Saturday, March 27, 2004
This is a week of anniversaries. It's nearly a year since "Out of Fear" was officially finished - copyright cleared, proper titles blah, blah, blah - and just over a year since the war in Iraq started. While a year has brought many screenings and some accolades for the film, it hasn't brought much progress in the circumstances of the people I worked with on it. My collaborators, including those from Iraq are still living with the uncertainty of Temporary Protection Visas, some with current appeals for extensions or permanent residency being held in limbo for months.

I did hear some good news this week though - some of the people from Afghanistan that have been seeking asylum here have been granted permanent residency. Apparently a lot depends on the timing of their arrival in Australia but I hope this is a signal of more positive responses to come.

I went to a lecture some weeks ago given by Father Mark Raper SJ, who is Provincial of the Australian Jesuits. The lecture was titled "To Build Peace and Bring Hope" and was mainly concerned with the plight of refugees all over the world. (You can find the text of his speech here on the Australian Catholic University's website) While I didn't really come away from the lecture with much of a feeling of peace or hope there was a lot that he said that strongly resonated for me. Particularly interesting was his quoting of a letter from Senator Amanda Vanstone. Written around Christmas 2003 at the time of the hunger strike by people detained on Nauru, she asked that he “...imagine how you would feel if one of the strikers was a loved one of yours. Persuading them to end their dangerous course of action would have to be the first priority.” His reply to her is worth checking out the full text of his lecture for. Needless to say we should all encourage Senator Vanstone in developing the same kind of empathy towards people who are appealing to her compassion. If you want to drop her a line follow this link to the contact form on her website.