'The Intervention will go down in history as
being as shameful for the
Australian Government as the Stolen Generations. No one was consulted. No
one was listened
to.'
The First Peoples have not been listened to. They have not been respected.
Many have been
forced to live like refugees in their own country: exiled, controlled,
humiliated and imprisoned.
As Walter Shaw, from the Tangentyere Council, put it so plainly, again
making the connection
between the ongoing reality of colonisation and our shameful abuse of the
rights of asylum
seekers:
Aboriginal people, above all else, need to be empowered to solve our own
problems, because
non-Aboriginal people keep coming up with the same 'solutions', and they
keep making it worse.
Australians don't like their nation painted as a war-torn country, or a
place ravaged by hunger or
disease. But that is what Central Australia - my country - has become.
People from some of the most disadvantaged nations on earth choose to jump
on a rusty old boat
and risk their lives over dangerous seas. They come with nothing more than
the shirt on their
back to seek asylum in a country they believe offers them the best shot at
a
way of life everyone
deserves - a life where basic human rights and dignity are respected.
These are the very same rights denied to my people.
The words that are being spoken by the people forced to the edges of
Australian society are born
from a strong and positive vision for Australia. They speak with authority
and their message
emerges from their collective wisdom and experience.
None of us can learn what is right if we fail to listen to what is wrong.
John FalzonDr John Falzon is an advocate with a deep interest in
philosophy,
society, politics and
poetry. He is the St Vincent de Paul Society National Council Chief
Executive and a member of
the Australian Social Inclusion Board.