Rabbis show compassion for asylum seekers
The Rabbinical Council of Victoria has expressed compassion over the plight of asylum seekers who have sought refugee status in Australia.
In a statement released today the RCV says: “We are particularly concerned about the psychological and physical welfare of the group of 267 currently in mainland Australia, who face the prospect of being returned to Nauru.
We recognise the moral, practical and legal complexities of the situation, and urge the government of Australia to act with empathy and compassion and do everything within its power to care for and minimise the trauma on these most vulnerable people.
We similarly call on the government to ensure the safety and security, as well as the physical and mental well-being, of all those who have applied for refugee status and protection and to act as a matter of utmost urgency in streamlining the procedure and time it takes to assess such claims and offer asylum to all those in genuine need.”
I am shocked by these comments and heartened by the Rabbis. I have worked in this area for 11 years. No person should be subjected to what happens to asylum seekers. Human rights apply to all people. To make assumptions on the basis of race or religion is called… racism. Jewish people should be ashamed to do such a thing.
The Torah enjoins us to welcome the stranger. It is about decency, not politics. Bless these Rabbis.
Remind me, Who asked them?
Stick to rabbinical matters and leave politics to the politicians
The RCV’s posture is, oh so populist and PC, but it misses the mark.
The economic invaders are not like Jewish refugees were in times gone by. They are not even like the Vietnamese who could not stay in their own country for political reasons and who were rejected by China to which many had ethnic ties.
Nauru is nothing like the concentration camps where Jews were tormented and murdered, nor even like the camps set up for Syrian refugees in Jordan and Turkey.
Finally, the government is perfectly correct in securing our borders and shutting down the smuggling trade. And as far as abuse is concerned, the human rights industry is largely faking that but where it does occur it only points to people who we do not want in our country.
Say it again Paul Winter, people don’t just have a hearing problems but reading problems too. Rabbis… where is your compassion towards your own ???
I’m sure the Rabbinical Council are aware the cunning of the people smugglers who tell husbands and wives to bring babies into the world using them as tools to gain citizenship through the UN Convention of the Child.
I suppose those supposed rabbis are also showing compassion for the anti Israel and anti Semitic entities among them