AS THE latest tranche of Syrian refugees prepares to settle in Wagga, you can bet it will be accompanied by that most polarising – and tawdry – of debates.
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The refugee experience is too heartbreakingly real to be ammunition for racists and political opportunists.
And yet ever since the end of the White Australia policy, our nation has indulged in the debate at its most base level.
It may be true we have an obligation to protect our borders. But as an affluent nation, one with abundant space and one built on the back of immigration, we also have an obligation to help.
The debate should be not about whether we take refugees at all, but how many, and on what basis, we allow them in.
Even the most hard-hearted of us should concede those fleeing war-ravaged Syria are genuine refugees.
Five million Syrians are being flushed out of their country each year, and Australia has committed to taking just 12,000 all up – about the same number of overall refugees we take each year.
So while conservative commentators shriek from behind their parapets about how refugees risk changing our way of life, those Australia has taken in over the past decade would be lucky to even fill the MCG.
The nightly news is awash with images of hordes of refugees crowded into boats or marooned in camps, but we should not let that obfuscate the truth.
Refugees are fellow human beings that have more in common with you than you realise.
Ironically, in a world more connected than ever, many locals still see them as faceless queue jumpers.
They would rather seek solace in their blind prejudices, and many of those elected to lead us find it easier to pitch to those prejudices than actually lead.
A number of Syrian refugee families have already settled in Wagga, aided by an inspiring humanitarian effort from charity groups and organisations like the multicultural council.
Many of those assisting in the resettlement were reluctant to discuss it with the DA, fearing any publicity would fan the flames of racism.
How sad.
Wagga is more than this.
We should confront racism, we should reach out to the broken and bereft, and we might just realise how truly lucky we are.