Like what you've read?

On Line Opinion is the only Australian site where you get all sides of the story. We don't
charge, but we need your support. Here�s how you can help.

  • Advertise

    We have a monthly audience of 70,000 and advertising packages from $200 a month.

  • Volunteer

    We always need commissioning editors and sub-editors.

  • Contribute

    Got something to say? Submit an essay.


 The National Forum   Donate   Your Account   On Line Opinion   Forum   Blogs   Polling   About   
On Line Opinion logo ON LINE OPINION - Australia's e-journal of social and political debate

Subscribe!
Subscribe





On Line Opinion is a not-for-profit publication and relies on the generosity of its sponsors, editors and contributors. If you would like to help, contact us.
___________

Syndicate
RSS/XML


RSS 2.0

Australia's failure to show leadership regarding Rohingya refugees

By Alice Aslan - posted Thursday, 28 May 2015


Rohingya refugees are at the moment one of the most unwanted people in the world. First of all they are an unwanted Muslim minority, a "stateless people" denied citizenship in their own country Myanmar. So thousands of Rohingya Muslims have been recently fleeing on boats the brutal state repression and abject poverty

Although they have been stranded in their boats at sea, the neighboring countries in the region including Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia at the beginning refused to help the Rohingya. And Human Rights Watch condemned these countries for "playing a deadly game of human ping pong" for refusing to allow these boats to land on their shores.

But the good news is in a recent tweet, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said that they have to prevent loss of life, and has eventually ordered the navy and the coast guard to search for Rohingya refugees stranded at sea and to rescue them.

Advertisement

Also Malaysia and Indonesia agreed to provide temporary refuge to the Rohingya, and Thailand said it wouldn't turn away these refugees who wish to enter its waters and will provide them with humanitarian assistance.

Even Turkey, a Muslim country not in the region but which likes to play a leadership role within the Muslim world, has sent a ship from Turkish Armed Forces to join the efforts to rescue Rohingya Muslims, and has also pledged to donate $1 million to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to provide humanitarian aid for the Rohingya.

Every crisis creates an opportunity for leadership. And Australia, a so-called liberal democracy that values human rights, has failed not only to show compassion for the most vulnerable but also to play a leadership role in this crisis in the region.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott rejected with contempt to save and settle any of the thousands of Rohingya Muslims with a warning that "asylum seekers who take to boats must not be rewarded with a new life in a Western country".

And Abbott told reporters "Nope, nope, nope!" "We are not going to do anything that will encourage people to get on boats. If we do the slightest thing to encourage people to get on the boats, this problem will get worse, not better".

He highlighted that Australia's role should be to do everything possible to stop people smuggling and the best way to do this is to give asylum seekers the message that "if you get on a leaky boat, you aren't going to get what you want, which is a new life in a Western country".

Advertisement

As Clementine Ford points out "it was John Howard who cultivated Australia's cruelty towards asylum seekers, and it is he our current leaders are shamelessly trying to emulate".

And Ghassan Hage suggests that Australians' general outrage against the boat people stems from "the sensitivity of thieves" "linking the invasion and theft of Australian land from its traditional owners by white settlers 200 years ago with current attitudes to asylum".

Although Australia is a signatory to the United Nations Refugee Convention and takes in significant number of refugees every year to resettle, it has become a callous, narrow-minded nation with no leadership qualities with its unbending "turn back boats policy" in order to guard its borders from the so-called "invading hordes".

But the price to pay for such an attitude is to become a little, coward nation with no courage to show great compassion and to set an example as a leader.

  1. Pages:
  2. 1
  3. All


Discuss in our Forums

See what other readers are saying about this article!

Click here to read & post comments.

54 posts so far.

Share this:
reddit this reddit thisbookmark with del.icio.us Del.icio.usdigg thisseed newsvineSeed NewsvineStumbleUpon StumbleUponsubmit to propellerkwoff it

About the Author

Alice Aslan is an artist, thinker and activist passionate about arts, culture, ideas, justice and wildlife.

Other articles by this Author

All articles by Alice Aslan

Creative Commons LicenseThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

Photo of Alice Aslan
Article Tools
Comment 54 comments
Print Printable version
Subscribe Subscribe
Email Email a friend
Advertisement

About Us Search Discuss Feedback Legals Privacy