Tuesday 31 May 2011

The linkages the media doesn't make

Three stories on the ABC news this morning, all a cause for grief, that were related but the connection was not.

There was the report of the return to Pakistan, through Afghanistan of the body of an Afghan asylum seeker that had taken his life while in detention in Queensland. The Pakistan government had refused to have the body flown back to Pakistan. The body was flown back to Kabul and then was being transported by the family back to Quetta in Pakistan where they are now living.

This was followed by new of the death of two Australian serviceman in the past twenty four hours in Afghanistan and was preceded by a US apology for the death of between 9 and 14 children in an air raid earlier in the week.

According to the Prime Minister "we will stay the course". Of course, but what about the families who are grieving the loss of loved ones due to the ongoing war? And what about those who are suffering from a policy of detention for those seeking asylum ? A policy set by a government that is unwilling to get out and tell the truth about the extent of refugees and unwilling to make the moral argument for receiving those seeking asylum.