Four decades ago, my parents were Cambodian refugees. As high school students, they were thrown into one of the darkest chapters of humanity’s history, surviving nearly five years in forced labour camps under the Khmer Rouge genocide. An estimated 2.7 million of my kin perished during that time. Fortunately for my family, they were accepted under Australia’s humanitarian program and arrived in Australia on 26 January, a date heavy with complexity for Australian identity, and our refugee story became another layer within it.
The 'Guardian' appears to have managed to pick a solid, genuine refugee for a change, astonishingly enough. I wonder why?
Volunteers from around the world stepped into the chaos where states, borders and institutions had failed. Among them were nurses from the US who gave their time, skill and care in conditions few would willingly choose. One nurse, in particular, took my parents under her wing. She helped them navigate medical checks, paperwork, survival and dignity. She cared for them, and for me, as if we were her own family. She was from Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Ah, I see why now.
Four decades later, another Minnesotan nurse would lose his life supporting migrants in distress. Alex Pretti was shot by ICE agents and made the ultimate sacrifice in service to others.
No, made it to an ideology pretty much the same as that your parents once fled from.
I watched this unfold on the news in horror, sitting side by side in front of the television with the nurse who had saved my family’s life. Sandra Evenson, a humble Minnesotan nurse...
And drawing some sort of parallel, erroneously.
We are living through a time when migrants and refugees are increasingly dehumanised, politicised and reduced to slogans. In the US, aggressive ICE raids, including in Minnesota, have torn families apart in the name of enforcement and spectacle. Fear has become a tool of governance. In Australia, far-right groups are undermining the very fabric of our social and economic success, and one of the cornerstones of our regional security: multiculturalism.
Who are these dreamers, these creators of obvious fiction in service to a failed ideology?
Rathana Chea is CEO of the Multicultural Leadership Initiative and co-CEO of global social impact consultancy The Rathana Group, co-chair of Asian Australians for Climate Solutions and on the board of New York-based Mobilisation Lab
Oh. Of course.
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