Stateless exposes the Heartless

I watched the brilliantly harrowing Netflix series Stateless. Pluck up the courage and watch it too.

Stateless depicts the abject cruelty being inflicted on refugees incarcerated indefinitely in Australia’s pernicious detention centres.

Refugees are not criminals. They are people who have the legal right to seek “asylum” – safety and protection - fleeing war and persecution in their homelands.

These law-abiding citizens – farmers, doctors, teachers and shopkeepers – are parents desperate to protect their children and half of them are unaccompanied kids running from life-threatening dangers.

These innocent people are driven from their homelands by catastrophic wars perpetrated by corrupt governments with deep pockets for bombs. In the last 20 years, the US, UK and Australian governments have relentlessly killed millions and destroyed Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria and Yemen. And they’ve supplied arms to countless other regimes to use against their own people.

Don’t feel too smug in your sense of security. It could be you or me left homeless and stateless, on the run seeking refuge and kindness.

According to Google there are 26 million refugees worldwide. But Stateless claims there are 70 million displaced people globally.

A Warm, Friendly Welcome, Aussie-style

This compelling six-part series rips back the shroud of secrecy to reveal the cruelty of rigid Australian Government policy started under the heartless Howard regime, 1996 – 2007.

Liberal Prime Minister John Howard was a bland and boring little man but he had a hidden power: bureaucratic policy-makers who invented xenophobic slogans such as “border protection” and instilled paranoia and racism in easy-going Aussies. Protection from what, you may well ask?

Australia takes around 12,000 refugees a year! This tiny figure is no threat to anyone or anything. With Australia’s wide-open spaces and crying need for reliable workers, the spectacular massive continent has plenty to go around.

The government’s stubborn, iron-fisted approach to refugees is ironic in contrast to post-war policy that enticed migrants to its promising shores to provide willing labour for the fledgling manufacturing economy.

I grew up in Melbourne’s working class suburb of Footscray surrounded by fascinating Italian families whose backyards flourished with veggies gardens, fragrant basil and noisy hens, where grandmas sang as they bottled homemade tomato sauce.

Enthusiastic migrants from Europe in the 50s and 60s enriched narrow-minded Australian culture, isolated and cut-off from the rest of the world.

Living on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast in the 90s and noughties, I was a member of Buddies, a group offering friendship to refugees living in appalling conditions in a detention centre on Nauru, a tiny, sweltering Pacific Island, where refugees’ dreams of a better life evaporated.

Many of Australia’s notorious detention centres have been closed while new ones have opened, being operated by the British company Serco, with fingers in many pies.

Who can blame refugees for dreaming of a better life in sunny Australia with vivid blue skies, beautiful surf beaches and backyard barbies of friendly, rowdy Aussies clutching ice cold beers and paper plates loaded with salad and sausages.

Aren’t we all just chasing a better life?

The True State of Detention

Stateless exposes the wilful ineptitude of the Immigration System as piles of Asylum applications gather dust on deserted desks while hopeful refugees “wait”, trapped in endless purgatory for their cases to be assessed.

The elusive Visa is dangled like a golden carrot, the promise of freedom and redemption.

This institutionalised torture leads to unbearable suffering, despair, self-harm and suicides. How did my country become so cruel? Was it always this cruel? How can citizens turn a blind eye?

Stateless exposes the sadistic brutality of some guards, devoid of empathy and compassion, who violently assault vulnerable men for having the courage to fight back.

Stateless shows the moral compromise of good guys who become guards to earn a high income to support their families in style, succumbing to the lure of the spacious home with a swimming pool. For Cam, the motivation to keep his job and be an impressive provider overrides his humanity.

Stateless portrays ambitious, smart-suited female managers who’ve clawed their way to the top, divested of nurturing instincts, trying to uphold the hollow rhetoric of “policy” in the face of human misery.

Stateless weaves a disturbing tale of a young Australian woman, who winds up in this soul-destroying hell-hole of despair. She is psychotic after traumatic abuse in a cult. Sofie shows us the fragility of the human psyche. Abuse and misuse of power are everywhere.

These days I live in the UK with around 126,000 refugees and around 45,000 asylum cases pending. That’s a small fraction of population of 65 million. And yet the Conservative Government has a nasty policy of deliberately creating a “hostile environment” for innocent people fleeing persecution and wars (they support).  

I help young refugees make a new life here in a quiet corner of their promised land. I believe in dreams. I believe we are all one race; the human race, and we have one home, Planet Earth.  

I’m Not Scared. I’m Angry

A friend of mine is accusing me of being fear-stricken and suddenly obsessed with conspiracy theories. He’s worried I’m losing my mind.

But I’m not scared for myself – about my health or finances. I’m in a relatively secure situation.

I’m angry – freaking furious – on behalf of everyone else. I’m angry about the impact this bizarre Global Lockdown is having on millions of people, our human rights, the future of the economy and our precious planet.

I’m angry because…

Millions of people’s jobs and businesses are being destroyed and they’re facing financial ruin. Just one heart-breaking example is the plant growers across the UK are being forced to destroy £200 million worth of beautiful spring plants due to the closure of garden centres;

Millions of kids are being stopped from going to school and university, disrupting their studies and exams, ambitions and dreams;

The UK parliament has just passed legislation to restrict our civil liberties and human rights. Today I witnessed police officers admonish an elderly couple sitting peacefully on a park bench. Their ‘crime’ was sitting together in the sunshine, as only exercise is permitted under the new laws!

All sorts of harmful legislation is being pushed through parliament while the whole population is under House Arrest, including the destruction of ancient woodlands for the building of the new High Speed Rail Network (HS2), despite mass protests from concerned residents and environmentalists.

All cultural life is being destroyed; the right to travel, the enjoyment of cafes, restaurants, pubs, shops, public venues, musical shows, festivals (such as Glastonbury and Edinburgh and countless others), exciting sporting events (such as the much-loved Wimbledon tennis), social gatherings of families and friends. Special once-in-a-lifetime celebrations, such as weddings and births, have been ruined by dictatorial governments all around the world;

The Tokyo Olympics have been cancelled, after years of training by elite athletes;

The gala event celebrating the wonderful life of Sir David Attenborough, to be held on April 16 at the Royal Albert Hall and streamed to cinemas around the country has been cancelled;

The good work of countless charities and environmental campaigns has been suspended and damaged by the Lockdown;

GP visits and hospital treatments for people with serious medical needs, such as cancer, are being postponed because of the Virus Panic;  

The fear of catching or spreading a Virus has created a new world order of “social distancing” causing suspicion and distrust of our fellow human beings;

Forced isolation and imminent poverty through a global recession will have a devastating impact on millions of fragile and vulnerable people;

That the mainstream media and legions of dutiful experts are spouting the official propaganda about the Coronavirus Pandemic (when 500,000 people die of the Flu every year without even being reported);

That the vast majority of the world’s population are believing the story about the enormity of the danger of the Virus, are terrified and complying with the Global Lockdown and willingly surrendering their rights.

I’m angry that more people aren’t angry.

I’m angry that this Conservative Government under Boris, who just a few months ago was widely considered a devious, power-hungry buffoon, is now being trusted and revered as a national hero, is SPOILING OUR LIVES.

We should be celebrating the arrival of spring with the blooming of cheerful daffodils and carpets of bluebells in the English woodlands, with fun and laughter and joyful activity in our beautiful parks as everyone emerges from the gloom of winter. 

This inescapable, intrusive Tory Government spoiled our lives for three years during the Brexit fiasco. Then they spoiled the festive fun of Christmas with a vicious December election and party broadcasts ad nauseam.

And just as life is getting back to normal at the start of a promising new decade; just when we thought we could tune out the noise of this awful government, they lock us up and shut down the entire economy.

We all just want to get on with our lives. We are longing for normality. We want to live in peace, caring for our families, minding our own business, as law-abiding citizens, without government interference. 

When voters handed power to Boris and his mob, we imagined the government would get on with their job of managing the country in our best interests. We didn't imagine them controlling our lives.   

Something has gone horribly wrong. I’m not scared. I’m angry. 

Two Narratives and Three Coping Strategies for these Frightening Times

There are two distinct narratives about the coronavirus pandemic lockdown circulating in mainstream and social media.

One is the official line – that a deadly virus is threatening humanity and responsible governments around the world have locked down citizens and all normal life to stop the spread.

This narrative evokes three psychological reactions as coping strategies:

1.    Emotional reaction. Many people have become extremely fearful of catching and spreading the virus and are following the self-isolation and social distancing directives to the letter. They trust the government, the same governments that lie and manipulate people and enact harmful legislation. They have started to distrust other people around them and get angry at those who break the rules and selfishly venture outside their homes. They are living in hope that a vaccine will be developed soon.

2.    Practical action. Many people such as medical doctors and nurses and hospital staff, community workers and volunteers and good neighbours are swinging into action to help and care for the sick and vulnerable. They are heroic and genuine people who have risen to the challenge of helping others in this crisis.

3.    Positive Mental Attitude. Many other people are practising self-care while confined to their homes – healthy eating, exercise, meditation, yoga, being creative with music, poetry, art and humour and sharing videos on social media encouraging and supporting others. Others offer spiritual comfort and prayers. They are seeing the lockdown of human activity as positive for the natural environment and dreaming of a future when this ordeal is over and we have learned from the experience and create a utopian world.

Being Positive 

Another Way of Seeing This  

The second narrative is that the coronavirus is less dangerous than the common flu, which has for many years killed multitudes of people.

 This view claims governments are using the Coronavirus Pandemic to justify shutting down normal life, putting citizens under house arrest and introducing an authoritarian police state to control ordinary citizens. Why? This narrative claims governments are puppets of greater powers, a hidden Ruling Elite, that has several agendas. There are many theories about what exactly these agendas are from bringing in harmful 5G technology, mandatory vaccines, depopulation and mass control.

Police given new powers

This narrative claims governments have taken away our right to work and earn an income, our right to socialise and our freedom of movement. The Ruling Elite aims to deliberately trigger a global recession, or worse, a depression.

Impact of the Coronavirus hoax on poor people in India

This narrative also evokes the three psychological coping strategies in those who believe this.

1.    Emotional reaction. Many people go into disbelief and denial. No rational person wants to believe their government is malevolent and capable of an elaborate, orchestrated deception with the intention of controlling and harming everyone. This would make those in power sociopaths!

Other people become outraged and want to fight back against the forces of evil. Some of us feel confident and empowered by seeing through the hoax and refusing to succumb to fear. Still others with fragile mental health can slip into paranoid obsessions about whacky conspiracy theories and suffer psychosis.

2.    Practical actions. Those who believe this narrative will research and gather information and share knowledge with others on social media. They will become activists and stage protests against the government and risk ridicule and hateful attacks from those who believe the official narrative and worse, punishment by the new police state.

3.    Positive Mental Attitude. Believers of this narrative have faith and hope in the power of the people to rise up and overthrow corrupt governments. They believe that when enough people know the truth, the majority will take back power and reinstate democratic governments that genuinely care about humanity, animals and the planet.

Your Choice 

Which narrative are you choosing to believe? Who’s telling the truth, who’s telling lies? The government and mainstream media mob or that crazy conspiracy theory mob? What coping strategies are you adopting?

While most of our choices have been taken away from us in this bizarre Orwellian far-fetched reality, we can still choose what to believe, who to trust and how to response.

I believe Narrative Two. And I’m choosing empowerment over fear, freedom over submission and spreading information as a coping strategy.