Letter to the Editor: Compassion and safety are not opposites

DEAR News Of The Area,

AUSTRALIA now faces a difficult question: what do we do about the Australian women and children still stranded in the Syrian camps?

The debate has become so politicised that the basic facts – and the basic humanity – are being lost.

Under our Constitution, Australia cannot refuse passports to its own citizens.

The government has no obligation to assist their return, but once passports are issued, the only lawful and responsible way to ensure justice and community safety is to allow these citizens to come home, be properly vetted, and face prosecution where evidence exists.

None of that is possible while they remain in a war zone.

The children, especially, had no say in the ideology that shaped their parents’ decisions. Leaving them in dangerous conditions does not make Australia safer; it simply abandons the innocent.

You cannot eradicate terrorism by terrorising, nor stop hate with hate.

History shows that dehumanisation only breeds more extremism.

Compassion does not cancel justice. Justice does not cancel safety.

A civilised nation can hold all three at once.

We can protect the community, uphold the law, and still recognise the dignity of children who did not choose the circumstances they were born into.

This should never have become a contest of who can sound harsher.

It should be a sober conversation about how Australia balances constitutional responsibility, national security, and the basic decency we claim to value.

Light and love do not grow from fear.

They grow from truth, accountability, and compassion held together.

Regards,
Calvin BARTLETT,
Coffs Harbour.