Article: But I have a room Minister Morrison An Open Letter to the Immigration Minister, Australian Senators and a PLEA for Mercy ...I am contemplating my day. I have many choices. Shall I rush around madly achieving or sit quietly and read? I could shop. I could walk my dog. I could visit friends. I could go to the movies. I could work on that novel. I could bake or sew or paint, if I were that way inclined, or I could plan a trip. I thank God for the freedom I have to make my own decisions for this day and those to come. I have only recently realised how much of a blessing that is. I have friends in your care Mr Morrison who cannot dream of such freedom and I can only watch as hope drains from their eyes and the energy to imagine evaporates. I believe you to be a good man – a man of compassion and a man of God and I would not want your job if they promised to quadruple your salary. I would surely faint under the strain of the decisions you must make. I pray for you as I have done for all government leaders for many years. But when I woke up this morning I wished I could walk up to you and say: “But I have a room Mr Morrison. And I want to make it available to my friend because he is tired of being tired”. My friend is in detention. He is around the same age as my own children and has been confined for the last 14 months for no other reason than wanting to escape the harshness and the awful circumstances of his own life and homeland to live in ours. ...In the months since leaving his family and friends he survived a treacherous sea journey that delivered him to his new home, a tent, on Manus Island. Here he endured the mosquitoes, heat, poor food and limited medical resources as well as the threats of violent men. He had the misfortune of being housed in Oscar compound, an area made famous by recent riots. Many were hurt in the mayhem that ignited after asylum seekers heard they would not reach Australia and a number responded by trying to escape. I do not want to describe his injuries for fear of identifying him - he was sent here for surgery. One of his friends was blinded. I met him in a detention centre some months ago when a someone told me that he needed a visitor and through him I have met many other lovely people. I did not go to evangelise - I went to offer friendship. If my son found himself stranded and alone on the other side of the world, I thought, I would hope that people would love and care for him. I went on behalf of his mother and mothers everywhere. I went alone - not with any organisation. I went with preconceived ideas and I guarded my heart because I did not know what to expect. What I found has made me ashamed. Almost every week at the centre someone tries to kill or harm themselves or simply breaks down. Perhaps more - I am not there every day. I met a man who has not walked since being vaccinated on Manus - he has been in a wheelchair for eight months. His heart is so full of sadness that the tears just flow - he does not cry - he weeps. A sweet beautiful lady, and friend, who is seven months pregnant, collapsed with the stress of her predicament just two weeks ago and began having stomach pains. She spent the week in hospital with a guard at her door. Visitors were not allowed to see her. When she came out her family (husband and five-year-old son) were whisked away to another centre before anyone was awake, no time for goodbyes, no time to do anything but grab belongings and go - when her baby is born she will be returned to the Island of Nauru. I didnt meet the young boy who took a razor to himself, I saw him being loaded into the ambulance though. I didn’t know the pregnant lady who climbed on to the roof to kill herself for fear of being sent back to the Islands...there are too many sad stories to mention. My friend is a Christian. He calls his mother every night whilst on Australian soil and is burdened by the guilt of causing her pain - but she knew he had to leave. He would not tell her that he was in detention at first - he wanted to spare her pain. When she kept asking why he didn’t buy a mobile phone to call her more regularly he had to confess. He has worked hard to learn English and clearly has a gift for teaching others. He tells them about Jesus, helps them learn our language and acts, informally, as a go between for other detainees and officers. He did this on Manus and now in Australia. He is intelligent, compassionate and is respected and loved by many others. Last week’s news of the new safe haven enterprise visa gave detainees the chance to hope for a day or two. But, this was shattered when they discovered that those from Manus and Nauru are not included in arrangements. Now my friend has shut out the world and is too exhausted to care. His pain is blocked out with strong sleeping tablets and he barely leaves his room. He has no room in his heart for friends anymore. It makes no sense to me. sightmagazine.au/stories/soapbox/morrison29.9.14.php
Posted on: Mon, 29 Sep 2014 23:37:56 +0000
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