White South African Farmers Could Be Given Refugee Visas to Australia?
Today, on the train to work, I read an article on the West Australian news site titled:
"Australian Government considers refugee visas to white South African Farmers amid violence."
For the 2016/17 report (PDF) on farm attacks and murders in South Africa, compiled by Afriforum, click here, and have a look at the stats.
Farm attacks in South Africa have been going on for years, and years, getting more and more violent and barbaric, and yet no country has ever considered accepting farmers into their countries as refugees. So why the change now? Is it really that bad, and has is gotten worse recently? Is there a risk of these attacks escalating even more in the near future? What does Australia have to gain from this?
I suspect many will say "No, things will get better." There will be those on the other side saying "Yes, and it will get worse still!" It all depends on what you see as an acceptable level of violence, attacks and murders targeted directly at the white farming community of South Africa. To me there is no "acceptable level" under any circumstance, especially when it comes to those people working for the good of the country, growing the food that you eat every day.
The recent goings on in the South African Parliament, with discussion around expropriation of land without compensation, and the possibility of changing the constitution to allow such measures, do not provide much assurance that South Africa is not going down the same destructive path we have seen other countries walk. Even with a new President at the helm of the country, the machine doesn't seem to be changing direction in any way.
If Australia does open its doors to white South African farmers, there would have to be something in it for her, surely? Yes. There is a well documented history of a shortage of skilled labour in the agriculture sector in Australia, and the current visa system in place doesn't seem to be helping get those skills to where they are needed. Would these farmers coming into Australia take the jobs of the local population here? Most likely not. What it would do is bring much needed skills to areas where there are shortages of skilled farm workers, and help to boost the productivity and economy of those areas. It sounds like a pretty sweet deal!
It remains to be seen whether the Australian Government will do more than just consider taking in white South African farmers under a special humanitarian visa program, and what knock-on affect that could have on both countries. If a humanitarian migration plan is implemented, this could send South Africa into a very dark place.
The question I have is whether it has gotten so dangerous to be a white farmer in South Africa, that governments are starting to consider humanitarian migration options for them. It paints a dire picture for the future of the agriculture sector, and indeed for minority groups in South Africa in general, in what has the potential to be a great country. Another question is whether white South African farmers are getting to the point where they are living in such fear that they would consider such a move.
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If nothing else, I hope the attention of the world on South Africa's violent crime problem makes the South African Government more proactive in trying to fix the problem. A good start would be to stop inciting violence against farmers with the vitriolic and hate-fueled "Kill the farmer" chants that sprout from some leaders' mouths. It needs to start at the top, and I hope it does soon.
I moved to Australia almost 9 years ago for a better life for my family. I love returning to South Africa to visit my family. It is an awesome country to visit. But I also see, and am saddened by, how on edge people are, and how security conscious you need to be there. I feel very fortunate to be living in the relative peace and freedom of Australia. I hope one day South Africa can be as peaceful one day too.
That's the end of South Africa.
Not by a long way, but something like this could be the beginning of a long road downhill. Something needs to be done sonewhere, and what's being done now isn't sending the right message to reassure anyone.
You got a 2.43% upvote from @allaz courtesy of @jmehta!
I read the same artical and cant but help feel for them and there families.
They do need HELP.
It would be hard to assimilate into anything other than there skill set farming. They do have a strong work ethic and could slip in with a little cultural adjustment.
We have plenty of farming land. But will the government subsidise them to start new and fund them for a few years, considering they arnt affiliated with our soils and weather, or crop choice.
Farmers can hire them. But are they willing to be flexible to change.
Im all for humanity and eaquality, besides we have an influx leaving Austrlian farms for our inner city living.
It depends on how bad it really is, and how desperately the farmers want to leave, it they do. It will be a huge adjustment regardless, and there will obviously be a lot of work and decisions to be made well ahead of implementing anything. We'll just have to wait and see what happens.
How white is white? Will they have a scale of whiteness? What is someone of a different colour identifies themselves with being white? What if they are tanned? This is proposterous (not excusing the racial violence). Glad cats don't have such issues.
That remains to be seen, if anything eventuates out of the idea. The vast majority of farmers getting attacked would be of European descent if that is anything to go by... but there may be farmers from other ethnic backgrounds being attacked too, who would qualify (depending how the criteria are formulated).
Not sure cats don't have such issues.... crypticats are cool... grumpy cats not so much ;)