Philip Ruddock (Berowra, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Can I thank the member for Fowler for raising the matter of religious minorities in Iraq. I have over a long period of time associated myself with Sabean Mandaeans, Assyrians, Chaldeans and the Aramaic speakers generally, not because they are in my electorate but because they do have a very significant place in our community in Sydney. I had the opportunity of visiting many refugees in Jordan and Syria and I had the great privilege of being able to provide places within our refugee and special humanitarian program for people in need of resettlement in Australia who had fled Iraq.

Let me just make a couple of points about this debate, because I do not think it should be taken out of context. In my discussions with people in the region, particularly from the Middle East Council of Churches, I found a very real awareness of the plight that Christians have been suffering. But the council also made the point very strongly that we would not want to preside over essentially Christians being driven out of the Middle East generally. This has very real repercussions not just for Iraq but also for Syria, where many of the Eastern churches have their patriarchs and where some of these issues are arising now. The same issues arise in Egypt, where 10 per cent of the population, almost 10 million as I understand it, are Egyptian Coptic Christians. And so it is important, I think, to see these matters in the broader perspective. This is not about seeing Christians driven from the Middle East; it is about accommodating those who have had need to flee.

It is also important to understand that this is not a new issue. Christians were fleeing Saddam Hussein. Many of the people I met were people who had fled long before 2003. I do not wish to make an issue of it, but to suggest that our part in dealing with this issue is predicated only on having been part of the 'coalition of the willing' that got rid of Saddam Hussein would, I think, be hanging it on the wrong peg. Equally I would make the point that many of us who were involved in some of the decision making had a much wider perspective than just issues of weapons of mass destruction being potentially harboured by Saddam Hussein. I have to say from my own point of view, as one who participated in some of those decisions at an earlier point in time, it was the horrific gassing of his own population that had a far greater impact upon me. It was his lack of humanity for his own population that was a very real and substantial concern. But I do not make a debate about that. I simply want to be associated with a resolution that makes it clear that for more than 2,000 years religious groups have called Iraq their home, and they are fine people who are entitled to be able to exercise their choice to practise their religion as they see fit. Such provision is made in the Iraqi Constitution today but the concern as you go through and look at events that have occurred even in 2009 and 2010 is that many attacks do occur. I have got a schedule of incidents of violence that have been perpetrated against Christians, against Sabean Mandaeans, where people have been bombed, where they have been killed. Obviously it is those acts of terrorism, which may not be directed against them because of their religion but are directed against them, certainly not by the state, that can often bring people to a point where they flee.

I think it is very important to know that the Assyrians and the Chaldeans and the Syriac people are descendants of the ancient Assyrian nation that occupied much of modern-day Iraq. They trace their roots back to more than history as we understand it. I think we have been enriched by having those people settle in Australia and able to talk with us about so much of their history and the importance of it. The Sabean Mandaeans I find particularly interesting. We all know of John the Baptist but we do not realise often that there are specific people who identify around him and who claim descent from his teachings. They are monotheistic, they are identified with the Sabean religion and are believed to have developed out of the mainstream Sabean religious community. The Mandaeans have applied the term Sabean Mandaean to themselves and they have become known by Muslims under this term. There are estimates that something of the order of 60,000 and 70,000 Sabean Mandaeans are around the world and still adherents to that religion. So I think it is very appropriate that today we have an opportunity to note the importance of these religions, to note that Australia can play a part where people have been subjected to horrendous acts of persecution. We know that they have been bombed, we know they have been murdered and we know that there is extortion.

Relevant to the numbers of people involved, I heard the honourable member speak of that and I noted that the Americans, because there are no census data available, have suggested that prior to the 2003 period Christians estimated their numbers of followers to be between 800,000 and 1.4 million. Currently they suggest it ranges between 400,000 and 600,000. These are very significant numbers. They may not be necessarily the one million that the member refers to I think in his motion or in his own discussion of this issue, but nevertheless they are very significant indeed. It is the case that it is highly unlikely that all of those people are going to be able to be resettled. Many of them have fled into other parts of the Middle East. While I would like to see them comprising a very significant proportion of our continuing resettlement program, I have to say that the special humanitarian program which many identify with and want to sponsor their own relatives is under enormous stress because of the unauthorised boat arrivals, and that is leading to many people being extremely disappointed that there are not places for them within the special humanitarian program. I think this reinforces the view that I hold very strongly that managing our borders is of particular importance because it enables us to focus on those people who need help most and to do so in an objective way. It is the case that many Christians, many Sabean Mandaeans, are sheltering in Syria, in Jordan and in other parts of the Middle East and they believe they cannot safely return home. I think it is important that Australia continues to play a role in ensuring that resettlement options are available for them. As I mentioned in the initial stage of my remarks, it was a great privilege to have an opportunity to see the circumstances in which many of these people were living in Damascus and in Amman. It was a great privilege to be able to play a part in ensuring that many were resettled here in Australia under our refugee and humanitarian program.

As has been noted by the member for Fowler, those who have come and made Australia their home have made a very significant contribution to this nation and will continue to do so positively. I think we are enriched when we are able to focus on our own religion and to understand its many roots and the different elements of our heritage—whether it be Catholic, orthodox or even Protestant—in places like Iraq and Syria. I commend the member for raising the matter and I hope Australia can continue to play a positive role in dealing with the problems that religious minorities are facing, not only in Iraq but in the Middle East generally.

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