I've recently been getting into a few rather heated debates about how asylum seekers are treated in this country. Unfortunately I keep running into people who think and talk like Daily Mail editorials, so there hasn't been much common ground for a reasoned discussion. They seem to be of the opinion that all asylum seekers are idle scroungers with no rights who came here illegally and should be sent home on the next boat. On the other hand, I keep hearing stories about
people who aren't treated much better in this country than the one they've escaped from. The only reason they stay is because it's less likely they'll be killed here (
unless they live in Swansea).
It's usually regarded as a cheap shot to hark back to the Holocaust when arguing that humanity has a duty to help its weaker members. But the parallels we see today are just too strong. People who should know better (either through education or actual experience) are casually dismissing whole communities simply because they have a different culture, or religion. Maybe they're afraid of them, maybe it's just ignorance but frankly I'm past caring about the reasons. The bottom line is that history is perilously close to repeating itself (if it hasn't already) and most people don't give a damn.
This is from an editorial in yesterday's Telegraph by Dr Jonathan Sacks (Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth)
What has consistently struck me has been how they [the Holocaust survivors]
have remembered without hate or desire for revenge. Their message has been simple: don't hate. Know where prejudice leads. Fight intolerance. Cherish each day as if it were your last. Love life and be willing to fight for it. Love the stranger, for how we treat strangers is the test of our humanity. Above all, remember, for without memory a civilisation travels blind.
(source: Telegraph | Opinion | Holocaust survivors can remember without hating)
It seems like the only people who learned from the Holocaust are the survivors themselves. I hope that the Rwandans, Kurds, Sundanese and Somalis of today will be as noble in the years to come.
posted at 10:25 AM
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