Daphne confronts xenophobia

Daphne Caine MHK is getting it in the neck for raising the Syrian refugee issue again. On IOM Today the comments section has gone of the scale and one Facebook site ditched comments completely they were getting so zany.

Some people say this will cost Daphne her seat at the next election and for good measure they throw in her interest in ‘feral goats’ although what that has to do with it I don’t know.

Let's be clear what was being proposed and which is now revisited is the idea of accommodating a handful of refugee families from Syria which would hardly dent the problem of refugees but would show that when global tragedy strikes we empathise with its victims. Most people don't seem to realise that the folk who mooted the idea last time were prepared to find accomodation and give resources themselves so it would for all intents and purposes have been cost neutral. The government balked at the last minute and bunged a million pounds at the problem instead.

Personally I believe that resourcing refugees near the place of flight is no bad thing as eventually most people will want to return home. Obviously sometimes the scale of the crisis is such that dispersal intervention is necessary and remember it was the UN which said it could not cope with the sheer volume of this exodus which was of biblical proportions,There was no reason at all however why both concepts could not (cannot) have been accommodated.

A big thing fuelling some xenophobia is that the refugees may be Muslim but why should that matter. I don’t know about you but when I go to the doctor or hospital if the Doc is from overseas I don’t say: “what nationality are you and what’s your religion” and if they say Muslim I don't then say ‘ok I’ll take my ingrowing toenail home’.

In any case there are a diversity of religions in Syria and as I mentioned the other day another group being persecuted (in Egypt this time) are Coptic Christians.

I saw one comment that said the refugees arriving in Europe sometimes have mobile phones - IMAGINE THAT. I mean let's be blunt before Syria was turned into a basket case by squabbling superpowers it was one of the most developed countries in the Middle East. So if they have a mobile phone with them I shudder to think what they have had to leave behind.

The angst towards Daphne I think is quite irrational and indeed I wonder if the fact she’s a WOMAN that thinks and has the temerity to swim against the tide of populism is something to do with it.

I mean let's be blunt when Bill Shimmins MHK and his Chamber chums were shouting ‘let's get rid of work permits and throw the door open’ no one said:

“That Shimmins and his Chamber cronies they’ll have the country full of Muslims and Buddhists and what not in no time we should take a stand against him”.

Let’s be clear Bill Shimmins MHK is taking a stand for ‘units of labour’ Daphne Caine MHK is taking a stand for humanity!

The whole debate around ‘let's give a home to a handful of refugee families’ is not only a bit irrational but it's also hypocritical. Personally I would rather have a Syrian refugee family next door than members of the Camorra walking round Athol Street.

Of course an argument AND IT IS A VALID ONE is that we have problems at home and we should address them. However come on let's be blunt if the government didn’t give over generous tax breaks and grants to the Chamber of Commerce and its cronies there would be more than enough to address our domestic needs. By the way don’t suggest if the Chamber didn’t get these sweeties they and their acolytes would head for greener pastures. With 7.4% growth in GDP and a government as ‘green’ as ours they are not going anywhere soon.

Anyway good for Daphne for sparking a debate at least she’s up to speed her Douglas colleague Claire Bettison MHK only just seems to have woken up to the fact the Rally has been cancelled - where’s she been Syria.

Bernard Moffatt