The Australian Abbott Government has announced that it intends to focus on accepting Christians and other minority groups affected by the Syrian refugee crisis.
The ABC reported that Foreign Minister, Julie Bishop stated that the Government was
looking at ways to offer both temporary and permanent protection options for those fleeing the crisis in Syria:
“I think that Christian minorities are being persecuted in Syria and even if the conflict were over they would still be persecuted,” she said.
“So I believe there will be a focus on ensuring we can get access to those persecuted ethnic and religious minorities who will have no home to return to even when the conflict is over.
“That includes Maronites, it includes Yazidis, there are Druzes, there are a whole range of ethnic and religious minorities that make up the populations in both Syria and Iraq.
“We’ll be focusing our attention particularly on the families who are in the refugee camps along the border of Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey.”
It will be very interesting to see the response to the Government’s intention to focus on receiving Christians and other persecuted minority groups.
My hunch is that the usual ‘defenders’ of minorities, and social justice poseurs will be silent or even critical of the government’s move. Especially of its plan to focus attention on Christians, despite the fact that Christians have been all but eradicated from the Middle East over the last few years.
We need to get behind Christians and other persecuted groups in the Middle East. We need to support them, and defend their right to live in their homelands, and to maintain their cultures and religions.
Stay tuned.