You were once sojourners and they’re humans don’t mistreat them.
A haunting spectre for all ages!

Now that there are crises all over the world, many do not know the direction the world is heading to, whether it is fake news media, America first! Or alternative facts! This is the time to hold hands together to assure the younger generations that the future is bright. There is no better way to do this than the richer world of today to accommodate and give a helping hand to refugees fleeing persecutions and suffering.

‘You were once sojourners,’ was an instruction given by God through Moses to the people of Israel. In his 1912 book, ‘The Problems Of Philosophy,’ Bertrand Russell highlighted that the biggest catastrophes usually come as a complete surprise to us. Catastrophes usually strike completely without warning. Time has come for us to question things we take for granted.

Figures coming from Charities for Refugees show millions are suffering as the world is facing worst refugee crisis since second world war. This is not another liberal platitude but a true reflection of hunger and misery going on in the world. Though the desperate situation we have today is completely different from the one we had during 1945.

What are the unexpected events in our lives? Many times warning from history or past events seem hopelessly misleading until one puts them into perspective. When you look at them the right way they are so improbable. They seem absurd and contradictory. To many it is unthinkable. The principle of improbability says that “highly improbable events are commonplace.” Recent events like Brexit and Trump’s victory all point to the fact that things you thought were rare and unlikely to happen do flash out. On one occasion, I bumped into a friend at Elephant and Castle. In my lifetime I thought I would never meet him again, here we go, holding ourselves reminiscing on our past.

We should never turn our face the other way when we see people suffering. Certain consequences of probability with how we see the world, mean that unthinkable events are not far away. Just like day is not far off from night so we are not immune from one crisis or disaster. Countries and continents do suffer from one mishap to another, Western world should not close their borders from fleeing Refugees because they have legitimate right to be rehoused or rehabilitated. It is morally reprehensible to leave suffering people to their fate. Those fleeing their countries as a result of wars or political unrest, persecution, misery, storm and hunger deserve all the help and empathy we can give them. These situations and circumstances are beyond their control, they probable did not bring these hardships and destructive actions to themselves. This is where we should all draw the line. Remember you were once sojourners or had been in difficulty and were rescued. All you need to do is go through your history. Remember that events so improbable that you wouldn’t expect to see in the history of the world or at least not within our time is highly likely to happen. Would you expect them to treat you in kind?

Humans are short-sighted, not up to a century, Hitler rose to power in Germany and brought the world to a standstill by killing millions of Jews and other races. Or have the world forgotten George Orwellian time, when the old were reduced to hopelessness, unemployment rose to frightful level. There was a time London was a capital of misery, Ted Willis ( writer of TV’s Dixon Of Dock Green) when mothers often snatched food meant for their children to give their neighbours, telling them to stop whinging and whining. You’re hungry! They are starving! The world should not forget the 2008 financial crisis that its devastating impact is still on the world today. Leaders of Western world should not be flexing their muscles by chiselling out toxic policies that would affect the people both at home and abroad.

The world needs visionary leaders now than ever. The world is in dearth of dynamic political leaders that is why we have more animosity and political upheaval than ever. Today we are constantly debating on our TV, Newspapers, social media and government houses whether to admit refugees or not. This is ridiculous and shameful.

In absence of vision people perish. We now have leaders who are more concerned with their own agendas and prejudices than the actual protection of their citizens and the world in general. Leaders who are inattentive and undermine the social fabrics that made us all humans. They inadvertently ignore the plights of their subjects and world’s peace without realising that whatever goes around comes around. The evil one does today will come haunting them tomorrow.

Ignorant leaders see things only in black and white. They rely on the myth of evil and are strongly influenced by their own self interests. And they fail to balance the needs of their own country and the needs of the other countries. They never show any compassion to other races and neither do they have courage to change things positively in a long run. My advice remains the same instruction God gave to Moses to the people of Israel: “You were once sojourners.” We cannot prepare ourselves enough for the things that can happen. This is the world’s dilemma. ‘You can’t shake hands with a clinched fist,’ according Indira Gandhi The refugees need your help.