*After writing an email to MP Peter Dutton that went unanswered*
Dear Mr Dutton,
Where is your humanity? Where is your heart? Where is your sense of decency?
How can you stand in front of our Nation and say the things you say, and enforce what you enforce? It is not up to you to play God, and that's exactly what you're doing. You say who dies and you say who lives. People who seek refuge in Australia do so because they are allowed to. They are not "illegals" and they do not take on the title of being a Refugee in a manner which is illegal. I'm sure you don't need a lecture about Australia's commitment to the Convention and Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees, the International Convent on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhumane or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT), and the Convention of the Rights of the Child (CRC), because no doubt both the Australian Human Rights Commission and the United Nations are breathing down your neck.
How is it that you get around the Convention and Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees obligation of non-refoulement (In case you have rocks for brains, that means that no refugee can be returned to their home nation by a state, where there is reasonable knowledge that that person will be subjected to torture or other circumstances which breach their human rights)? You ship them back off to other countries and leave them in detention centers indefinitely, that’s how. What you do has been found to be illegal...surprise surprise...and all it does is pass the buck to someone else who you have control and power over. We are a big country, we have the resources to help these people, and I'm sure if you stopped wasting tax payer’s money and took a pay cut, you might actually save a life instead of taking one.
In the past week, two people have lit themselves on fire. At what point do you think you would ever set yourself on fire...yes you? You probably couldn't even fathom doing that right? You and your government's so called 'border protection' policy makes examples of these vulnerable people. You push them to breaking point, making their lives worse than the conditions they were subjected to, and for what reason? To scare people from coming here! Exactly what are you protecting? Protecting Australia from a boat load of vulnerable, homeless, oppressed, sick, shattered, tortured and broken people? I'm more scared of the bogan 'Reclaim Australia' people who you seem to be supporting!
You seem to like telling stories in the media, so let me tell you a story...
"Australia was once a land of culture, prosperity, history and people who respect each other. One day, this all changed. War broke out, people were being slaughtered, resources were cut, there was no food, there was no water. You watched your best friend be shot in the back as they ran down the street. You work for a dime a day, and fear doing the wrong thing as your family will have no one if you are caught. You are starving, you have no one to turn to, and you hear of this land where you can LEGALLY travel to as a refugee. You hear that this great land is being run by a heartless and gutless man, but you try anyway. You try because your family has nothing, and the chances of living with you family is slim to none. You get on a boat, a plane or swim because you do it to protect your family, but when you get to this country, they look at you as if you are a criminal. They recite Australia's previous 'boarder protection' laws, and either put you and your family back on a boat and send you home again, or lock you into a third world facility where you're expected to live. You develop mental health issues yourself, but more importantly, your children develop serious mental health issues which impact on their development. So with the unlikely chance that you are given refuge in this country, you're left to battle with every tooth and nail to survive. This country once would have supported you and your family, but because of the way your country treated other people, there is no sympathy."
This sounds terrible right? Well it's reality and I hope for your sake and my sake that it never happens because as a Nation we look ridiculous. I wonder if you ever had a heart and a spine, or if you lost it when you collected your first fat pollie pay check? I want a response. An honest response. I don't want your secretaries generic copy and paste bull shit, I want an honest response from you as a man. Take off your politician hat and think about your morals, your values, and the important things that I hope your parents taught you as a young boy. I want to know what you are protecting and why you think your policy complies with our international obligations. I want to know if you have ever left your office and spoken to someone who is a refugee, and how you get up and look at yourself in the mirror each morning knowing that you're killing people.
I look forward to your response.
SINCE SENDING THIS LETTER TO MR. DUTON:
Yet again this week, you have made a fool of yourself. I agree with other Australians in saying that your comments are undoubtedly un-Australian when you referred to illiterate refugees. You do realise that there is a program in place to assist in educating refugees and teaching them English yeah? You seem so terrified that they will take out jobs, but you forget who built this country. Who was it to built critical infrastructure in Australia such as the Snowy Mountains Hydro Scheme? If you don’t know I suggest you take a history lesson. Maybe a refugee will come take your job one day, at least they will have an understanding of the people they are meant to be helping.
Yours sincerely,
Ash.
FOR ANYONE ELSE WHO READS THIS: I will get called a ‘leftie’ for writing this, un-Australian for not thinking of our own first, and a traitor for letting ‘terrorists’ into our country. If you disagree with me that’s fine, write your own letter, but base it on facts, not media articles that are designed to portray people in a certain way. Before you jump on the terrorist bandwagon I challenge you to think; What makes you think that a refugee is anymore a terrorist than your next door neighbor?
