Then there's the wrong way

Let’s just say you’re in a bad situation in your home country. You take a trip and, perhaps through dramatic means, you manage to infiltrate the country of your dreams, the place where you feel you can live safely and achieve a happy life.

It’s not that simple, however. Your dream country has laws concerning who it allows to enter and, more particularly, who it allows to stay and take up residency. In the meantime, according to your dream country’s policies, you remain in a detention center specifically for people seeking asylum. You will stay there while your appeal for asylum is considered.

OK, not exactly the way you saw it working out in your dream, but it’s still a step in the right direction. Meanwhile, you have the chance to prove what a wonderful addition you will be to your dream country. Goodness, it would be crazy to not want you, right?

Time drags on, you start to worry a bit and then ... a couple of your fellow detainees supposedly get word their requests for visas have been denied. They start to make a scene. Others join in and, before you know it, approximately a fourth of the detainees are caught up in a protest.

And we’re not talking peaceful resistance here.

Buildings are set afire. Nine structures are gutted. Detainees perched on rooftops hurl roof tiles and furniture at those fighting the fires.

I’m not likely to make up such a scenario. No, it’s real and it’s still playing out in Sydney, Australia. Just who started it and who participated are questions yet to be answered by immigration officials, but there’s one thing you and I have already figured out.

There is no way protesting – rioting, really – can help someone trying to win favor with the local government. They must wonder if you’re seeking asylum because you cannot get along wherever you live.

Certainly, there may be underlying story lines worthy of consideration: mental illness, living conditions or a process moving too slowly, for example. However, the idea of setting buildings on fire is never a good idea. Those involved will now have a tough time finding any place to live out their dreams.
(c) 2011 by Steve Martaindale