Morality of War Part 3
David Ahern
David is the editor of The Majellan
The displacement of thousands of Ukrainians is distressing. Families have fled their homes in terror as Russian bombs reign down and the red tanks roll in.
It is so very sad and unnecessary. War only has one outcome. There’s the victor and there’s the vanquished. And between the warring sides, hundreds if not thousands are killed and left homeless.
Already, we’ve seen thousands flee to neighbouring countries including Poland, Slovenia, Romania, Moldova, Hungary and Slovakia in what has been the biggest movement of refugees since World War 2.
Europe and the world are on edge, not knowing what will come next. The Ukrainians are digging in deep and won’t give up without a dogged fight, so this bloody conflict could drag on for months.
The death toll will only rise with each passing day and more and more Ukrainians will need shelter and a place to call home. Apart from the generosity of their neighbours, the West will need to step up, and that includes Australia.
While our recent treatment of refugees has been less than impressive, now is the time to show compassion and open our borders to the people of the Ukraine who are being overrun by an aggressive, belligerent and ‘soulless’ regime.
The UK government announced last week that their citizens can nominate an individual or family from the Ukraine to stay with them rent-free, or in another property, for at least six months. They will be able to live and work in Britain for up to three years and access healthcare, welfare and schools. Family and individual hosts will receive £350 a month and there will be no cap on the numbers arriving in the UK.
A similar arrangement exists in all European Union countries.
Australia also needs to step up to the plate. We haven’t seen a humanitarian crisis like this in more than 70 years with so many people in need of urgent assistance.
We have been a generous country to people from the four corners of the globe for a long time, recent history notwithstanding. While many people in Queensland and NSW have been hard hit by the recent floods, Australia is a wealthy country and can afford to bring in Ukrainian refugees. A similar scheme operating across the EU and Britain could be implemented here.
If bombed out buildings and the images of thousands of distraught families escaping on trains, buses and cars doesn’t move people, nothing will.
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