The Lowest of the Low

Not my photo.

It's amazing the depths of depravity man can sink to. And to what end? Greed? A lust for power?

I just finished watching a three part, Australian-produced documentary called, Go Back to Where You Came From. It's about the Australian government's inhumane policy of sending back boatloads of refugees from their shores to who-knows-where. These refugees who risked death on the high seas in a desperate attempt to flee for their lives were being turned away, good-bye. Good on you, Australia.

This documentary followed six ordinary Australians with different points of view on the policy as they experienced the very journey many of these refugees took as they fled their countries of origin because of war and/or persecution. The horrors they witnessed were staggering.

My rant is not only about the Australian government or some of the participants who shared their views, but the so-called "people" that caused these refugees to flee in the first place. They are the real animals here. They are the ones I refer to as being less than human in their treatment of others. The Australian government and a few of the people experiencing the refugees' plight can be characterized as selfish and less than empathetic in the kindest terms.

If you thought racism was bad in America, try Burma. The majority buddhists living there are systematically attacking and displacing the Muslim minority, Rohingya. The Rohingya are believed to be amongst the most persecuted groups in the world. They've been beaten and killed. Their homes and villages have been torched. Others have been relegated to living in tent cities that pretty much amount to vast open-air penitentiaries. One reporter wrote, "These aren’t refugee camps, they’re concentration camps."

This is one group of refugees the documentary had been focussing on. The other was a stateless Palestinian family fleeing persecution in Iraq. For some people, even if they're born in a certain country they have no rights to citizenship there. Even worse, they're under threat of beatings and kidnappings or worse. Like the Rohingya, they have no rights, cannot attend school or work.

It's unconscionable the sorts of things one human can do to another. That's the thing I don't understand. It's a vicious circle. It can start with a misunderstanding. One group feels slighted and retaliates and things escalate. Soon it's all out war with one ethnic group or one so-called religious group against another. People are lost in anger and all common sense is abandoned. It's absolutely insane.