I live in a fairly comfortable world. I don't mean it is perfect - just that it's mainly predictable. So it has been a bit of a surprise to me to meet new friends whose lives to date have been decidedly uncomfortable and unpredictable.
I have got to know several families who have settled in Lismore having previously lived in places like Congo, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, and Sudan. Many of these friends always call me 'pastor'. When I say to just call me Ian, they respond by saying "Yes, pastor"; so I guess that means I'll keep being called 'pastor', or 'past' for short. (Good aussie habit that one - making every word shorter).
My dear friends have experienced not only extreme hardship, but some have lived through what can only be described as atrocities. How and why that can happen in this world is simply beyond me. Jesus wept; and I do too. I keep thinking about how Jesus taught his disciples to pray 'Ýour kingdom come' - that is one valuable prayer in my book. I grew up praying that prayer, but I think I used to mean something different to what I do now.
So, my friends must have been able to join "the queue" ie the orderly organisation of people to have a fair chance of escaping from places of torture, violence, war and persecution. Supposedly there is this well ordered system for ensuring fairness, the sort of 'fair go' fairness that we aussies are used to. After all, if there are 'queue jumpers', surely there must be a queue.
Like U2 sang in 1987, it seems that most people who have looked for the queue: 'still haven't found what they're looking for'.
My friends each left their homes, undertook dangerous travel through neighbouring equally unstable countries, sought asylum, and ended up in places like the Kakuma United Nations refugee camp. Kakuma hasn't got quite enough of anything; except there is plenty of crime and criminals. As a temporary city in an inhospitable place, it has a population that can vary between 45,000 and 90,000 people ie somewhere between the population of Lismore and Toowoomba in size, but nothing like either of these cities in nature.
By some miracle these few friends were able to find and complete form 842; - you know the pdf file that anyone can download and print off from the Australian Dept of Immigration website. It is the form that is only 33 pages long, and asks more questions (in English) than the worst centrelink form I've ever seen.
One friend told me about seeing this form for the first time. I think he said something like "O Mon Dieu" - which I think is a french expression which means something like: "My goodness that looks like a big and complicated form". With a French - English dictionary he locked himself away from his family for 3 days trying to understand and complete the form, not knowing whether he had really understood any of the questions correctly.
My friends also figured out how to contact Sanctuary Northern Rivers in the north eastern corner of a place called "NSW Australia". I wonder what it is like to live in Lismore. I wonder if it is safe. I wonder if good people live there. My friends asked Sanctuary if they would support them by completing the accompanying form 681 to sponsor their application for a 202 visa.
I now know that it truly is a miracle of the first order, that any Refugees at all find their way to Australia using this system, and I also think this might be what some people refer to as "the queue". But it sounds more like a barely open door with a vast crowd standing round it, than a queue. Every now and then if a person is just the right shape and size they can barely squeeze through it in the fraction of time it is open.
Apparently, after the second world war, Australia enthusiastically endorsed the need for a worldwide agreement on helping asylum seekers. There were so many people escaping violence both during (and after) the war, and unfortunately countries were protecting their borders, leaving people who were escaping completely stuck and vulnerable. Many suffered horrific consequences at the hands of those who were pursuing them; much like is still happening in many places in the world today.
So Australia (along with loads of other nations) said: "This is not good enough"; and thus ever since, we have unreservedly said that every person has the right to seek asylum, and apply for refugee status.
What a brilliant Australia has been created by the acceptance of refugees, and other diverse and amazing people since then!
I am not sure what has happened in the last few years, but I am puzzled about what has changed. I am fairly sure Australia is still a signatory to the same agreement that has existed since World War II. But by the way we treat people who arrive unexpectedly, it seems that we are doing our absolute darndest to avoid any of the obligations that we insist that we have agreed to. Maybe just a few more people need to say again: "This is not good enough".
Today I think I'll pray for God's Kingdom to come - as I have done many times before.
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Further Resources
The Dept of Immigration forms are here if you want to have a look at how easy they are to complete.
http://www.immi.gov.au/visas/humanitarian/offshore/202/how-to-apply.htm
Sanctuary Northern Rivers
http://www.sanctuary.asn.au/
Sanctuary Northern Rivers facebook page
https://www.facebook.com/sanctuarynr
Aussie Refugee Stats and Information
http://refugeefacts.cpd.org.au/
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
http://www.unrefugees.org.au/
