“Another boat with Refugees found capsized, 55 dead, many of them small children”. (News Headlines)
As I walked on one of the treadmills at my local gym today, focusing on my own body – how it felt, how I was breathing, making sure I was connected to myself – I had quite a realisation.
I have observed that there is a lot of fuss about refugees at the moment – in the media, on political agendas, basically everywhere you look. No big realisation perhaps, but this realisation came when I pondered upon the reception they are given; how we actually meet them?
There is this huge ‘problem’ (as some people are putting it) called refugees. We call them a problem before we even meet them. They flee from war, famine and many other forms of abuse. Many are already broken, sick, injured, or all of these. Many have been abused before, during and even after their plight: some raped and beaten, some have seen loved ones murdered, or drowned, and they have risked their lives (some many times over) to escape their tortured existence. They arrive most often in the West and are invariably subjected to hate, discrimination and further ‘mental’ torture when they are already in a state of total desperation.
It’s as though they are not humans, they are something else – a burden on us, a nuisance, a plague of unwanted debris – and not our responsibility. And we are told by politicians and other authorities that they come here and cause problems, they have no money so we have to support them, they are lazy, they are criminals, all tarred with the same brush; we are even told that many of them are supposedly ‘undercover terrorists’ that will try to kill us in the years to come.
And this is not a question of politics, e.g. of political parties saying “Yes” to 5000 more refugees when they know there is an election on the horizon, or saying “No” to the same question to catch the other end of the vote.
On considering this further I wondered – have we forgotten that we are all the same? And that despite our circumstance, no one person is better than another.
And I also wondered why we feel this way about refugees … particularly as not too many generations ago many of our families were refugees in one form or another.
We do not own this planet, though many think they do. We are all one global community so anything that happens on this planet is for us all to consider. We are all custodians of this planet – and this crisis of refugees is on our watch.
What if rather than the question “What should we do with them?” or “How can we send them back?” we might consider –
“What is truly going on here that in our so called modern age (with all the technology and infrastructure that we have) we have ‘refugees’?”
Surely with all the technological advances etc., human atrocities like refugees should be long since extinct?
How then can we work together as a global community to reframe this issue – more so as to offer the true support that is needed? And why is it that this problem is worsening by the day and yet many of us are watching as bystanders? Or seeing the harrowing pictures on the news yet are not feeling to speak up or act in some way?
I’m not raising this here so that we necessarily each drive down to our nearest port and collect and house every refugee (though that is an option), but so that we take a step back and look more deeply at what is going on. And if we do take a step back and ponder, we may just realise there are many ways to help; individually, as groups, organisations and governments, and that even the smallest things can move mountains as our collective creativity knows no bounds when we open up our hearts to these societal atrocities.
If we treated this as a community issue and worked on this together we might consider many options – it could be just by making one meal for one refugee or it could be taking a family into your home and treating them as your own family (as here on earth in truth we are just one big family). Or people of great wealth, companies, institutions, governments, with many homes or properties or resources, could provide “homes” (not just shelter) for several or many families. Every drop, from the tiniest kind word uttered from a place of love to the grandest action, will help the world become a better place for us all to live in, together.
If we stop to realise that together as a worldwide brotherhood we could act to make changes together, to meet these fellow equal human beings with compassion, with love, honesty and respect instead of the way we treat them now, perhaps they would no longer be the ‘problem’ we all fear.
What if the ‘refugees’ became an equal part of our society, as they all truly deserve to be, no longer mirroring the hate and mistrust we project onto them? And in this they could start to feel ‘safe’ again?
There have been refugees in society for many lifetimes. It is obvious here that the issue is not going away, but worsening, and that we haven’t as yet got to the root of the issue nor to the truth of a response.
Isn’t it time for us to consider this more deeply?
By Christopher Murphy, Kindergarten Assistant and Universal Medicine student, Drøbak, Norway
Further Reading:
Corporate Social Responsibility – The State of Our Working World
What’s right with this World?
A True Role Model: Universal Medicine = Universal Responsibility
966 Comments
Working for a year with refugees and getting to know some families very personal I am deeply honored and blessed to deepen my life by sharing their lives with me. Their cultures, experiences and background of their lives are making my life more rich. And we have to realize that nothing we use on this earth belongs personal to us. So it is to share and not to own and letting some fellow brothers out. The borders should not be there anyway. That itself is such a strange creation what contribute so much to the bigger separation.
Christopher, you have opened up the conversation so beautifully around refugees, and this is exactly what is needed. We need to talk about how we feel about them, gradually coming to a realisation that these people (yes they are indeed people and not ‘problems’) are no different to us, same same. It is time we deeply considered our resistance to supporting others, as it exposes a comfort that stops us from truly connecting with another, and ultimately ourselves and our so called closest love ones. Thank you for highlighting this for us, an immediate dinner time conversation needed with all our neighbours and our communities.
You talk about it rocking our comfort and I am struck by how true this is. We hear about a ‘problem’ or an ‘issue’ and we personalise it, we make it about us as an individual and whether we will be impacted. Perhaps there is a way of moving that can mean that in that moment, when it comes round again, our first thought is not for ourselves and our comfort but on a more global scale.
Spot on Christopher: “On considering this further I wondered – have we forgotten that we are all the same? And that despite our circumstance, no one person is better than another.”
One year on since Christopher wrote this article on those seeking refuge from the terror and desolation of war and nothing has changed except that those who could offer refuge to another human being continue to pull up the drawbridge perpetuating the separation of one group of people from another. The excessive amounts of money that many spend on indulging themselves and close family at this time of year were shared with those seeking love and warmth then we would all be able to live in greater harmony with each other.
I heard yesterday that we have had 3 seconds of peace since 1945….. that’s horrendous, also imagine the damage that occurred in those countries and towns and the displaced people. We are hearing about it constantly but nothing seems to be shifting and the battles continue. This is a world in crisis even when we live on the other side and are not directly affected we can feel the impact and the tension ripples. What to do? There is a different way and I know in our hearts we do not choose to cause conflict, it’s time for our ripples to turn the tide.
One day we will have a one world with no borders and no nationalities until then we will be under the evil illusion that we are separate.
I agree, Samantha. We live lives of comfort and choose not to look to take responsibility- myself included. This blog shakes and wakes (if they are ready) those who do sit in a comfort bubble.
Like much in life, we are being shown and called to take responsibility for the lovelessness in the world. If this means that a group people go from one side to the world, and by this case we call with the term refugees (because the flight of war, harm etc), we should never ever turn away from the absolute equality that mankind in truth is, as what makes the difference that a person goes from place to another (in this case because of war), we should even more warmly if nott exactly the same welcome them and allow the support to each other, especially in times where a person (refugee in this case) has dealt with the absolute horror.
I agree Christopher, we are a global community and ‘refugees’ are happening on our watch. We are responsible for what is going on everywhere, and remote from our lives as many conflicts and wars might be, if we are part of a one-humanity, then what we do ‘over here’ is contributing just as much to the whole as anywhere else.
Yes Christopher it is certainly time we looked at this issue differently, for surly what we are doing is not working; in fact it is harming on so many levels. The separation, selfishness, protection and irresponsibility around the multitude of issues surrounding refugees needs to be addressed by the global community, working in brotherhood to call out the evil of separation.
An interesting news article on the radio today talked about how we, as people in general, can be very moved and touched by the plight of individual people that we see, such as with a singular child making a perilous journey away from war, and yet when we see or consider the mass of humanity in movement away from war we do not approach it with the same level of compassion, and will instead become much more brutal in our approach – the reporter asked the question of – do we harden our hearts in response to the call of humanity? And I wonder if this is true, if there are points when as humans we touch each others hearts with our own humanity, and then as humans there are points when we loose our sense of humanity with each other all together. And that this is some kind of gauge that we can switch on and off when it suits either ourselves or the situation. And if this is so, what is the true driving motivation for having such a switch?
What are we missing out on as a race when we are not living as one? We get everything but that oneness when we choose to make it about our own lives and our own protection. Whether we are in Antarctica or England or in China (or even on the moon!) we are all part of the same race and therefore all have a part to play in bringing humanity back to that harmonious oneness.
The current situation with refugees at the moment is a reflection of the level of irresponsibility we have chosen to live with one another, this is an opportunity to start to break drown the divisiveness between people according to culture and meet and treat each other for the love that we all are.
Great point, Francisco. I feel like Christopher writes about the big picture but you hit on the energetic reality, which I imagine is hard for a lot of people to swallow. Quite a reflection.
This is still very topical and there is likely to be more refugees now created from what’s about to happen in Iraq. We as humans need to not only learn to get along but love each other like we haven’t done for eons so people are not forced from their homes in the first place. It makes absolutely no sense when we spend all this money on war which creates all this misery when the same money could be spent on providing everyone on earth with more than just their basic needs.
This is a great opportunity we are being offered here, to let go of any perceptions or judgements we hold about others from a different culture and connect to that which is innate to us all, as when we do this we know there is no separation at all and deserve the same rights on this earth we live in.
This conversation still needs to continue as the situation has not lightened up side the ‘crisis’ began. The more we talk about it and play our part in supporting the ‘refugees’ we will learn slowly we are all the same and start to break down the fear and ignorance so many are looking out from and only then will we slowly develop understanding and compassion. Thank you Christopher.
By giving them a label (refugee) it makes them less than an equal member of humanity and of society. And somehow this then allows the gargantuan abuse that is meted out to people in this situation.
What would our picture of refugees be if we weren’t so clouded by the fear of the unknown and protecting what we have. Refugees are a product of a failed system, and most failed systems stem from the corruption that we all allow. Perhaps refugees landing on our shores are the greatest gift we can be given, as it could awaken us out of our slumberous ideas that we are not one humanity, that essentially all human beings are the same. To consider the care and love of a stranger as important might actually bring us alive and make us realise that this is how we are meant to live, with open doors and open hearts. The doors not literally, but most definitely metaphorically, do we really have so much to lose by letting other people in!
Definitely this a matter of concern for us all – so many people on the planet homeless and stateless. It must horrific to have to uproot to an unknown future, and an unknown destination. People are people and if I put myself in their shoes how can I have anything less than compassion. We must all work together on this.
Brilliant article Christopher. Thank you so much for going there and actually talking about what matters. There is so much for every one of us to actually look at here. I know I personally have turned a blind eye to the situation, using the excuse that I am of no use to helping this enormous problem. But the truth is it all starts at home….I have an equal responsibility to those in government to live a true life, one that respects everyone around me and most of all respects myself. The more we learn to appreciate and love ourselves, as it’s been said many times, the more this way of living can be reflected out to everyone not choosing that thus giving them an opportunity to choose the same. The ripple effect of love is far more rapid than we want to believe.
Hello Christopher and it’s interesting what you say and also interesting how our view of refugees has changed. My grandfather came to Australia with his parents as a refugee from Lebanon and from there as a collective there has been many businesses and extended families come from this point. There was no screening, tests or anything just a yes. In the initial stages there was some reservations (more then reservations) to them but after a period it wasn’t as blatant or obvious. Have we really changed our view of people in this way or have we always divided each other and the world up? I see our ‘current’ problem with refugees as not new and just more obvious or blatant, it was always there.
Yes Ray the racism has always been there, and the energy of separation can come from both sides. As an ethnic family in an Anglo town if we saw ourselves as separate we would cop it bad. If we saw ourselves as people that are just the same the racist comments were met with ‘what’s your problem’ and had no sting.
Refugees are not welcomed by any stretch of the imagination to the countries where they seek asylum. They are referred to as ‘boat people’ and no one seems to care about them dying enroute to Australia in leaking boats on treacherous seas. I know there have been terrible deaths and losses at sea for people who have lost everything already and then lose their loved ones- a huge trauma on top of the other traumas they already faced.
They are the same as us and need to feel welcomed into a new environment. The bigger issues will take a long time to heal and we must until that time be as loving as we can with new arrivals to our land.
It was not until the UK election to remain in the EU or not that it made me aware of the extent to people’s reactions to refugees. I feel many people voted out with the main reason into thinking it would have an effect in stoping refugees coming into the UK instead of focusing on whether it would support the country in terms of trade, industry, connection etc to remain a part in the EU or not. I felt sad on the one hand but on the other it exposed the truth of how a lot of people were really feeling about refugees coming into the UK.
“If we stop to realise that together as a worldwide brotherhood we could act to make changes together, to meet these fellow equal human beings with compassion, with love, honesty and respect instead of the way we treat them now, perhaps they would no longer be the ‘problem’ we all fear”.
If only we, as a worldwide group, could respond to the refugee crisis in the way you describe Christopher. This issue is such a blight on the way in which our world is organised and operates. Thank you for highlighting the plight of refugees and our responsibility to work towards equality and brotherhood for all in our world.
When the facts are clearly and sensibly taken in to account, a person cannot really be labelled as a refugee, as this takes away the humanity of the situation, names people as mass movements and leaves out all of their individual stories and experiences, the relationships they have and have left behind or have lost. People are people no matter the circumstance.
I heard yesterday how there are now 65.3 million refugees world wide and in the UK they are currently 0.19% of the population. All that fuss and fear based propaganda we hear about being overrun and yet we have taken very little refugees into our country; to me this just shows how selfishness and individualism has prevailed leaving the true meaning of family and brotherhood abandoned.
This is great to look at again Christopher and keep the plight of these Refugees in the forefront of our minds.
I recently read about the end of World War II, when thousands of Germans were sent away from the areas in East European countries that they grew up in, where they had their homes, etc. because now these areas were occupied by ‘the enemy’. And I remember my grandma talking about the refugees walking though the streets of her home town everyday looking for shelter. So as you say Christopher, not a new issue at all just one that is old enough that our generation has conveniently forgotten about it.
It is interesting that some people feel that there is no room for refugees, when if everyone was treated equally we would welcome them with open arms.
It is such a shame and disgrace that refugees are treated the way they are. This attitude to refugees comes about by people being territorial, greedy and apathetic; shame on us!
True success is not earning more money, living comfortably surrounded by every material possession, it is living life in brotherhood with all others and being compassionate. To ignore or be disdainful of the suffering of others is a failing and sign we’ve lost our humanity.
The mass movement of refugees towards more affluent countries confirms that as a global community we can no longer sustain divisions and inequalities that sets economically rich countries apart from poorer and war torn ones. We tighten border controls and build walls of separation, neither will stem the flow of people seeking safety and peace. Until the whole world community sees the problem as ‘ours’ not ‘theirs’ and shoulders its collective responsibility, we will continue to witness hundreds of thousands of people willing to risk lives in search of a better life.
The problem of refugees in not only from this age as it is with us already for as long our history on this world is. The question to ask then what is this telling about the way we are living together in our societies. Do we have created societies to have a life in comfort which are only for the selected few that belong to it or do we have created societies that are open and prepared to let in other people in the understanding that we human beings are all one and the same? To me the latter should be the way to go but I feel that the first is how we are currently living – our lives in comfort in our well protected and safe environment – that in fact withholds us from living to who we truly are. As when we decide to work together as one and live that love that lives in all of us, there is so much more possible than we can imagine from that protected way of life we currently live.
Considering this more deeply is definite what is encouraged with the stigma that is attached to the word “refugee” and the way it is portrayed in the media as a threat to others. War, famine, oppression unfortunately has always been part of the world. In my grandparents generation it meant moving to another country for safety, a life free of religious persecution or opportunities for employment and contributing to the community. Today people are seeking the same when they are living in countries of intense oppression and ravaged wars that have consumed their ability to live without the high risk of being another casualty. Yet why is our response to this so different? People’s basic needs don’t change but has our responsibility to speak up against ill truth been the root cause?
‘If we stop to realise that together as a worldwide brotherhood we could act to make changes together’ – absolutely – if we all worked together the world would be completely different. Imagine that – every single person on this planet working together and supporting each other – it would be phenomanal.
It may be true, that as a global humanity, we have not yet recovered from the atrocities of the second world war. This lack of recovery could be still playing itself out through the generations as we further compound our disbelief and our desire numb ourselves away from what really happened. In this global culture, is it then possible for further destructive national relationships to occur? Is it then possible to continue to view eachother as divided and separate based on our national heritage? Because I wonder that if we had all, and that means actually all of us, had really comprehended what had happened, then there could be no war ever again and thus no displaced people.
Yes Chris, it is time to deeply consider why we have ‘refugees’ in the world and what might form part of a true solution. The current situation is reflective of a far more pervasive disharmony amongst us world-wide. For as long as we tolerate this, allowing domination, war and other human atrocities to occur, we will have refugees. At a more personal level there is a responsibility to live something that is truly harmonious in order that this wider situation can also be different.
We need to stop seeing refugees as “foreigners” but as people just like us. Every single one of us deserves to feel safe, to be able to raise our children without fear and hatred being thrown at us and to be free to express the way we want to so long as it does not bring harm to another.
Since time began there have been certain forces at play that seek to keep humanity divided under the consciousness of ‘us versus them’ for the simple reason that if such resistance was not in place, we would naturally all pull back to the truth of who we are in an instant. True evolution is marked by our ability to re-turn back to the love that we are and any warring, separation and abuse we engage with is simply us resisting this magnetic and oh-so Heavenly pull.
It is all too easy to turn a blind eye to that which we have condoned but not taken responsibility for. The so called ‘refugee crisis’ is a crisis that affects us all for it mirrors what is going on beneath the surface of how we are all choosing to live as a global society. Until we dismantle the walls we have erected within ourselves to keep us ‘safe’ and shut away from others, we will continue to make the borders that seek to keep us in such separation, as if we have a right to keep out our fellow equal Brother. In separation to each other we do not trust or love another unless we call them ‘family’ or ‘friends’. That we even have a situation where thousands of people would need to seek refuge from the harmful ways of others, shows us exactly to what degree we are lost as a humanity and how far we have strayed from the Oneness we all in essence are.
Refugees will keep coming and in doing so, they provide the opportunity for us all to embrace brotherhood and see that we are one world – for currently we are like separate parts operating on their own, removed from the engine they are from.
And as such we engage in the forwards and backwards movement of exchanging people, no different to the exporting of goods. We hastily remove refugees from the public eye, promote a fear campaign of threat and invasion and in doing so, wipe our hands of lending support, loving our brothers and ever questioning the lovelessness we employ.
We are dehumanising others and reducing them to a mere transaction.
Isn’t this true of society as a whole – we are all too solutions focused on removing the immediate issue rather than looking beyond, to the deeper ill at play?
One of the greatest challenges of this century is in how to support eachother as a one human race through and after massive acts of atrocity. It seems that at the moment in general there is a sense of overwhelm, of seeing the wave crash down around us, and of not understanding why. I sense that it will do us all very well to learn in more depths the actual history of our lands, of ourselves throughout the ages. And then maybe we can piece together the causes for what is now happening which seems so in-humane and appalling. perhaps by understanding our past better, we can truly stop where we are heading towards, as if things could get any worse.
The common denominator of all of us is the human body. Colour, culture and race compartmentalise people when we are essentially the same. Whether one is born in one part of the world compared to another part, we are all made the same way, born the same way, on the same one planet.
Right now we have the Olympics happening – country against country shouting out for their nationals – that is separation. People pushing their bodies to the limits to compete in the “games” that too is separation. None of these are ways that are truly loving and inclusive of all.
We have such a huge culture of separation which is the exact opposite of the one source we are all from and off. It is not just with refugees but everywhere in our society. For example, sport, organised religion, nationalism – you name it everywhere.
The lack of brotherhood is very obvious with the way in which refugees are being judged and shunned by society. It is hard to believe we are such an intelligent and developed species that we could be so unloving and disrespectful to another human being. Time has come for governments, communities and individuals worldwide to make a difference and begin to treat refugees with the respect and dignity and true care they deserve.
It is not refugees that are the problem, it is our fear and loathing of ourselves which we then project onto everyone else. We need to heal our own lack of self-love to truly be able to embrace others.
It doesn’t make sense that we divide the world up into segments, and if you’re born in one segment you have different rights and different challenges to overcome. There’s no equality in the way we run the planet – countries and borders should not dictate your basic human right to be safe and to choose your own way you want to live. A person’s health and safety and well-being should be considered LONG before their nationality.
It seems that our closed borders are a reflection of our closed hearts – seeing others as an inconvenience or using their plight as an excuse to stay in protection and to blame them for the increase in crime is irresponsible. There is no coincidence that every time there is a mass stabbing or shooting the media instantly make a link with refugees or a terrorist organisation, only adding to the fuel of fear.
Listening to the news today and hearing that Allepo in Syria is under siege and the people inside cannot get out and are facing terrible atrocities no different to Rwanda, yet the world is doing nothing about it. Maybe if we understood the terrors that many of these people have been through and are going through we would be more willing to open our borders to the refugee crisis.
What if those in the “west” we’re suddenly forever from their homes and unable to live in the country they were living in and hence forced to flee just like the refugees are. They would be refugees just like the refugees we see today, so is there really any difference between them and those of ‘us’ in modern society or is that all just made up?
Recently there have been a number of news stories about attempted and somewhat successful mass killings in Europe. In each article published, there has consistently been an emphasis on three main factors concerning the different perpetrators of these acts: 1) the person is male 2) the person is considered a foreigner and 3) there is evidence to suggest that they felt socially isolated prior to the attack.
The problem here is that socially isolated men and women live in every country, whether it is the country of their birth or not. But because we have such defined boarders and identify so strongly with them, we have in effect created a seemingly unsurpassable separation between ourselves as global citizens, causing people to feel isolated simply because they are standing on a different piece of land from where they were born.
Surely we all need to look deeper at the root cause of such attacks, and not just accept what the media is telling us?
The view the media has taken towards refugees and migrants lately has been horrendous, these people are our brothers who at this time need our support and love not judgment and hate.
People are not ‘refugees’, ‘foreigners’ or ‘different’ – they are all brothers. When my brother comes to me searching for help because he has no money, no home, is traumatized by abused I have to question myself: where was I than all of this happened? How could it come so far? I obviously had let him down and now have to deal with the consequences. To send my brother away so I do not see him and don’t get disturbed anymore in the soak of my illusory comfort does not change the fact, does not free me from my accountability. My brother is still my brother, connected to me. What happens to him does happen to me. I can’t escape from responsibility and the love of being a connected.
The fact of labelling a group of people as refugees (with all the connotations that are being associated to this concept) is being used by politicians to create separation, because in fact people who are called refugees are more than that. They are people like everyone of us, who are looking for a decent survival which allows them to simply live their life. Who would not need the same in similar circumstances? Are we so far of our hearts that we can’t feel it? Refugees are a reflection of what we are allowing to happen as a society. Look at this situation is definitely confronting, if not revealing.
As a human race we are living in protection, we fear harm and want to protect our own lives. Clearly this just shuts people out and also closes down our ability to understand and learn from one another. The media has added to this by portraying refugees as dangerous or “bad guys” and Australian politicians have capitalised on the fear by making it an election issue to “keep out the boats”. Whilst we focus on protecting ourselves there is very little room for our humanity to emerge and express itself. As we shut out our own brothers of the human race, we shut ourselves off to the best of ourselves.
Thank you Christopher for your thoughts that you share. It all seems to start (the Refugee issue) within the Countries of origin of these people who through war, famine, natural disasters, terrorism and overthrown Governments, become displaced or homeless through no fault of their own in most cases. Who are we, sitting in our comfort to reject them, turn them around in their leaky boats and force then to endure more of the same ? Surely Australia is BIG enough to take in and house at least a percentage of these “HUMAN BEINGS’?If not why not? These People are also bringing skills, appreciation and Love with them!
You are correct Christopher, the truth of the continued separation of nations and lack of response to refugees has to be addressed before there can be a universal response that is inclusive and based on our one humanity. This will not occur until I and all of us come to terms and heal the separation within me first. I am more and more aware of how I can separate myself from the truth of who I am! This occurs when I act in any way that is reactive or do not take responsibility for myself or my thoughts, feelings or actions.
The Refugee crisis has hit an all time high in the UK, not only from the arrival of Europeans from the free movement within the European Union, but from the prospect that many refugees will want to come to the UK. The Referendum for us to stay or leave the European Union resulted in the leave vote getting the majority because many people don’t want to open up their borders and welcome the refugees in, because of all the reasons you write.
We are indeed all refugees except for the indigenous community in Australia. They are also completely man made borders. It is only when we stop and consider what another person has experienced that we can even begin to comprehend the insult we throw after injury to someone who has had to leave their country in fear of their life.
Refugees, foreigners, immigrants, and many more terms I won’t mention, are very commonly and passionately used in Australia and yet all except aborigines have only arrived in the last two hundred years! It really does show a very stupid side of human nature in considering one person to be entitled to settle in a country and another not because of race or creed.
Christopher, this is a great article, you raise some very important points, reading this I can feel how it has become the ‘norm’ to see refugees as a ‘problem’ that we do not want on our doorstep – the media is very responsible for creating this idea and also us as humanity for not speaking up about this, we are all family and as you say we can all work on this together and care for our global family rather than reject them.
As you probably know, here in Great Britain news of refugees have dominated the media for some time now and 95% of it is negative, biased and based on political propaganda. Refugees are people too, they are from our one world family, they are our brothers and sisters. When the media spreads fear and lies, we see as we have this week a massive increase in hate crime. Everyone who works in the media needs to understand the consequences of printing such harmful material and be held to full account for damages caused.
And how often do those who tarnish the reputation of refugees consider why it is they are landing on our shores, what atrocities they are fleeing from. I find the idea of right wing groups such as Britain first marching about in protest far more intimidating and scary a prospect than I do the idea of a huge number of displaced families appearing in my neighbourhood. We need a wider understanding of what community should mean, it should never be some insular and closed off place but an accepting and openness to people from all across the world, we are a global community and we can embrace that with every action of love and care we show for another, regardless of where they come from.
Christopher this blog is so beautiful, I feel deeply moved by the love you express. My heart sings with joy knowing that there is another way to address the atrocities that are on our doorstep. It is little wonder that a group of people that are traumatised and abused in a myriad of ways by the system they came from and the system they enter present as a ‘problem’, however, you make it crystal clear that the ‘problem’ is not the refugee but the reason we have refugees in the first place. Very timely considering the outcome of the recent Brexit vote.
We are having a deciding vote today on the EU referendum and if the UK stays a part of it or not. It seems that the vote is 50/50. What’s so interesting is that through looking at our DNA, it is very clear that there is no such thing as a British person because migration patterns show we come from all over Europe, and before that from Africa. So the idea of race and culture and boarders does not exist. It shows how much we want to hang onto an identity that is not truly ours.
Even how we call them ‘the refugees’ gives off a feeling that they are not fellow human beings, it is like they are just things that we have to deal with and hopefully one day the problem will go away. I agree Christopher we need to see them as people first no different to you or me, not, ‘the refugees’ which de-humanizes them.
‘We are all custodians of this planet – and this crisis of refugees is on our watch’. Perfectly said Christopher and in a way that reminds us of our shared responsibility for what plays out in our world. In which case, it is truly incumbent on each one of us to ‘meet these fellow equal human beings with compassion, with love, honesty and respect’. For we would surely want the same from them if the tables were turned.
Reading your very insightful blog I had to think of how when a disaster happens we all come together as countries as one to help, support and do what is needed. This approach I feel is also possible with the situation of the refugees, the problem arises because of the control, the calculating how many people there can be in a country and of the resistance to step out of our comfortable situations and invite people in our homes we do not know. It seems to me if we would act as the one brotherhood as we do with natural disasters, we have such a huge power to build homes and shelter for the refugees that, as you said, they would not be a problem at all. The question really is what we put as important in our lives, getting more wealthy, discovering new technologies or the people in the world our fellow brothers?
I think that is a great realization Christopher, the refugees are often seen as an object, a problem, a nuisance but your question: “how we actually meet them?” brings in the human part. The refugees are no objects, they are people just like you and me and that is great to consider in such a dilemma’s and in many other situations where people become objects, problems to solve etc. Bringing in the human part makes these things so much easier to truly resolve as it is our natural state of being.
Absolutely we have to consider this question more deeply, or actually at all. We are in a state of numbness and denial where we prefer not facing what is truly going on because we have to feel that we have let things slip enormously, like these wars etc. And we know that we will have to act on it. In a nutshell why we prefer not seeing , not looking – whilst we can no longer ignore it as it is right in our face. And so it is our willingness and free will to act on this absolute horrendous abuse that is going on and that will continue if we do not speak up. So , world, lets start now.
Until we realise and fully claim that we are a one global community, world wide social atrocities will continue to transpire.
Not until we admit our fears of someone taking our little slice of paradise (comfort) will we be able to truly give charitably to those who need it.
Really it would only take one maybe two generations to solve many of the world woes. Optimistic? maybe…
Should we get started?
Yes great point Luke. As long as we see ourselves as one nationality and other as another nationality there will be a separation. This separation makes it so much easier to do inhumane things to others and make that look ok just because there is a difference between the two nations. Yet if we see we are the same and start to live as one community this would not be possible anymore and yes isn’t that what we all deeply want?
Yes and getting started is with ourselves first and let go of nationality and all the protection and/or comfort this gives.
As you say Christopher, we have had refugees throughout history. Thirty years ago I worked in Vietnamese refugee camps preparing them to be resettled and they were treated with the same suspicion and fear as refugees are today. We have to understand that we are all people first and foremost and stop allowing the things that appear different about us to divide us. Underneath all the perceived differences we are all the same.
I love what you are saying here Christopher, when is it we are not going to label these displaced people as ‘refugees’, like they are some kind of weird group of people who actively chosen to be in these circumstances. They have not, yet we treat them like they are second class citizen’s, that there is something deeply wrong with them. When in fact all they need is equality, as a starting point, somewhere to live, not having to feel like they don’t belong anywhere.
Perhaps one day we will replace the word ‘war’ with a word that really describes what is going on – ‘atrocity’ would be a good place to start.
Looking at the bigger picture we have created a horrible reality where we treat some of our equal brothers as less and call them refugees not wanting them to enter the country we have been born in and believe to own it, although we are all sitting in the same boat. We are all refugees as we do not belong to earth, but we are here due to our choices and we can only return together in brotherhood.
This is such great blog Christopher the only real solution to many of our problems in this world is to realise that we are all one brotherhood and we are all the same.I watched the news this morning and it was showing how many people there are in prisons with mental health problems such as schizophrenia. These people need treatment, not just being locked away as criminals. It is like locking someone up for having diabetes or something.
Hello Christopher, I am ashamed to admit this but topics like the refugees I sometimes just push out of my mind as I find it so painful the way we deal with it globally. I am so ashamed and dishearten that I just pretend it’s not happening. I think that your article is calling for awareness and the quality of true brotherhood. This begins with our relationship with ourselves and those around us, we need to grow this and it will be everywhere.
This is a great point you raise, Christopher, that refugees are not a new phenomena but one that is as old as history and it is time to do something different. As long as we see them as a ‘problem’ we do not see them as individuals the same as you and me. When we truly connect with this truth they become no longer a ‘problem’ but an equal human being requiring help and support, no different to our own child. What needs addressing is the cause behind this predicament, not short-term solutions.
Have just re read your blog Christopher, after News of refugees being turned away from Manus Island due to the imminent closure of this camp, because it is deemed illegal. Surely our Government here in Australia can re settle them here? But No they aren’t interested in doing that! Neither side of Government!
This just highlights how the notion of boarders just separates us from coming together as one people.
It’s interesting that we focus on one aspect of this – i.e. refugees coming to a country becoming a problem, costing us money. But we do not consider how they then become apart of the communities they come to and actively contributing to society and helping us really understand that even though we come from places that are different (we may look different, have different beliefs, eat different foods) that this is only the externalities of what we are seeing. The truth is, as you have shared Christopher is that there are no differences. If we look deeper than what we see with out eyes we would know this. Therefore if we did treat refugees in a way where we were investing in the future of our countries, and that of the countries they are coming from, it would look completely different.
What would happen if we were the refugees? How would we expect to be treated? Not how the current people who are refugees are treated.
Some very important points for us to consider Christopher. It’s interesting how we treat ‘refugees’. In Australia we place them in gaol like detention centres, where their physical and mental health is at risk. It’s a hot topic that’s become a political football of ‘keeping the boats out’ and taking refugees on ‘our terms’. We really have very little understanding of what is needed here and it is definitely not what is currently being done, for this will lead to more ‘trouble’ in the long run.
If we see that refugees are not any different than us, in that they are human beings first and foremost, it is impossible to think: “that they come here and cause problems, they have no money so we have to support them, they are lazy, they are criminals, all tarred with the same brush; we are even told that many of them are supposedly ‘undercover terrorists’ that will try to kill us in the years to come.” As expressed by Christopher, it is very important to connect to our hearts again and make that the focus instead of the material gain we often find so very important.
I cannot but ask.. what are we doing as a human race? We are running around basically at odds with each other in one way or another and nothing has truly changed in the history of mankind. Your blog confirms that the only true change can be ever founded on the true expression of love and compassion.
Yes very true Joshua, with things like this happening how can we think we are doing well as a society?
There is always the possibility that any of us could be refugees. In this country of Australia especially, so much of our recent history, eg: the last 200 years, is the story of refugees finding a place to be. This is why it is so inexplicable to me that there is such a swing against helping our equal brothers. It feels like propaganda gone mad. If we can go back to basics, if we can stop the manipulation of language and stop talking about people as if they are other to us and go back to knowing that refugees are people like us with more in common than not, perhaps we can find a way to treat people the way we would like to be treated.
Today i started singing and dancing with a group of women and children, refugees from Syria. They live in a neighbouring town close by. I met them first time on Saturday. Such a beautiful experience we were joyful dancing around everybody together and singing a little. I used body language to explain what to do. We are all humans here on earth and it was very healing to truly feel we are all equal. All you need to is open your heart and look into the others person eyes.
I am very inspired by the love, care and sense of family and community they live and share with another. And can feel this is an inspiration for our german society.
It is important when we connect to “refugees” with what intention do we do? Wanting to help or do something good?
Or simply to open our heart and to connect to them like we would with our own family.
To even read the words that we treat others as non equals sends a shudder through my body. The horrors some groups and minorities endure thanks to others’ ideas and beliefs is frightening and horrifying. Treating anyone as anything other than our equal breeds this way of living and it is so ingrained in us, from the way we are in our families, in the workplace it goes on everywhere. This lack of treating each other with respect and equality is everywhere.
It is a good thing that God is the loving God he is, for if I was the big guy in charge I probably would have destroyed the planet long ago. After eons of us not getting along as the one brotherhood we are meant to be with some with so much wealth it would take life times to put a dent in it and at the other end of the scale, some literally don’t have a pot to pee in. When wealthy businessmen can spend billions on a plane that can fly into space making space travel available for the very rich and we have people starving and freezing to death. All the money that is spent on arms could feed clothe and house every man, woman and child ten times over. Will we ever learn?
Well said Kevin, it is obvious that our world is out of balance and it is up to us to make changes…
You raise some amazing points here Chris, I agree it is not the refugees that are the problem, it is the ones causing the wars that these people are fleeing from that are the problem. Why has mankind never learnt that wars solve nothing and the fact that things can’t be solved diplomatically is disgraceful. These poor people fleeing their own country only to be tear gassed at shut boarders defies belief.
And you raise some points as well well worth noting. One response arising in me is the fact that those that are inviting those having to flee their country has taken a solid and appropriate responsibility. Now there are those having done this and lately saying that they are taking too many and that they cannot cope. This is where we have to say, ok how do we solve this then! Not close the borders as the one and only solution. I know countries that has been selling weapons for ages calling themselves neutral – Now how can you be neutral when you’re selling weapons that will eventually be used to kill another fellow human being? We all have a responsibility here and just because the situation is making us feel a bit overwhelmed or scared perhaps because the situation in the world is getting a wee bit too close doesn’t have to mean we detract from owning up to the responsibility we are asked to take.
It is true, there have always been refugees. My family left South Africa 35 years ago in the early 1980’s when the situation there was not looking good. We were refugees of a sort, just not arriving in a financial or physical crisis but we certainly arrived requiring emotional support and the re-building of community around us. People immigrate from all parts of the world because they see it as a better option for their families. The difference with the refugees is that they really don’t have a choice, their situation is dire. I support the call to let go of our fear and do what we can to support.
I agree Emma, we need to start dealing with our fears (and issues). I started today talking to a woman who is actively supporting refugees in her community, which is close by where I live. She is teaching them german and has organized a women’s cafe in her seminar house where some of the women can participate in courses like Yoga. So we were talking and she said to me you can sing with them as I offer singing classes. And I responded yes I can lets do that. But after the conversation I was processing strongly, my body was in a chaos, but it cleared after sometime.
I could feel in the context of reincarnation we have all experienced at some time to have lost everything and to be a refugee. And I could feel the consciousness in our society of not wanting to have anything to do with them.
So time to heal our issues and what might stand in the way of connecting with our new foreign neighbors.
It feels like the ‘problem’ of refugees is designed to bring to our attention the parts of the world that are struggling for otherwise it is just too easy to get on with our comfortable lives and ignore that there are others in great need. Not that I am advocating jumping in and saving them, putting our own lives out of balance to do so. But rather having an open heart to receive the refugees and supporting creative solutions to be found as you suggest Christopher.
I agree Emma the refugees situation is shacking us out of our comfortable lives and brings into perspective that there are people suffering terribly and it is up to us to not look any longer away.
This is an awesome blog Christopher. It is something I have always felt but not quite put the words to. I find it extraordinary how we as humanity respond to others in need, being fearful and elitist, and even more so how the national policy has developed to mis-treat these people in the ports, from what I have heard. It is not an issue that I come into direct contact with in my everyday life but I totally support re-thinking our approach from the perspective of a one brotherhood humanity.
Our media do not help in this regard. So much is made of refugees being islam. I asked my Islam security guard today why there is so much fighting in the middle east. His response was very interesting because he said it actually had very little if anything to do with Islam, and much more to do with the infighting between tribes – that went back generations. And yes, they use religion as a scapegoat or a front for their hate. But in truth, such hate would be there whether they were muslim, christian or atheist. The reason I am moved to mention this is because our view of refugees today is tainted by the stereotypical lies we have been sold about their background.
One of the reasons the Middle East hates the ‘West’ is because we have never understood their tribal nature. We Brits have ridden rough-shod all over other people’s countries, just as we ourselves had been invaded hundreds of years ago, and America has continued the policy. Our ability to respect indigenous people and their cultures was a non existent thing – they were simply seen as savages as, especially the Christians, trampled in with a superior attitude of ‘We know best’. We, in the name of religion have killed millions and now our interference has consequences and we are at a loss to know how to deal with them.
Thank you Carmel for sharing this part of history. What stood out what was Christopher also mentioned in the blog the missing link between all cultures and nationalities to see each other as equal no matter what language we speak or what clothes we wear (if we do). And to question this still existing “superior attitude“ in our western side of the world and understand that a certain level of technology or education does not mean anything really. We just need to look at the situation in our society the lack of connection between people, the violence and rise of illness and disease.
You are so right Adam, the media are grossly mis-representing those from the middle east. It plays into our separative outlook that we are good and they are bad. It is not personal at one time it was the Germans then it’s the Russians, then it’s the communists, the Jews always seem to cop it. We want another people to be the bad guys to make us feel better about our society and to justify it. There is nothing in the groups we say are the bad guys that is not also in our society- if we are honest about it. It is treating other people as separate or less than us that is the problem.
It is great to build relationships with people from different cultures as Adam has done, the lack of judgment allows trust and people are open to share the truth. You learn what is real and personal rather than what we have been fed in the fiction of movies or the fiction of the news.
I agree Bernard when we connect with people from different cultures than we can learn and inspire another and that is very beautiful.
The way the newspapers and media report the ‘problem of refugees is often so full of hatred. I feel so sad when I read a feel the energy behind such headlines. The media is responsible for inciting so much conflict, hate and discrimination.
I watched a programme where 100s of people had made a perilous journey on rafts and landed on a Greek island. Here were people with just the clothes on their backs who walked into the nearest town – a very popular tourist destination. So side by side there were tourists out enjoying themselves and people who’d risked their life to leave their homes to go somewhere with a greater chance of survival.
I couldn’t get over how these two experiences could meet and nothing much change. So I asked myself what is it that I’m being asked to change? I feel starting to really acknowledge the areas I like to keep off limits from the responsibility I know is there. So all the little pockets of comfort: the indulgent food or 30 mins of TV to switch off to how extreme and mainstream abuse is and being honest about the ways I add to it. Being honest about the vague panics when my ideals of a utopia look under threat (my fantasy of living in a perfect village where harmony pervades). Deepening my understanding that actually life is about us all. Choosing to stay present and not shy away from all I see in the world and go deeper to the love that is there whatever may be going on.
“Choosing to stay present and not shy away from all I see in the world“. This is what I am learning too Karin. I haven’t read any news for many years. Now being in contact with refugees from Syria i started reading articles and it is so very confronting and challenging to feel what is going on in other parts of the world. But it is important that we don’t just look away because we have a safe and comfortable life here in Europe. If we ignore what is going on in the world we support the hate and war to continue.
Give anyone or any group of people a title and suddenly you have reason to see them in a different light to yourself. After that, anything is possible….
Yes, Adam all sorts of abuse can be inflicted on those that others consider are lesser. The world is showing us that everyday. Titles and labels dehumanize sections of the population, a very dangerous thing.
Yes Adam very true, the word migrant and refugee has been used to induce separation, to insinuate they are something different to us, even suggesting they are lesser. How much more appropriate and real it would be to talk of them as our equal brothers not as something so very different from ourselves.