Refugee Weirdness

Father Mick Lowcock (L) and Steve Sutton with the Wilson petition (Pic courtesy Catholic Leader).

There are some very strange goings on up North (Townsville) at the moment.

In my copy of the Catholic Leader this morning is a story about an Afghan refugee from St Francis Xavier Parish, Railway Estate(Townsville). It was posted under a pic of Father Mick Lowcock - a fearless advocate for those doing it tough. Mick was our parish priest, first in Townsville and later in Mt Isa.

This Hazara refugee had been living in Townsville for a while, long enough to have set up a succesful business, become a Catholic under RCIA*, and changed his name to Patrick Wilson.

By the sound of it, he's been a model immigrant, not to be stereotyped as a welfare bludger, or someone who refuses to assimilate, and he seems to have adopted the values of his new country. In other words, exactly the kind of immigrant that we need.

There is, of course, one problem - he's on a bridging visa.

He was arrested in September, and is now locked up in Wickham Point detention in Darwin.

Why? It's hard to say, unless it's about Hermann Morrison being macho - something he does with monotonous regularity.

If this bloke is sent back to Afghanistan he's dead. He's both an apostate and a Hazara. Both are capital offences as far as the Taliban is concerned.

Morrison uses stopping drownings at sea as the rationale for his bullying of refugees.

Paraphrasing John Howard, he's really saying "When it comes to refugees, we'll decide who dies and the manner of their death".

No more drownings at sea, but no refuge in Australia, just the certainty of death at the hands of extremists in their home countries.

ABC North Queensland has also run the story.

You know it makes sense.................

Here's the link to the petition. 

*Rite of Catholic Initiation for Adults.