What cost humanity?
evil forces that have caused the refugees crisis in the first place and that are opposing the refugee settlement programme.
Countries willing to take in the refugees should do so on the principle of “from each according to its ability and its past and present obligations” and not shun their responsibility and close the doors to the less fortunate. Differences in ethnicity must never be a reason for accepting or rejecting refugees.
In September 2011, I wrote in my column about the barbarity of the Assad regime and how the West and Russia were adopting double standard in dealing with Syria compared to Iraq and Libya due to their vested geopolitical and economic interests and why they were allowing the status quo to remain, despite the situation there being so untenable. And sure enough, this has allowed a new and dangerous breed of extremists, in the form of IS, to fully exploit the situation to become such a vile and barbaric movement today.
IS, with its self-professed Caliphate regime in parts of Syria and Iraq, is now the biggest terror and extremist threat the world has ever seen, even far worse than AlQaeda. The IS monster has developed not only into a regional destabilising and security threat but a global threat to peace and multiculturalism. The major powers of the UN should put aside their differences, work together and devote their military assets, firepower and educational resources in destroying the IS and its growing tentacles.
The sectarian strife in Syria and Iraq should also serve as a wake-up call to civil society in Malaysia. The Syrian boy could have been Malaysian, if we were to allow unscrupulous politicians and extremists to exploit, for example, the current leadership crisis and turn it into an ethnic and sectarian strife.
Who dare say that, if we are not careful and allow sectarian extremists to become influential here, a similar violent conflict would not happen in Malaysia, which would then force many poorer people here to leave, endure risky journeys and become refugees in other countries?
We have our fair share of the refugee problem, especially those from Myanmar and Bangladesh, which is often linked to human trafficking. The discovery of death camps used for these refugees in the border with Thailand has also shocked the public here and spurred governments in the region to do more to address the problem of human trafficking.
Whenever there is a problem of people who wish to escape from war, conflict, oppression or abject poverty of their home countries, there will always be unscrupulous syndicates ready to take advantage of the misery of these people and to purportedly “assist” these people to relocate at a huge price.
All countries need to have new and comprehensive laws and policies to deal with refugees and human traffickers, treating the former with sympathy and compassion and the latter as despicable terrorists who deserve the harshest penalties.
The twin and related problems of refugees and human trafficking require a co-ordinated and sustained national, regional and global approach to ensure justice, fair play and survival for the less fortunate.
Having compassion and helping the less fortunate when we are to do so, is what makes us “human” and a pre-requisite for having a conscience and “soul”. Otherwise, we don’t qualify to be truly humans or civilised.
The writer, the CEO of a think-tank
and strategic consultancy firm, believes that humans everywhere on Earth are like parts of the whole human body, where the suffering
of innocent humans in other countries would ultimately also hurt the entire body. Comments:
kktan@thesundaily.com