Yet Europe (and all those US "anti war" activists of the 1970's who ignored the consequences of their activisim) forget the boat people.
Wikipedia:
The Indochina refugee crisis was the large outflow of people from the former French colonies ofIndochina, comprising the countries of Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos, after communist governments were established in 1975. Over the next 25 years and out of a total Indochinese population in 1975 of 56 million, more than 3 million people would undertake the dangerous journey to become refugees in other countries of Southeast Asia or China. Hundreds of thousands may have died in their attempt to flee. More than 2.5 million Indochinese were resettled, mostly in North America and Europe. Five hundred thousand were repatriated, either voluntarily or involuntarily.[1]
and the Pope is asking for Catholics in Europe to welcome them...of course, since Vatican II Catholicism is pretty well dead in Europe, but never mind.
Yet it was churches and charity groups who did work to resettle these Vietnamese refugees in the west
The Roman Catholic Church, given its long history with the Vietnamese people, facilitated the relocation of a large number of Vietnamese boat people through its many Orders and charities. Involved in this work was the work of the Vietnamese Refugee Office of Caritas Italiana, a major Catholic Italian charity, under the leadership of Monsignor Tran Van Hoai.
But in the US it wasn't just the Catholics: here is an article in People magazine telling ordinary Americans how to help. Lobby and give money to charities are in their list, but then there is this:
This may be the most urgent need. Unlike the earlier relocation effort after the fall of South Vietnam in 1975, agencies now recommend that groups rather than individuals sponsor new arrivals. The reason: If the responsibility is shared, there is less chance of something going awry. Convince your church, fraternal or civic group to become a sponsor. If you are not affiliated with such an organization, create one of your own with friends or neighbors. With the help of proper agencies, you and your group should be prepared at the outset to arrange for housing and jobs and to give advice on health care, language training and schools for the refugee or refugee family.
I remember when refugees were housed in old military bases, such as IndiantownGap, which was no longer an active base but used to train reserve/National Guard at the time.
And I remember how churches "adopted" families to help them in transition as they were resettled.
Thanks to propaganda, ISIS is openly bragging about their murders, but how many know about the "high death rate" in VietNam's "reeducation camps" or that Reagan arranged for the liberation of some prisoners to the USA?
Or that China resettled many ethnic Chinese (300thousand) who fled because they owned businesses and were considered the enemy, or later after the Chinese/Vietnam war made them unwelcome?
another story to remember: Although the local rich Arab states don't want to resettle these refugees, it is not just from selfish motives:( Yes, they are not integrated into these countries, and as a result, often become "fifth column" infiltrators to terrorism).
One difference is that refugees are more welcome in the USA, despite the no-nothing rhetoric of Trump and his minions.
the Europeans who moan that the US/Canada should accept more ignore the huge influx of Mexicans and Central Americans that Obama is allowing to flow essentially unregulated into the USA.
Yet once this is regulated they will also be assimilated because most Americans are prejudiced, but still are Christians in culture and willing to accept strangers, albeit grudgingly, be they refugees from the Highland cleansing, the Irish potato famine, the kulturekampf, the Nazis, the drug wars of the Americas, or just ordinary folk like most of the Mexicans living in the USA or my husband's family who want to be able to find a decent job and raise their family where they are welcome.
No comments:
Post a Comment