Refugees: time for moral leadership from the Western democracies

Dear Sir,

Saturday 20th June was World Refugee Day. It was also two weeks on from one of the most powerful and controversial recent editorials in the BMJ, by David Berger and Kamran Abbasi, about Australia’s ‘push back the boats’ policy. Dispiritingly, since then the silence has been almost deafening, the indifference palpable.

The accompanying Editor’s Choice reported that British tourists in the Greek island of Kos complained that refugees fleeing Syria ruined their holidays, and wonders about ‘our’ compassion, (whilst arguably implying ‘their’ lack of it). So what has been the response of the more enlightened BMJ readership? ‘So what?’ sadly seems to sum it up. Only six on-line rapid responses, four of which are from Australians rightly strongly opposing their national government’s stance. Just two other contributions. Berger and Abbasi demand that politicians show ‘moral leadership’. Is there none from the wider medical community?

Perhaps it is in the detail of their opinion piece that we might take issue and not with their central message. They pejoratively state that ‘pretending nothing is happening does not make these problems go away. They only get worse and eventually blow up in violent and entirely predictable ways, as the deaths of millions during the second world war and subsequently attest’. They specifically referenced the ‘Voyage of the Damned’ when the St Louis ocean liner carrying 900 Jewish refugees was turned back from Cuba and the US and returned to Europe where a ‘large number were subsequently murdered in the Holocaust’.

But is it really valid or even appropriate to invoke a direct link between an appalling modern tragedy and the Holocaust? Surely the ethical arguments about the ‘push back the boats’ policy (which allegedly has even involved the Australian Government or its intermediaries paying people traffickers to ‘traffick’ their desperate human cargo somewhere, anywhere else!) stand or fall on their own merits without recourse to inappropriate and hyperbolic comparison to the systemic, state - sponsored murder of at least six million Jews?

I feel strongly that Berger & Abbasi do a disservice by undermining their case with such a blatent example of the 'Law of Nazi Analogies’, which asserts that whoever first mentions the Nazis has automatically lost the debate, regardless of the issue under discussion.

Basil Fawlty mentioned the war and thought he got away with it - we laughed because clearly he didn’t, and nor did Berger & Abbasi. Reductio ad absurdum oftens makes for a poor argument. ‘Reductio ad Hitlerum’ forfeits the argument completely.

But I could not agree more with their central point which is shown to be so callously true: that the health and welfare of refugees is a test of the humanity which all of us are failing. And desperate people are dying.

Bruce Sizer
Consultant in Clinical Oncology
Colchester General Hospital & Honorary Professor, University Of Essex

Australia is better than this
It seems that Australia is at a crossroads. Human rights are under daily attack. The Federal Government is portraying asylum seekers as cheats, illegals, queue jumpers and trying to get through the ‘back door’. There is no queue. There is no back door. Language is powerful and these labels will strongly (adversely) influence the Australian public. This no doubt is the Government’s intention. People who support the human rights of asylums seekers are also under attack. Doctors who speak up about the adverse effects of detention will soon be threatened with prison terms, posing moral and ethical dilemmas for the medical profession. Mr Peter Dutton, the Federal Immigration Minister, is currently accusing Professor Gillian Triggs, President of the Australian Human Rights Commission, of using her office for political advocacy (1). Professor Triggs is a voice crying in the wilderness, alerting us to how basic human rights are being threatened by the sitting government. Her current criticism follows on from her criticism in Feb 2015 when the federal government called for her resignation over ‘The Forgotten Children’ report in which she called into question the policy of mandatory detention of immigrant children (2). The report was supported by evidence that children living in detention are at high risk of developing emotional and developmental disorders. What is happening to Australia? It is the only country in the world that detains unlawful citizens, including children. Australia is signatory to the UN Convention on Refugees and yet chooses to ignore its articles. Have we lost our moral compass? It is worth repeating what Professor Triggs says in the Forward to her report:
“It is imperative that Australian governments never again use the lives of children to achieve political or strategic advantage. The aims of stopping people smugglers and deaths at sea do not justify the cruel and illegal means adopted. Australia is better than this (2).”

1 Peter Dutton says Gillian Triggs should consider resigning as human rights chief http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/jun/07/peter-dutton-says-... (Accessed 10th June 2015)
2 ‘The Forgotten Children’ https://www.humanrights.gov.au/our-work/asylum-seekers-and-refugees/publ... (Accessed 10th June 2015)

Thank you to the authors for this absolutely outstanding appraisal of the current dismal situation .

The call to action in this space can not be loud enough.

History most certainly tells us so.

Having worked in immigration detention in Australia I can attest that it is not only compatible with the role of a doctor to advocate strongly and take meaningful action to remedy this situation, it is indeed an obligation.

I urge readers not to stand on what is easily foreseeable as the wrong side of history.

Silence of bigger nations a shame

THE better angel of our natures — of less than wealthy Indonesian fishermen rescuing desperate, stranded and suffering boat-borne migrants perilously adrift on wooden fishing boats — should shame this prosperous nation (Australia) with its callous heart, writ large in our “push back the boats” approach to asylum seekers at sea off our northwestern coast.

Indonesia and Malaysia have just announced the provision of assistance to 7,000 desperately stranded migrants. The offer to provide temporary shelter prior to resettlement and repatriation needs to be more inclusive, including resettlement to advanced economies, such as Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom. The silence of the latter nations in this humanitarian crisis, who have yet to offer substantial assistance, is shameful and to be condemned.

Malaysia and Indonesia have rightly emphasised that the international community has a responsibility to help them deal with the crisis. That regional governments and commercial shipping companies have agreed to help pinpoint the locations of migrant boats and provide them directions to landing points in Malaysia and Indonesia, or rescue them if necessary, has been lauded by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees as being vital for saving lives.

We, in Australia, have a lot to learn from Indonesia and Malaysia’s agreement to rescue and care for stranded migrants. Not only has this clarion call not been sounded in Australia, but our already errant moral compass has been cast further adrift with reduced financial assistance to Indonesia, incited by strained diplomatic relations from Australia’s “push back the boats” policy and this nation’s moral objections to the execution of two citizens on drug charges in Indonesia.

Both sides of politics encourage voters to be motivated by self-interest rather than any meaningful engagement with the social conscience that should shape his response to the welfare of imperilled human beings. There is no room in that ambition for a humane and moral approach to lost souls at sea and the world at large. Duelling politicians tell us what they think we want to hear and tempt us with what we desire.

If only the Australian public were made aware of altruism and charity being the wellspring of lasting happiness, we might feel better for looking beyond ourselves and attending to the plight of others.