{"id":29780,"date":"2015-09-10T14:14:33","date_gmt":"2015-09-10T04:14:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nofibs.com.au\/?p=29780"},"modified":"2019-04-13T23:54:25","modified_gmt":"2019-04-13T13:54:25","slug":"compassionistas-vs-christianistas-choosing-refugees-based-on-religion-highly-unusual-qldaah-auspol","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.nofibs.com.au\/compassionistas-vs-christianistas-choosing-refugees-based-on-religion-highly-unusual-qldaah-auspol\/","title":{"rendered":"Compassionistas Vs Christianistas: Choosing refugees based on religion highly unusual \u2013 @Qldaah #auspol"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Qldaah\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\" size-full wp-image-26586 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nofibs.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/JadedQldWeekly1Sm.jpg?resize=163%2C163\" alt=\"The Qld Weekly - No Fibs\" width=\"163\" height=\"163\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/archive.nofibs.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/JadedQldWeekly1Sm.jpg?w=163&amp;ssl=1 163w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/archive.nofibs.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/JadedQldWeekly1Sm.jpg?resize=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 163px) 100vw, 163px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><em>The Australian&#8217;s<\/em> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/chriskkenny\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Chris Kenny<\/a> has\u00a0used the word &#8220;compassionistas&#8221; to decry\u00a0people of &#8220;moral vanity&#8221; who responded to the current Syrian refugee crisis yet seemingly ignored the deaths at sea under the Rudd-Gillard-Rudd Government.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nofibs.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/CompassionistasVsChristianistas.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-29790 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nofibs.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/CompassionistasVsChristianistas-300x150.jpg?resize=300%2C150\" alt=\"Australia choosing refugees based on religious or ethnic background unprecedented, says UNHCR.\" width=\"300\" height=\"150\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/archive.nofibs.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/CompassionistasVsChristianistas.jpg?resize=300%2C150&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/archive.nofibs.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/CompassionistasVsChristianistas.jpg?resize=600%2C300&amp;ssl=1 600w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/archive.nofibs.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/CompassionistasVsChristianistas.jpg?w=800&amp;ssl=1 800w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">Kenny\u00a0wrote, &#8220;The moral poseurs \u2013 or compassionistas as I have called them \u2013 are at pains to show us their compassionate virtue but they offer no practical solutions to a difficult policy issue.&#8221; <a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.theaustralian.news.com.au\/chriskenny\/index.php\/theaustralian\/comments\/explaining_the_essence_of_the_compassionista\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Read more.<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">Much of the debate over Twitter in recent days has been around how compassionate a nation Australia is. <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/OzRefugeeCounc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The Refugee Council of Australia<\/a> agreed with <em>The Daily Telegraph<\/em> columnist <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/mirandadevine\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Miranda Devine<\/a> that Australia was the most generous but only if you precluded from the statistics all the\u00a0countries hosting refugees.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" width=\"500\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Only when you preclude all the countries hosting refugees eg 1.6 m in Turkey. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/vbbhWDJVSc\">https:\/\/t.co\/vbbhWDJVSc<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/IqxvpbEpba\">https:\/\/t.co\/IqxvpbEpba<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Refugee Council (@OzRefugeeCounc) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/OzRefugeeCounc\/status\/640830135407525888\">September 7, 2015<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">Devine later backed down to claim Australia as\u00a0third most generous in the Compassionista Olympics.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" width=\"500\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/mickolosophy\">@mickolosophy<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JulianBurnside\">@JulianBurnside<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/copywriterblog\">@copywriterblog<\/a> well, go on raw numbers, then. Little Australia, third most generous overall.<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Miranda Devine (@mirandadevine) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/mirandadevine\/status\/641509931984687104\">September 9, 2015<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">Yet despite Australia&#8217;s\u00a0compassionate nature, the push appears to be on for the country\u00a0to take in Christian refugees over other groups. Syrian Christians make up about 10 percent of the population, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cia.gov\/library\/publications\/the-world-factbook\/geos\/sy.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Central Intelligence Agency reports<\/a>. Both Liberal\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SenatorAbetz\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Senator Eric Abetz<\/a> and Liberal\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/corybernardi\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Senator Cory Bernardi<\/a> have backed the move\u00a0for Christians to be given priority due their heightened level of persecution.\u00a0Sydney\u2019s Catholic Archbishop Anthony Fisher also called for Christians to go to the front of the queue.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" width=\"500\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">&#39;Fleeing Christians should go to the front of the queue&#39;. <a href=\"http:\/\/t.co\/oKeuIjHuOM\">http:\/\/t.co\/oKeuIjHuOM<\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/t.co\/6wr1zT4WWB\">pic.twitter.com\/6wr1zT4WWB<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; The Australian (@australian) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/australian\/status\/641174217736609793\">September 8, 2015<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_29783\" style=\"width: 200px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/ClmfuAXyDXs\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-29783\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-29783\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nofibs.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/CoryBernardi.jpg?resize=190%2C106\" alt=\"Senator Cory Bernardi says Christians take priority, Aylan Kurdi's family not in danger.\" width=\"190\" height=\"106\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-29783\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Senator Cory Bernardi says Christians take priority, Aylan Kurdi&#8217;s family not in danger.<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"attachment_29785\" style=\"width: 200px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/Six08XSWWCQ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-29785\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-29785\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nofibs.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/AbetzChristians.jpg?resize=190%2C103\" alt=\"&quot;Christians are the most persecuted group in the world&quot; says Senator Eric Abetz.\" width=\"190\" height=\"103\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-29785\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">&#8220;Christians are the most persecuted group in the world&#8221; says Senator Eric Abetz.<\/p><\/div>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">However, Chief Communications &amp; Spokesperson for the United Nations High Commission for Refugees\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/melissarfleming\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Melissa Fleming<\/a>\u00a0said that selecting people on the basis of religion or ethnic background would be unprecedented.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">She told <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ABC_NewsRadio\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">ABC News radio<\/a> that,\u00a0&#8220;We operate under a completely non discriminatory basis.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">&#8220;It is up to the individual country to screen the candidates that UNHCR has put forward but we&#8217;ve never had a case where countries were systemically only choosing people based on their religious or ethnic backgrounds,&#8221; she said.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.abc.net.au\/newsradio\/content\/s4309692.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Listen back to Melissa Fleming here.<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">In his press conference announcement, Prime Minister\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TonyAbbottMHR\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tony Abbott<\/a>\u00a0didn&#8217;t specify any particular groups that would be preferenced as\u00a0part of the 12,000 Syrian refugees destined for Australia. He did say that the most persecuted women, children and families would be transferred\u00a0from refugee camps in Lebanon, Turkey and Jordan.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">UNHCR&#8217;s Melissa Fleming agreed that taking refugees from Syria&#8217;s neighbours\u00a0was the best strategy.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">&#8220;Resettlement prevents people from having to take dangerous journeys and risk their lives,&#8221; she said.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">&#8220;We wouldn&#8217;t be asking for a relocation into other countries outside of Europe of those who have all ready made it to Europe. We believe [that of] those who have made it to Europe, that is an European responsibility on the continent. There should be [a] relocation to European countries on a mandatory basis.&#8221;<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_29792\" style=\"width: 200px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/hAG7Ln3EO6U\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-29792\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-29792 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nofibs.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/TA12000.jpg?resize=190%2C104\" alt=\"Prime Minister Tony Abbott: Australia to take 12k Syrian refugees from Lebanon, Turkey and Jordan.\" width=\"190\" height=\"104\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-29792\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Prime Minister Tony Abbott: Australia to take 12k Syrian refugees from Lebanon, Turkey and Jordan.<\/p><\/div>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify\">Update 1 (September 10, 2015) \u2013 Scott Morrison calls for Christians first<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/shalailah\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Shalailah Medhora<\/a> reports, &#8220;A second senior government minister has reiterated that Christians will be the focus of the government\u2019s 12,000 humanitarian intake from Syria, as the prime minister, Tony Abbott moves to reassure the community that all persecuted minorities will be considered for resettlement.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;text-align: justify\">On Wednesday, Abbott announced that Australia would resettle 12,000 refugees fleeing the conflict in Syria and Iraq, on top of the existing 13,750 humanitarian intake.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;text-align: justify\">The social services minister, Scott Morrison, said Christian Syrians would make up the bulk of the intake.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;text-align: justify\">\u201cMiddle Eastern Christians have been run out of town in the Middle East now for many years and that is why our government right from the outset has had a much higher priority focus on those persecuted minorities in the Middle East which are predominately Christian and that is where our focus will be,\u201d Morrison told reporters.&#8221;:\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/australia-news\/2015\/sep\/10\/scott-morrison-says-christians-will-be-focus-of-australias-refugee-intake\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Scott Morrison says Christians will be focus of Australia&#8217;s refugee intake.<\/a><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ScottMorrisonMP\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Scott Morrison<\/a> states, &#8220;Middle Eastern Christians that have been run out of town in the Middle East now for many years and that is why our government right from the outset has had a much higher priority focus on those persecuted minorities in the Middle East which are predominately Christian and that is where our focus will be.&#8221;:\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/scottmorrison.dss.gov.au\/transcripts\/doorstop-interview-10\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Doorstop interview &#8211;\u00a010 September 2015.<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Update 2 (September 10, 2015) \u2013\u00a0UNHCR Melissa Fleming responds<\/h2>\n<p>UNHCR&#8217;s Melissa Fleming has responded to <em>NoFibs<\/em>.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" width=\"500\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">UNHCR&#39;s resettlement selection is based on specific needs &amp; vulnerabilities, not on any other factors.  <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/wNGKoa7Wq2\">https:\/\/t.co\/wNGKoa7Wq2<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Melissa Fleming (@melissarfleming) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/melissarfleming\/status\/641881265944268801\">September 10, 2015<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><br \/>\n-Ends<\/p>\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Australian&#8217;s Chris Kenny has\u00a0used the word &#8220;compassionistas&#8221; to decry\u00a0people of &#8220;moral vanity&#8221; who responded to the current Syrian refugee crisis yet seemingly ignored the deaths at sea under the Rudd-Gillard-Rudd Government. Kenny\u00a0wrote, &#8220;The moral poseurs \u2013 or compassionistas as I have called them \u2013 are at pains to show us their compassionate virtue but [&hellip;]<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on get_the_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on get_the_excerpt --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":29790,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[3434,1986,118,1101,7,62,585,73,2205,40],"tags":[2601,123,2729,2731,179,2006,2733,2728,327,2730,2502,2732,2578,2697,470,479],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/archive.nofibs.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/CompassionistasVsChristianistas.jpg?fit=800%2C400&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3t0mw-7Kk","jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.nofibs.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29780"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.nofibs.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.nofibs.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.nofibs.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/26"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.nofibs.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29780"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/archive.nofibs.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29780\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.nofibs.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29790"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.nofibs.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29780"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.nofibs.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29780"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.nofibs.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29780"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}