As the Edmund Rice Centre for Justice and Community Education we are not oblivious to the cries of refugees and people seeking asylum. Our work is shaped by presence, compassion, and liberation – all tenets of the Edmund Rice tradition.
- We are present amongst and stand in solidarity with refugees.
- We respond with compassion and refuse to accept injustice, cruelty and indifference in words, actions and policies that target people and families who seek refuge and asylum.
Doing any differently weakens our commitment and responsibilities to the international Convention and Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees we as a people and a country have signed up to. A Convention that compels us to act in a certain way including asserting that “no one shall expel or return (“refouer”) a refugee against his or her will, in any manner whatsoever, to a territory where he or she fears threats to life or freedom”.
“For me as a refugee freedom is not just being free from detention centre or prison. I will feel free and liberated when my human rights are respected, when I am treated with dignity and seen as an equal member of the society. I will feel free when I am not seen as the “other” - Farid Ghalib, our Refugee Program Coordinator.