By Syed Atiq ul Hassan, Editor-in-Chief — The government ministers and few backbenchers want priorities to be given to Syrian Christian asylum seekers. Mr. Malcolm Turnbull, the federal minister for communication, has, categorically, argued for accepting Syrian Christians, and Foreign Minister Julie Bishop further added Yazidis community. Even one backbencher said in the media that no more Muslim men in Australia. Are these ministers and parliamentarians delivering a positive image to the people around the world who are watching the terrible images of dislocated people from Syria? Are these horrified people fleeing their home being counted as how many Muslims and Christians there are? Have the people talked about the religion of a boy found dead on the seashore.
The Senate Leader Eric Abetz referred Syrian Christians as the most persecuted group in the world this means that Mr. Abetz either does not know or he does not care about the victims of Palestine. And what about refugees in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Kurdistan, Kashmir and so on, when dislocated people victims of war and terrorism sell their belongings and travel by boats to Australia and looking shelters to survive in Australia we turn them back or put them in camps.
At this time, the international community expects from Australia to contribute in bearing the burden of refugees who are fleeing from Syria to find a safe place for their survival and they are just refugees not Christians, Muslims, Yazidis or Kurds.
If the Australian government talks about priorities on the basis of religion especially Syrian Christians then would the Australian government be building the Australian image internationally in supporting refugees or creating another issue and providing reasons to the terrorist organisations like Daesh to justify their hatred against Western Countries.
The terrorists don’t discriminate people when they blast bombs on public places and murder people, and the victims are just victims they may belong to any religion or no religion.
The government ministers arguing for Syrian Christian asylum seekers do have logical reason of being targeted by the terrorists but the fact of the matter is that the terrorists of Daesh are not only targeting and killing Christians, they are against every citizen who don’t follow their concepts and beliefs, and they have killed more Muslims than any other people from any other faith.
On this issue, Labor has demonstrated a sensible character. The opposition leader Bill Shorten says that emphasizing Christian refugees is dangerous. He says that being a victim of war doesn’t know a particular religion. He further says that he is not interested if the refugees is a child drowning at sea or a woman, he is only interested in their safety. This is the most serious and fair attitude and the Australian government should deal with the refugees on the same lines.
