One Malaysian = 1/5th Australian

by Gaja Lakshmi Paramasivam

(July 27, Melbourne, Sri Lanka Guardian) According to the latest bilateral agreement between the Governments of Australia and Malaysia – it takes 4000 Malaysians to equal 800 Australians. In other words – a Malaysian is one fifth an Australian.

A refugee who steps foot on the land of a nation, genuinely submitting her/himself to the protection of that nation – is part of that nation until proven otherwise. Global (including UN) conventions are based on this Universal value. If we come without being conscious of any particular nationality – then we are the children of the land that we seek protection from.

Each country has its own past karma. Australia is governed largely by the direct descendents of those who came to Australia without the approval of those who were already in this nation. Australia was not terra nullius, when the British arrived. Unless the first group of migrants / invaders, have contributed more to this land / nation in common than the migrants who succeeded them – for example - the boat people from Vietnam & Sri Lanka – they have the responsibility to be a facility to these Boat People and not become Administrators. Truth is higher than any value shown through human laws. These descendents of first migrants do not have the moral right to Administer until their global position in this issue is high enough to be a parent. This position could be earned through good management of refugee programs.

The UN which is the Common Parent says, about this latest bilateral agreement ‘The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is not a signatory to the arrangement, but it was consulted by the two Governments’

That is like giving the ok to siblings because parent has lost influence/control over the children. If Australians are getting 4000 refugees from Malaysia in return for 800 from Australia to Malaysia - taken at face value it means that :

To the Australian Government One Australian visa = Five Malaysian visas

Or

To the Malaysian Government One Malaysian Immigration Officer = Five Australian Immigration Officers.

It is important that we pool in Common our status in excess of the status required for functional purposes at Global level, if we seek to take up leadership positions. When we do this pooling and then draw from it only to the extent of our need – we are the UN.

By failing to promote this Common Pooling, the UNHCR has promoted divisions and separatism. Refugee issue is not the issue of one particular country – but that of all countries that have ‘open’ borders – physically and/or legally. Like with many countries, including Sri Lanka, Australian borders are the open sea and Australian laws of immigration facilitate refugees arriving without visas. The real visa requirement for boat arrivals is to defeat the odds – human and natural – and arriving on this soil. Once they touch this soil with belief in its People – they are entitled to stay here until proven otherwise through the legal processes. These legal processes vary from country to country not only technically but also culturally – due to exercise of discretionary powers by senior migrants who have used that path before the current refugees. By being true to ourselves – we would identify with the genuine refugee. Malaysians would not be able to use the value of Australian ancestors who came by boat. Only we Australians have this power through our belief in our migrant ancestors who worked hard to make Australia ‘home’.

Where individual countries are not able to use their independent/sovereign powers, it is important to submit it to the Common Pool – represented by the UN – however weak that parent may seem. UN positions are ‘Common Positions’ and represent far deeper values than those represented by bi-lateral agreements. Positions help us visualize the ‘other side’ of our responsibilities/benefits. What we do as parents would be tailored to suit the children of that position, if we act in the consciousness of our position – rather than us as individuals and/or each child as an individual. Likewise the UN as per its position of head of the Global Body – has the responsibility to deliver services to suit the common member (in common to all its members) and not adjust according to individual member countries – even if the two countries agree with each other. Where UN enjoys status as the world authority in a particular issue – each time individual countries enter into bilateral agreements – UN is losing its global authority to that extent. When UN loses power – all member countries lose power.

Pooling of resources and benefits; problems and opportunities - is the core nature of any government. Without this pooling there is no authority to govern. It is indeed the basis of principles of Equal Opportunity through which UN is required to bind itself and administer or facilitate member countries on the basis of these principles and values.

The current tragedy in Norway highlights that governments could be targeted more by insiders than by migrants who usually are more junior citizens. Damage from these refugees is nothing compared to the damage being suffered by Norwegians from their own. We senior Australian migrants ought to have been facilitated to convert the refugee problem into migrant opportunities and we would have been if the Federal Government’s system of assessment and employment had been as per values of Equal Opportunity.

This bilateral agreement is a lost opportunity for us to become global leaders in Democracy – all due to indifference to Elimination of Racial Discrimination. It is also a big loss of opportunity to invest in economic progress that first generation migrants are well known for. Shame on the Gillard Government.

As per public reports – the above deal cost our government $292 million. Spread over the 800 lost Australian refugees – the cost is $365,000 per person. If they had been accepted into Australia by spending this money - they are likely to have contributed to the Government about one billion dollars over a fifty year period, through average of four working members in a family – each earning about $20,000 p.a. . This is about $1.3 million per person. Purely on the basis of the 800 ‘lost refugees’ the cost benefit ratio of this deal is 3.65:1 in favor of Malaysia.

If however, we take the 4,000 ‘gained refugees’ we would have cheated the Malaysian Government of 5 times the above opportunities. Shame on the Australian Government that allocates such lowly status to Malaysian Government. Bilateral agreements need to be between Equals if they are over common issues that the parent is too weak to handle. Otherwise the savings in this would be more than lost due to increase in unjust and unlawful discrimination by Australians against migrants from Malaysia.

When we pool genuinely – we promote exponential growth. That is the power of Truth/Love. This to me is why Clever Madam Clinton met with Madam Jayalalitha of Tamil Nadu using the global issue of tiny Sri Lanka.