International Refugee Day

It was on Wed 20th. Mili and I went to a lecture at the city Museum and figure out these numbers...

20 million refugees world wide
9 countries taking refugees in any significant numbers
8 countries taking very small amounts of refugees
3rd is where N.Z. sits on the amount of refugees taken per year
750 is the amount we take per year
10,000 is the approx number per year taken by the 9 main countries
19 990 000 the number left in refugee camps and sitting on borders around the world! (is my math right?)
10 people at the lecture from all of Auckland (no-one seems to care)


The politician who came to talk to us started off by telling us how much of positive contribution refugees make to N.Z. both culturally and financially, they usually get jobs very quickly (contrary to popular belief) and their children go through our education system and are usually good students who apply themselves well and contribute well to society as doctors and lawyers and the like. (These aren't his exact words but represent what he was saying as best I remember it)

Of course I asked him... If they contribute so well why don't we take more?

His answer... There are financial issues... they are a drain on the system.

But, I said, you just told us they contribute to the country financially... surly you are being too short-term focused here?

I also asked what the cost of resettling 750 refugees per year is? The whole program that we currently have running (which according to the experts is among the best in the world) cost a few million dollars a year... (A tiny portion of the countries expenses)

And still millions of lives are wasted away.

The real reason, if you read between the lines of the conversation and the lectures is that there simply isn't any political will and there is no public pressure to bring about that political will.

I asked about international pressure from organisation such as the U.N., wheather they put any political pressure on able countries to take refugees... very little was the answer.

I see parrallels to history. Today we look at the idea of slavery an are discusted by the practice (often blind tothe fact that it still goes on in the form of a sex trade today). I would suggest that the refugee situation and the way brder controls are used to safe-guard the interests of the rich and marginalise or control the poor are equally as disgusting.

In a world of globalisation what is going to happen to international borders and the power plays they are a major part of? 200 years from now what will be the opinion of our descendants toward our lack of action regarding the international refugee problem in our world?

The numbers don't match up and few people know and few seem to care!