Courtney McGrailAs Irish people we should have more empathy for the plight of migrants, writes Fr Alan Hilliard
Writing and speaking on the subject of migration in Ireland falls on deaf ears most of the time, unless of course it is about tragedy that befalls Irish people abroad or the subject revolves around the plight of groups of Irish emigrants who are suffering under the weight of a seeming injustice overseas.
I am often perturbed that a country like Ireland with such a tragic history of emigration cannot draw the parallels with contemporary European migration. The simple wish to live in a place where one can find safety, security, even happiness, is the key to every migratory journey whether that is a journey out of Europe or a journey into Europe.
Our history should bring us closer to the struggle of these people and not just at the level of a warm fuzzy empathetic feeling, but a desire to change things for them. It is but a sliver of time that separates our reality from the reality of those who migrate into Europe today, but it is an expanse of privilege and politics that separates us from their need and their plight.
One has to admire Angela Merkel and her country for their decision to take in so many migrants. Whether their motivation is to replace the falling birth-rate or whether it is to set themselves up as leaders in the modern world I can’t know, but they are to be admired. Maybe people like Dr Merkel are influenced by their memory of time spent in East Germany when life was limited and political freedom was but a dream.
Embarrassment
Ireland is an embarrassment at the moment. We are couching behind political correctness to an alarming extent. I feel grossly unrepresented and unspoken for. In short, we are leaderless. A country that once prided itself as central to human rights campaigning no longer knows right from wrong. Weaving between Schengen Area diplomacy and the Common Travel Area with Britain, Ireland acts like a dysfunctional lost child.
The fear of rocking the diplomatic boat and the ongoing political positioning is evidence of a nation that has lost its moral compass. The present tactic of acting incrementally in step-by-step diplomacy bears sad tidings for those whose boats fall apart and who do not have the luxury of dying ‘incrementally’. It’s time for Ireland to act unilaterally using its history and isolation to make a difference.
This last year in Ireland many a long day and night was spent arguing and canvassing for equality; rainbows were draped everywhere. Let us remember that the original biblical rainbow was a sign to people that it was safe to leave their boat and step onto dry land.
It is also time to call Europe to task over its interests in countries that are countries of origin for many migrants. Countries where business and trade interests are supporting despotic overlords. Development aid should no longer be about easing our conscience, but it should relate directly to the security and stability of the citizens of the receiving countries, especially the poorest.
Like the recent purge of the Vatican Bank the aid budgets should be purged by Europe and aid should relate to a wide range of indicators. It’s absurd to think that our aid is encouraging migration but in certain instances it is. While aid may claim to improve the living conditions of people in various countries, efforts to transform the criminal justice systems and to address political corruption to protect the poor from violence and vicious predators has largely failed.
At a practical level, migrants who are making their way from war-torn countries should be taken unconditionally. However, if they were taken from the refugee camps that surround their home countries through resettlement agencies it would cut out the horrific journeys that people have to make and will stem the involvement of criminal gangs.
Europe should start working with surrounding countries that can negotiate peace settlements and, when the time comes, programmes can be put in place to help people return to rebuild their countries.
Mainstream political parties say they are fearful of a growth in right-wing parties due to immigration into Europe. This language permits an anti-immigrant rhetoric.
Nowhere in Europe in recent times has the rise of the right influenced major political decisions. This fear has only nudged middle ground parties from their centrist outlook and wetted the pages of newspapers. If any wing of politics is lost it’s the left as it was once called.
Devoid of economic ideology and with a distinct inability to confront the excesses of present economic models the left now finds its purpose in a cosy liberalism that has little to do with those who are disenfranchised in their own jurisdictions never mind in other parts of the world.
The divergence in local politics now reflects our global divergence which is that of a liberal elite and your ordinary Joe Soap who is trying to hold onto values that are not necessarily populist.
Unpopular
As for the Church, it’s time that it became even more unpopular. Ireland sees the Church running at an all-time low with vocations collapsing and attendances at Masses settling at historically low practice rates. The fallout from sex abuse scandals and a growing secularism has had its impact but these items alone cannot account for the mediocre Church that has been brought to attention by the bright lights of Pope Francis’ simplicity and forthrightness.
Is it not the purpose of sound doctrine and good liturgy to inspire the Catholic community to make a difference? Is not the mission of the Church to transcend tribal identities and unite all the baptised within the promise of the Kingdom?
Why can’t the Church now become infinitely more unpopular by transcending the polite politics of our nation state and become unpopular for a soundly Christian reason?
Why can’t the Church in Ireland, like in other countries become the main agent for the resettlement of refugees and asylum seekers?
Why can’t every parish in Ireland volunteer to take a family from Syria, Afghanistan or Eritrea – again not just to ease the consciences of the parishioners or to feed a ‘feel good factor’ but to educate the local community as to why migrants are forced to leave in the first place. Someone has to present those who migrate as human beings who are educated, professional and gifted and who love and cherish their families.
Is it not time to turn on the pressure on our elected representatives both at home and in Europe to stand up for what we believe? Do we need to be continuously reminded that the subsidy for every cow in Europe amounts to the per capita annual income of many millions of people in Africa or are our cows so sacred that these facts don’t matter?
I was recently at the funeral where the father of the young man who had died tragically, before his time, spoke. He thanked God that in the midst of the tragedy he felt he lived in a Christian community, a community who rallied and supported.
He asked us to pray for those who have no such community to offer support and comfort and in this vein he asked us to especially remember those who were crossing the Mediterranean. It’s strange that one in the midst of grief can think of others and others in the midst of plenty are devoid of ideas.
Fr Alan Hilliard is a priest of the Archdiocese of Dublin and the former Director of the Irish Bishops’ Commission For Emigrants