Syrian Refugees   Photo by Angle-Magazine.co.uk

Do YOU Believe Refugees are Partisan and Dangerous?

Refugees are in the news. Every day.  Migrating.  Yes, that is what refugees must do. Being homeless, they migrate, move, illegally challenge borders, search for food and shelter.  In their bid for  a better life,  they either escape to something better, or die.  They are afraid, but are also incredibly  brave.  Refugees are forced to abandon the security and comfort of their homes of a lifetime,   and all familiar surroundings.

Refugees suffer unbelievable hardship, yet observers automatically assume refugees are partisan and dangerous, a threat to individuals and nations alike.

Most refugees were at one time loyal to a country, a political or tribal ideology, and perhaps practiced a severe religion.   Maybe they still do.  Perhaps some are dangerous and have specific agendas to follow.  The question should be asked: In successful relocation, in the comfort and happiness of new, productive and peaceful lives, —would  the same people  necessarily remain partisan and dangerous?   Think.  You decide.

The images of the flood of refugees today, Muslims or not,  is disturbing and unsettling. We are not callous or indifferent to their plight; we are aware refugees flee the mindless destruction of war, rape, murder, beheading, persecution, famine, starvation,  brutal totalitarian regimes like  ISIS, planned  genocide, political or religious cleansing and other factors.

The current exodus of thousands  is predominantly from war-torn Syria. Arriving endlessly from rough seas in overloaded,  flimsy, unstable  rubber boats  with only the clothing on their backs, struggling,  homeless and hungry. Leaving thousands of  life jackets like orphans on shore, they set out, facing  journeys of hundreds of kilometers on foot.  With  lack of water, food,  lack of protection, danger at every turn, disease, death,  uncertainty, foreign borders increasingly hostile, and the unknown, are refugees partisan and dangerous?

The Arm-chair View

From a safe arm-chair observer's point of view, root issues are  fear,  historical prejudgment, bigotry, bias, and distrust.  The expansion of Islam.  The comfort zone, dynamics, demographics, and economics of  receiving nations are inevitably challenged by any influx of strangers, particularly Muslims.  The same countries experience pre-formed conclusions,  express suspicions,  recall historical  wrongs, terrorist attacks,  and dwell on racism and  hate for them. Distrust of Islam is a common factor.  The fact is, fear and the limitations of any comfort zone of humanity ultimately judge the helpless,  with many believing all refugees are partisan and dangerous.  And conclude they shall remain so.

Objections Raised and the 'Perception'

"But they're brainwashed.  Why are there so many young Muslim men, can you not see, it's an invasion, the fanatical  Islamic 'caliphate'  is intent upon invading Europe and destroying North America with terrorists;  the recent Paris attacks prove it, they're sending suicide bombers including women..."  

Let us keep in mind that is the 'perception' of what is happening.  The concept is troublesome. We get it.  Perception is everything.  It is hardly surprising that fear-mongering abounds in Canada and the United States, as well as across most of Europe.

Reality

Let us be realistic, or what we are encouraged to believe is realistic. Yes, some individuals have a religious cause,  political, or perhaps even an Islamic expansionist and terrorist agenda,  but careful  vetting, thorough background and security checks should, if handled in a competent manner,  eliminate and identify suspects not desired by any common-sense  nations.  With security, failure is not an option;  security is always an issue. Again, we get it.

Human Nature

Let us now consider the majority and human nature itself.  Do human beings who have been abused, starved, bombed, murdered, and made homeless and helpless,  remain mindless,  loyal  supporters of the same brutal political regimes whatever they may have been?  If accepted and re-settled, does their new, happier, healthier and more hopeful life instantly become irrelevant,  muted or obliterated by foreign influence, their  strange and different  customs,  beliefs, and religion'? "They don't assimilate, they cling to the familiar, to their customs".     Should that be any surprise,  knowing few if any people, learning a new language, and having no choice but to adapt to an entirely new reality?  No.

And yes, their customs are disconcerting and different. Their religion is suspect and foreign.  So is our own.

Logic

Logic suggests, as unpopular as it may seem, given existing circumstances,  it may be reasonable  to question and examine everything and everyone coming across our borders far more carefully than usual. Security is always an issue, so let us NOT  foolishly pretend otherwise just to meet the requirements of whiners and the politically-correct —but are children and young families a threat?  These people clearly need refuge, help, and soon, —politics, security,  and religion aside.

Objections and Reactions

"Muslims will take over North America because we are too politically-correct to keep them out, too weak to resist? "  North American values are not Muslim values, and they do not respect our values."   "We offer equality, but North Americans are not considered  equal to Muslims in their eyes". 

In southern Ontario, a mosque was torched.  There have been personal attacks on Muslims. Fear is everywhere.  Some jurisdictions are requesting the refugee plans be shut down. Whole states are refusing refugees.   Read the daily news.  There is much subliminal anger, justified or not.  Decide for yourself.

Humanity must keep  the welfare of refugees in perspective to maintain our own humanity.  In history, there has always been one exodus or the other in progress;  there have always been migrations of humanity, however small and slow, or huge; it is simply a matter of scale. 

There is no doubt a world-class exodus, a mass migration has been set in motion by the Syrian civil war.  An acute awareness of migration is now in the spotlight and because of the possibility of the inclusion of ISIL terrorists,  a response of fear is hardly surprising.

Evaluate our own Responses

It may help to evaluate our own responses to kindness.  How important food and shelter would be if we were homeless and desperate as these people happen to be at this time.   Yes, refugees clearly must move in, settle  somewhere to survive— to rebuild lives, whatever the sacrifice to achieve that goal may be.  Life itself is a sacrifice, a risk, and a long trek.  A dangerous one. We cannot make it safer, even for ourselves, by closing our minds.

All other considerations aside, let us, at the very least, give these Syrian refugees and others  the benefit of the doubt and  help as much as possible within a framework of common sense and humanity.

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Is that Incoming I hear?