Merry Christmas...?

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. -Amen

1.
Merry Christmas!! I have no idea how many times the greeting “Merry Christmas” has been exchanged among people in the whole world over in the last couple of days. Even though people exchange Christmas greetings in hundreds of different ways and languages, the English phrase “Merry Christmas” must be the most common and popular of all.


The word “Christmas” means “the festival of Christ”, and “merry” is coming from the old English word “miryge”, meaning “pleasing” or “delightful”. So, it is not wrong to say “Delightful Christmas” just like in Icelandic, instead of “Merry Christmas”.


I am not a native speaker of English, and have been feeling a sort of incompatibility, or discomfort, about the word “merry”. I learned that “merry” is an adjective which might be used to describe a scene such as people singing and dancing happily for example. 

And if that is so, “Merry Christmas” sounds like we are all enjoying a happy gathering at the feast of Christmas.The original meaning might have been different, but I am rather sure that a considerable number of people use “Merry Christmas” in that sense today. 

Christmas has developed, during the last 2000 years, into many different forms. In Iceland, Christmas has added an extra meaning, as an opportunity for family members to get together. In some part in the world, like in Japan, Christmas has developed as a cultural event more than a religious one. The Japanese celebrate Christmas, but without baby Jesus – just with Santa Claus.

The “business minds” of the world have certainly developed their own Christmas, urging you to spend more money around this feast, to consume. And in the process of developing in these different directions, the Christmas greeting “Merry Christmas” has begun to mean, more or less, “Have a happy gathering, singing and dancing!”

I am not going to judge these things. But I want to tell you that at such a time, every church in the world makes an effort trying to maintain the deepest, and most important, meaning of Christmas, remembering that is the saviour is coming to us; to me and to you, each of you.

2.
Four years ago, before Christmas in 2014, I visited two Christian men at their apartment in Reykjavík. They were both asylum seekers, and had spent many years without belonging to any state. They were hopeless, very weighed down in their minds.

Their room was on top of the apartment complex, so we could see the beautiful Christmas lights of the town away in the darkness. They said: “You know..., we have nothing to do with Christmas. We are outside of it.” They were sitting in the darkness: not in their room, but in their minds. Obviously, the illumination of the lights didn’t reach into their hearts.

When I heard their words, I was visiting them to talk about their asylum cases, and was actually not ready to answer them immediately. I knew how hard the situation was for them, and I thought it was understandable that they should feel that way, excluded from Christmas. I got a heavy feeling in my heart, too, after that.

Recently, I heard same kind of talk from some of our people in the Seekers group. They were invited to a Christmas gathering the other day, but they said that they couldn’t really enjoy the opportunity. It was not at all a defect of the gathering itself, but simply because they weren’t in a state to enjoy such a happy time. That is also understandable. They were distracted by fear, and occupied by anxiety about their future. Would be able to stay in Iceland or not?

Here we can see once again the limitations of Christmas when understood as a happy gathering. A happy gathering cannot receive those who are in deep troubles. Even though it invites those troubled people kindly and warmly, they may not be able to enter the circle of laughter and good cheer.

This is not limited with to asylum seekers. Even if we look about us in Icelandic society, there are lots of people who sit in the darkness, haunted by some troubles, anxiety or grief. In the last Christmas period, 1,340 families, 3,500 individuals, got family support from the Church-aid only. There are many families that don’t have enough to eat in Christmas.

There are many families that have lost someone in the family near Christmas time, and they have to have the Christmas dinner with a vacant seat in their dining. There are also many people who struggle with difficult illnesses, not knowing if they will see next Christmas.

When we think about those people, it should not be difficult to imagine that there are many who are not in a state of mind to join the happy circle of a Christmas gathering. Then the question is this: Does Christmas have nothing to do with them?

3.
The answer is of course: “Yes. Christmas has meaning for them, too!” Christmas is the festival celebrating the coming of Christ, his birth on earth. He has come into the world, first of all, to bring light to those who sit in darkness.

Do you remember what Jesus said after he visited Matthew, the tax collector and sinner? He said: “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. (...) I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”(Mt.9:12-13)

In the today’s text from Isaiah, it is said: “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned.”(Isa.9:2) That was why God our Father sent his son into the world, among us, sinners.

This was a revolutionary thing indeed, and it turned everything up-side down. Because of the coming of Christ, those who had been seen as being the lowest in priority when it came to God’s salvation, came to be the highest. The last became the first. And we, gentiles, namely non-Jewish people, were also invited to that salvation by Jesus.

There is this episode in the Acts of the Apostles.

One day, a beggar who had been lame from birth met Jesus’ disciples, Peter and John, and asked for some money. Then Peter said him, instead giving him money: “In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” And then “He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God.”(Acts: 3:6)

He who had to live by begging every day was cured in the name of Jesus, and then he followed Peter and John, jumping and praising God.

This is how meeting Jesus changes our lives. This is how we respond to encountering Jesus. There are many stories of healing in the Gospels, but I took this episode because it expresses the joy of the healed one in the most vivid way. A great joy has been brought to a man who sat in the darkness all through his life, by meeting Jesus.

And the same joy was brought to so many people who also sat in the darkness in their lives. Jesus literally healed the illnesses of the people, but more fundamentally he heals our existence as sinners, our weakness as human persons. One of the manifestations of sin is to lose hope. The coming of Jesus gave hope to the hopeless.

All of this began at the Christmas, the birth of the baby Jesus. It was to cause joy among the people of that time, and it still does today. And because of that, we celebrate Christmas.

So, it is not that Christmas is an occasion of a happy gathering for happy people. If it were just that, those who suffer in the darkness can never join it.

The thing is that Christmas was formed in the midst of those who were sat in the darkness. The joy of Christmas was born there, and spread out from there. The joy of Christmas comes from the people who were burdened in their minds, but saw hope in the coming of Jesus.

4.
I would like you sincerely to remember that Christmas is not only for those who live happily today, but was originally aimed for those who thirst for hope and help in their reality. So it is even today.

But even though we remember this point, and understand that the light of Christmas lights up those who sit in darkness, it is not enough. We need to go one more step forward, where Christmas is about you yourselves, or me myself. Christmas lights up me and you, each of you.

Now forget about “the people” but concentrate on you yourself, please. Christ has come not for the human being, not for all the people, but he has come for you yourself.


I understand you find it difficult to connect yourself to the joy of Christmas if you are stuck in trouble or sorrow. You may find it impossible to identify with the guys whom Jesus healed in the Gospels, because you are still in trouble, and your troubles aren’t gone yet, despite Christmas coming.

I think that’s understandable. Many things are still incomplete, and we are still crying for help. Maybe we need to wait until Jesus’ return, when the kingdom of God will manifest here in this world. And then everything will be completed.

But the important thing for us today is that we have a promise from Jesus. And therefore we have hope in Jesus. The Gospel stories of Jesus’s healing are promises, from him, that we will all be cured from our illness and saved from our troubles when the time comes. These stories are given to us as a message from Jesus.

And the message is very simple: God cares about you. It’s not that God cares about people, but about YOU. Sometimes we need to stop generalizing things. Sometimes we need to make things personal, very personal.

Please take a moment of peace during this time of year, and think about it. This Christmas is given for you. Jesus is coming for you. Because God cares about you. This is the very point of Christmas.

When you catch meaning and hold it tight in yourself, then I believe that the greeting “Merry Christmas” will sound a bit different in your heart. It is not a notice of a happy gathering, but an expression of joy, knowing God cares about you and promises you his grace.

In that meaning, once again, Merry Christmas.

The Grace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus -Amen

(flutt í jólamessu Alþjóðlega Safnaðarins í Breiðholtskirkju annan jóla 2018)


“Safe Passage” vs dehumanization

Hello, dear people. Thank you for this opportunity. I am not an expert on the refugee matter in Europe. I would like, however, as a street priest, to witness from the reality that I am facing regarding the situation of asylum-seeking people here in Iceland.

As you know, generally speaking, asylum-seekers and refugees are often dehumanized. When we see photos of boats filled with refugees, when we watch videos in which thousands of refugees are walking holding small children, to borders, who can say that kind of situation is humane?

I have friends who are asylum seekers, and many of them have been living in Europe for 8, 9, or even longer than 10 years without sufficient civil rights. Is this situation humane?

Two Syrian refugees in Iceland are now about being deported to Bulgaria, just because they have come here through Bulgaria. Is this decision humane?

No, not at all. They are dehumanized. Maybe, this dehumanization of asylum seekers is not an accident. Dehumanization is a method we use when we don’t want to confront violations against humanity and want to leave the problem as it is.

Last Wednesday, a couple from Africa got negative answers from the appeal committee. They were in Italy and therefore Dublin-refugees. They came to Italy across the Mediterranean Sea on a boat as we see in the news. The husband lost his brother in the sea.

The ministry of the Interior gave a guideline last December, regarding sending refugees back to Italy. It says: “the living conditions for refugees in Italy are not good enough for delicate people such as children or ill people.” (Personally I insist to stop sending people back to Italy totally. This is the ministry’s view.)

Of the couple referred to the husband has infection in the lungs with very much pain and he has been on medication for nine months now. The decision from the appeal committee says, though: “The husband is a 29 years old man in good health, so his condition does not make him an ill person”.

The wife is expecting a baby in 5 months. She has miscarried three times before, including once when she arrived here. The decision from the appeal committee says: “The wife is in a delicate condition. Nevertheless she had got permission to stay in Italy, thus she has access to the health system there in Italy. It is, therefore, all right to send her back there”. Oh, she doesn’t have even a house to stay in Italy.

This is one of manifesting forms of the dehumanization that the asylum-seeking people are facing today, here in Iceland. Whatever the situation of each individual is, the authority has already decided to say “NO!”

We need to break down this dehumanization of asylum seeking people, if we want to insist The Safe Passage and make it come true. The attitudes that the Directorate of Immigration and the appeal committee are showing are not the consensus of the Icelandic people, I believe.

So, I ask you, dear people, to watch the things we are supposed to watch, hear voices that we are supposed to hear in order to recognize what is happening in our society, and finally to make an action that we are supposed to make.

Otherwise, we cannot defeat the cold blood evil of dehumanization. Let’s make The Safe Passage come true, by humanizing the dehumanized.
Thank you.

- At the gathering "Safe Passage Now" at the Lækjatorg, February 27th 2016-

(Prestur innflytjenda) 


Veitum Eze Okafor dvalarleyfi á Íslandi!


Petition: Veitum Eze Okafor dvalarleyfi á Íslandi!



Eze Okafor (32) er frá Nígeríu. Heimaþorp hans er innan stjórnarsvæðis Boko Haram og var bróðir Eze myrtur í áras hryðjuverkasamtakanna. Eze var líka stunginn með hnífi og tekinn til fanga. Hann var neyddur til þess að vinna fyrir Boko Haram en tókst sem betur fer að flýja úr höndum þeirra.

Hann flúði Nígeríu og sótti um hæli í Svíþjóð árið 2011 en fékk synjun. Í Svíþjóð var fjöldi flóttamanna það mikill að Eze fannst að umsókn sín hefði ekki fengið sanngjarna umfjöllun og því flúði hann frá Svíþjóð.

Hann kom til Íslands í apríl 2012 og sótti um hæli hér. Útlendingastofnun neitaði að taka málið til efnislegrar skoðunar vegna Dyflinnarreglugerðarinnar og Innanríkisráðuneytið staðfesti úrskurð Útlendingastofnunar í júlí 2014. Meira en tvö ár höfðu þegar liðið frá því hann sótti um hæli hér en samkvæmt lögum er það of langur biðtími til brottvísunar á grundvelli Dyflinnarreglugerðarinnar.

Eze kærði málið til íslenskra dómstóla. Í apríl á þessu ári verður Eze búinn að vera hér í fjögur ár. Á meðan hefur Eze aðlagast íslensku samfélagi og eignast marga vini. Hann fékk kennitölu síðastliðið haust og byrjaði að vinna. Eze hefur þegar byggt upp sérstök tengsl við íslenska þjóð.

Engu að síður tilkynnti Útlendingastofnun Eze um að honum yrði vísað úr landi þann 28. janúar 2016. Brottvísuninni hefur ekki enn verið framfylgt en örlög hans liggja í bölsýnni óvissu.

Hvers vegna verður fórnarlamb voðalegs ofbeldis Boko Haram að þjást á þennan hátt á Íslandi?

Til hvers er klausan ,,dvalarleyfi á grundvelli mannúðarsjónarmiða“ í útlendingalögum ef hún fellur ekki að tilfelli Eze? 

Hvers vegna vilja yfirvöld íslenska ríkisins vera svona hörð við þennan saklausa einstakling?

Við skorum hér á Innanríkisráðherra að afturkalla synjun um efnislega meðferð á hælisumsókn Eze Okafor og veiti honum dvalarleyfi án tafar.

 

1. febrúar 2016, Reykjavík

Stuðningshópur við Eze Okafor

Tengiliðir:
Helga Tryggvadóttir
Guðbjörg Runólfsdóttir
Toshiki Toma
Kristín Þórunn Tómasdóttir

 

Íslenskukennsla eða þöggun?

„Það skiptir gríðarlega miklu máli fyrir okkur að það takist vel að aðlaga fólkið að íslensku samfélagi. Íslenskukennsla er lykilatriði í því efni,“ sagði Ólöf Nordal innanríkisráðherra varðandi væntanlega móttöku flóttamanna frá Sýrlandi í fréttaskýringu Morgunblaðsins þann 19. nóvember síðastliðinn.
Fullyrðingunni „Íslenska er lykilatriði aðlögunar að íslenska samfélaginu“ hefur verið í hávegum höfð, ekki aðeins þegar um móttöku flóttamanna hefur verið að ræða, heldur ávallt þegar um hefur verið að ræða innflytjendamál almennt síðustu tvo áratugi.

Ég er sammála því að kunnátta innflytjenda í íslensku tungumáli skiptir miklu máli, bæði fyrir þá sjálfa og einnig íslenskt samfélag. Ég hvet aðra innflytjendur til að læra íslensku vel og sjálfur vil ég læra hana betur. Ég hef verið að læra íslensku og hef enn ekki náð fullum tökum á henni, þetta er í raun æviverkefni.

Síðan fyrir 16-17 árum hef ég tekið þátt í umræðu um íslenska tungumálið og innflytjendur og ég sagði nokkrum sinnum opinberlega að íslenskan gæti verið kúgunartæki fyrir innflytjendur hérlendis.

Í kringum aldamótin síðustu var t.d. virk hreintungustefna hjá RÚV og gestir af erlendu bergi brotnir voru ekki velkomnir í útvarps- eða sjónvarpsþátt nema að þeir væru mjög góðir í íslensku. Mér sýndist að Íslendingar hefðu meiri áhuga á því hvernig ég talaði íslensku en því sem ég segði t.d. í predikun. Mér fannst það óþolandi.

„Ef þú vilt búa á Íslandi, talaðu íslensku!“ Þetta var sagt jafnvel við nýkomna innflytjendur. Margir virðast ímynda sér að hægt sé að tileinka sér íslensku innan árs. Og þegar innflytjandi gat ekki tjáð sig almennilega á íslensku, frusu samskptin þar.

En margt hefur breyst varðandi viðhorf Íslendinga til íslensku sem innflytjendur tala, í jákvæða átt að mínu mati.

Nokkrir þættir hjá RÚV reyna að bjóða gestum af erlendum uppruna í dag til sín og sem betur fer virðast margir Íslendingar hafa vanist þeirri íslensku sem innflytjendur tala og bregðast ekki skjótt við og skella framan í viðkomandi einhverju eins og „Talaðu íslensku!“ þó að innflytjandi geti ekki talað góða íslensku.

Ég met þessar jákvæðu breytingar mikils. Það gæti svo margt breyst til hins betra ef fólkið í samfélaginu sýndi því betri skilning að langflestir eru að reyna sitt, hvert svo sem upprunalegt tungumál þeirra er. Og því langar mig að tala meira um málefni sem varðar íslenskt mál og innflytjendur.

Íslenska okkar innflytjenda er svo oft leiðrétt, hvort sem um talmál er að ræða við ýmsar hversdagslegar aðstæður, á Facebook, í kaffitíma í vinnunni, í verslunum, dæmin eru endalaus. Eftir því sem ég best veit, gera Íslendingar þetta í góðum tilgangi og viljinn sem að baki er er ágætur en í flestum tilvikum er um sjálfskipaða kennara að ræða.

Góð afskiptasemi eða þöggun?

Engu að síður verð ég að segja þetta; vinsamlegast hættið gefa okkur „íslenskukennslu“ í frítíma okkar eða í prívatplássi eins og á Facebook. „Kennsla“ af þessu tagi dregur úr þörfinni til að tjá mig og það á líklegast við fleiri innflytjendur.
Ef við erum að biðja einhvern um að leiðrétta íslenskuna okkar, af ýmsum ástæðum, eða ef kennari, mentor eða náinn vinur leiðréttir okkur, þá er það í lagi.

Það sem fælir mig frá að segja eitthvað, t.d. við einhvern sem ég þekki lítið en hitti t.d. í frístundum er þegar viðkomandi lætur þessi orð falla: „Þú ætti að segja þann hluta svona ... “ eða leiðréttir færslu mína á Facebook í athugasemdum eða skilaboðum, þó að ég sé ekki að biðja þá um það. Það virkilega pirrar mig.

Ég vil þó forðast misskilning. Ég vil læra íslensku betur en ég kann nú þegar. Mér finnst margir innflytjendur vilji það líka og gera í raun. En það tekur tíma að læra íslensku og það þarf tíma til að nota hana án hindrunar. Það er ekki viðeigandi að fá „kennslu“ frá ókunnugum Íslendingum við ýmis mismunandi og oftast óviðeigandi tækifæri. Við getum beðið um hana ef við viljum fá ráð.

Þrátt fyrir góðan vilja þessara sjálfskipuðu kennara í íslensku gerir sú kennsla ekkert annað en að draga innflytjendur niður og er bara virkilega þreytandi. Það kæmi mér ekki á óvart ef innflytjandi hætti að tala íslensku eða skrifa eftir að hafa fengið óvæntar og stundum stanslausar leiðréttingar á íslenskunni sinni.

Þess vegna nota ég frekar sterkt orð: of mikil afskiptasemi af því íslenska máli sem innflytjendur af svo mörgum þjóðernum nota leiðir til þöggunar, þótt hún byggist á góðfýsi. Hvert tungumál getur á grundvelli tungumáls á heimavelli orðið kúgunartæki gagnvart fólki sem hefur annað tungumál sem móðurmál. Við megum ekki gleyma því.

Ég vona að sem flestir Íslendingar skilji það sem ég hef verið að ræða hér, styðji okkur innflytjendur við að læra góða íslensku, þó án of mikillar afskiptasemi, og haldi í gagnkvæm og vingjarnleg samskipti.

(Innflytjandi á Íslandi)

 


Living tradistion, sleeping tradition

*This is a sermon that was hold in the opning service of Scandinavian conference "Living Word, living tradition" at the Háteigs-church on 10th of November 2015.
 

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. -Amen.

1.
I am immigrant from Japan and before I moved to Iceland, I was ordained in the Japanese Lutheran Church. Japanese protestant churches have only 150 years’ history at most. They are young and therefore we don’t have very strong traditions as Christian churches yet.

When I moved to Iceland about 20 years ago, I got a sort of culture shock by seeing the differences between the Icelandic church and the Japanese church. I felt that the Icelandic church had a very rich tradition as the church of Christian nation with 1.000 years’ history.

Tradition is, however, not a holy thing. Sometimes we try to add a new tradition to the “traditional tradition” or we need to shake and wake up some sleeping tradition. I began to serve as pastor for immigrants officially in 1996. The immigration issue was a rather new phenomenon in Iceland at that time, and I felt that I was always apart from the Icelandic tradition, both in society and in the church environment.

The word “tradition” sounds perhaps too ambiguous in this context. So let’s say that “tradition” means here some sorts of ceremony, feast or ritual for particular topics, such as immigrants or gay people, that is being considered as a part of the nation’s culture.

20 years have passed and I think Icelandic society has begun to form pieces of new traditions regarding immigrants and cultural diversity, such as the Multi-cultural day of Reykjavik and the Religious Forum in Iceland.

2.
In recent years I have spent considerably with asylum seekers in Iceland in my work. The number of asylum seekers has been increasing here in Iceland, though the absolute number is much smaller than the other European countries. Until only few years ago, the Icelandic church had nothing to do with the asylum seekers’ issue, honestly speaking.

Fortunately, now the whole church is more aware of the necessity of a presence of the church in the asylum seekers’ issue and also in the reception of quota refugees, and today I have good colleagues and co-workers to work together.

But more or less, we all have to admit that issues regarding asylum seekers or refugees are not deeply rooted in the Icelandic church. We feel those issues are new topics for the Icelandic church and therefore asylum seeking people are out side of the tradition of the church. Indeed I cannot point out any traditional service or custom in the church for them.

3.
This is actually an interesting phenomenon and I think it deserves to be thought through why those issues have not rooted in the church tradition, for there are numerous stories that address seeking for asylum and refuge in the Bible.

Adam and Eve escaped from the eyes of Father God and hid themselves behind trees. The first refugees of mankind! The story of Noah’s ark is a story of refuge from natural disasters. Jacob, the son of Isaac, ran away from his father in law, Laban. The prophet Elijah took refuge in the Mt. Horeb. In the Psalms, the word “shelter” is used more than 40 times.

There are many other stories about asylum seeking in the Old Testament. So at least in the Old Testament, seeking asylum is one of the important themes and of course, we may not forget the Exodus. The Exodus was the great escape.

As we know, “Shema Israel” is the daily prayer of the Jewish people and also confession of their faith in God. By praying Shema, Jews are supposed to remind themselves of: “the Lord, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.”(Deu. 6:12)

The Exodus is actually the foundation of the faith of the Jewish people and their existence. God lead them to the safe land and they must not forget that history. It is therefore the core of the Jewish traditions to say Shema twice every day.

4.
We can see another important tradition of the Jewish people to remember the event of Exodus in the feast of the passover. The passover feast has been celebrated in order to remember the Exodus for centuries. “You shall observe this rite as an ordinance for you and for your sons for ever.” (Ex. 12:24)
Therefore for the Jewish people, it is really the middle of their faith, ritual and tradition to have an experience of being refugees.

How we Christians understand the foundation of Judaism might not be unanimous, but still we cannot deny that their tradition has become a part of our tradition, too. The Passover feast is when Jesus and his disciples had the last supper, an essential part of the Holy week and a special occasion for us Christians, too.

Besides, we have our own tradition that regards asylum seeking. That is the escape of the Holy family, Joseph, Maria and the new born baby Jesus, to Egypt. This episode is actually very important and has a symbolic meaning that huge changes would be brought to the world by the birth of Jesus. Anyhow, the land of Egypt to which Jews are referring every day in Shema as “the house of bondage” has now changed into a shelter for the Holy family.
  

And we hear and listen to this story every year at Christmas time. So we cannot deny that to seek for asylum is also in the very middle of the tradition of our church.

5.
So my question is why then do we feel as if asylum seekers and refugees are out side of the churchly tradition, ritual or service?
Churches on the continent must be providing many services for asylum seekers. But are these services considered as a part of the main activity of the churches? Or are they considered as a sort of social welfare activities taken care of by the churches, just like church aid?

In this context, I would like to point out that here is an example of a tradition that used to be living and have influence on our religious life, but has fallen sleep.

I am not highly educated theologian, so I entrust you this matter as material for discussion and speculation. I would like, however, as a street pastor, to witness from the reality that I am facing.

That is asylum seekers and refugees are often dehumanized. When we see photos of boats filled with refugees, when we watch videos in which thousand refugees are walking, holding small children, to borders, who can say that kind of situation is humane? I have friends who are asylum seekers, and many of them have been living in Europe for 8, 9, or even longer than 10 years without sufficient civil rights. Is this situation humane?

No, not at all. They are dehumanized. And maybe, this dehumanization of asylum seekers is not only a result that society has brought to them, but also the reason why they are being kept dehumanized for a long time. Dehumanization is a method we use when we don’t want to confront violations against humanity and want to leave the problem as it is.

We need to break down this dehumanization of asylum seeking people. And I do believe that that is one of the important roles for us, Christian churches, and a part of our essential purpose.

6.
I went to church for the first time when I was 19 years old and got baptized when I was 21. I was the only Christian in my entire family. I was seeking for purpose of my life, and from the beginning it was easy for me to believe in an almighty God who is the center of the universe.


But I found it so difficult and ridiculous to believe that the Son of God became a human person. How could it be possible? I couldn’t understand it. 35 years have passed, and now Jesus Christ is “the Thing” in my religious life. I noticed at some stage, that I could communicate with God because of Jesus. Without him, how could I try to approach God and his will? Maybe I could feel the presence of God when I am in magnificent nature. I am sure that you would feel the same.

But that feeling doesn’t teach me how to understand the sins of man, the meaning of forgiveness or the importance of love among us sinners.
Through Jesus, through his teachings and behavior, we can learn, presume and be assured by what the will of God is, what his expectations to us are. Namely we are allowed to have communication with God on the level of our personalities.  

“(….) the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (….) And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth” (Jn. 1: 1, 14) What a miracle it is. What a grace it is. Divinity became a human in order to meet us and give us salvation.

If we are thankful for this miracle and grace, if we truly believe that our life has been changed by meeting Jesus, how can we leave them alone, who have been dehumanized by their situation, by the negligence of our society or by the obvious prejudice of it? 

Jesus has become a man, in order to meet us and release us from the sins, namely to humanize us in its true meaning. And is Jesus not visiting every single person in society to do the same to that person? If so, it is the traditional core mission of our church to humanize the dehumanized around us. Jesus is working for it. So, are we with him, or what?


Peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. -Amen


PETTITION: Veitum Sýrlenskri fjölskyldu á flótta dvalaleyfi á Íslandi

Kæra fólk á Íslandi.

Ég veit að margs konar ,,pettition" er á gangi, en ég get ekki annað en beðið ykkur að taka þátt í þessu núna.

Veitum Sýrlenskri fjölskyldu á flótta dvalaleyfi á Íslandi


Að sjálfsögðu bið ég ykkur að skrifa undir, og samtímis vinsamlegast deilið þessu og sendið til vina ykkar. Þetta er um líf fjögurra manna fjölskyldu, þ.á.m. 3 ára og 4 ára stelpur.

Með fyrirfram þökkum.
Toshiki


Hættum að nota Dyflinnarreglugerðina

Now it is time to abolish the Dublin-system. It has been making the victimes of violence and dictatorship "victims again" here in Europe.
Please read and join the petition.
This regards also my friends, PLEASE!!

Many thanks to "No more deportations" group for the initiative of the petition.


Hættum að nota Dyflinnarreglugerðina


Reflections on two decades - Mother tongue education

1.
Dear participants, guests, my colleagues, friends and comrades, welcome to “The treasure of languages-Conference on practical ways of improving mother tongue learning in homes, schools and leisure”. With commission of the board of the Móðurmál, I would like to welcome you to this educative and meaningful gathering.

I would like to express our feeling of gratitude and gladness to our special guest, Dr. Deirdre Kirwan, principal of Scoil Bhríde Cailíní, from Dublin, Ireland. Thank you for coming, Dr. Kirwan.

I would like also to thank to the board members of Móðurmál for providing us such a good opportunity for deepening our understanding of multi-linguistic education and developing our teaching skills, as well as the dedicating activities on the daily base. The association Móðurmál is a sort of “Mother organization” for mother-tongue education, and today 24 language groups are joining Móðumál. This is a really remarkable development, I would say. Many well educated people are now working in the Móðurmál and are trying to share their knowledge and educational skills to the other members, it´s a fantastic thing, isn’t is?

Móðurmál was officially organized and legally registered in 2001. I was one of the founders of Móðumál, but Móðurmál at that time was far different from what it is today. There were 5 language groups, English, Russian, Lithuanian, Polish and Japanese. We were also closely working with the Vietnamese group.

The mother-tongue education itself began to be organized around the year 1993 with the cooperation and support of the Reykjavik municipality.But the support of the city to the mother tongue education was to be stopped at the end of 2001, so we, founders, hurried to organize the association Móðurmál formally.Because we needed to apply for grunts here and there, but to do so there had to be a registered association.

I myself have been involved in the Japanese group, and our group will celebrate its 20th anniversary in the coming school year. I was there from the beginning, but I don’t remember well if it was the autumn of 1995 or the winter of 1996. I have two kids, and they were then 5 years old and 2 years old, and now they will be soon 25 and 22.They have already graduated from the Japanese mother-tongue group, and I am half-retired from the group, too. 

So two decades is surely some period of time. I have been involved in the Japanese group without interruption through those two decades, so I think it is my privilege that I can compare then and now.

There are many things that have changed, but some things have not. Some things were topics of the discussion twenty years ago, and they are still topics for discussion today. Some things were important and worth paying attention to twenty years ago, and are still so.

I would like to point out only three points to remind you of their importance. But they are not about the theory of multi-linguistic education or teaching skills. They are more about the role of a parent. I am not educated in the field of multi-linguistic education. I am just a father of two children, and that is where I have been standing so far. Please understand this beforehand.

2.
The first point is whether the mother-tongue teaching belongs to home education or to school education. This is a classic discussion. This happened really in some mother-tongue teaching groups, but numbers of parents misunderstood that if they took kids to their mother-tongue teaching groups, then the group would take care of everything and the kids didn’t have to do any home study. It became clear in some cases that the parents did not use the mother tongue at home even in communicating with the child.

In the Japanese group there wasn’t such an extreme example, since we didn’t have any educated teacher in the beginning, and we parents had a kind of agreement that we ourselves would teach our children, so there was no clear border between the home study and the education in the group. Yet there has been a constant misunderstanding, as if the mother-tongue education could be completed at the mother-tongue group. Of course, our weekly education for a couple of hours cannot complete anything, but it is an aid to stimulate the mother-tongue teaching at home.

This point is really matter of course for those who used to teach children their mother tongue, but is not necessarily taken for granted for those who have just stepped into mother-tongue teaching. It also happens that even though the parents are aware of the importance of home study, as a fact, they have fallen into counting only on the mother-tongue group unconsciously.

3.
The second point is misjudgment or exceeding decision by parents that multi-linguistic education is too much of a burden for their children. Surely it is work to educate our children our mother-tongue in a situation where the language is not a common language. But no education is easy to obtain generally and whatever the children are supposed to learn, they have to make an appropriate effort.

We need to consider three things in this kind of misjudgment. First, the capacity of a child in leaning is much bigger than we think usually. Very often, we misunderstand that what we cannot do is difficult for our children, too. But it’s not true. I am not good at dancing, I don’t even dare to dance, but my son dances very well. My daughter is now reading books in English that I would never take in my hands. “This must be a burden for my child”: parents should see thoroughly the condition of their child before they come to such a conclusion.

Secondly, the burden which parents recognize as a burden might not be the child’s, but it could be a burden for the parents themselves. We all know it’s a considerable task to teach our kids our mother-tongue. I know it’s an especially heavy task for a parent when the parent is new in this country and is learning Icelandic for himself. This is a wall. I cannot say any easy words about this wall. We need to go over it.

If I may tell from my experience, it’s difficult to learn Icelandic and it takes a long time usually for us, but the really hard time in learning Icelandic is not endless. It’s just a certain period. Meanwhile our child is growing every day and it cannot wait for us making free time. So for a certain period, we should decide to do both: learn Icelandic and teach our kid the mother-tongue. We have to do it, and we can do it.

Thirdly, it depends also on the priority of the education for our children if the mother-tongue learning becomes a burden for them or not. In Iceland, it’s common that children learn many things at the same time: Ballet, painting, piano, violin, swimming, football, karate and so on.

And I think it’s a positive thing to give them all sorts of possibilities. In Japan, we don’t do this, and I feel sorry for that. I never got any music lessons when I was a kid. One of my dreams is to play the saxophone, I wish I could have had the basic lessons for it when I was little.

Anyway, the point is, if mother-tongue learning is just one of those subjects or if it has higher priority among them. Of course we should respect our children’s wishes fairly, but at the same time we should be aware that our children are not really capable yet to choose what is important for them. We are supposed to help them. It’s the responsibility of us parents.

4.
The third point that I want to remind you of its importance is how we work in this society. As I have mentioned before, I weigh very highly the importance of home study of our mother-tongue in our family life. But nevertheless the mother-tongue education is not only a private matter of immigrants in their home. It is at the same time a social matter of Iceland because the existence of bilingual or multilingual citizens profits the whole society.

Counting from twenty years ago, mother-tongue education was considered as a private matter of immigrants by the education authorities in Iceland, and also generally in the society. Things have gotten much better today, as it can be seen for example in that Móðurmál got the Social award of Fréttablaðið last year. But I don’t think it still enough.

One of the particularities of this country is, in my opinion, that society doesn’t know one thing and that is “to cultivate”, to grow up something. Instead they want to get only the result, the harvest.

Last years, my children have got many requests to make some assistance in Icelandic business such as RÚV or Stöð 2 because of their fluency in both Japanese and Icelandic. They wanted to use the ability of my kids when they needed it. But they never thought from where their ability came. They might have thought that it was enough to pay my kids a small pocket money, but I did not think it was enough.

When I think about this “opportunism” in Icelandic society in general, I get angry. If they want to use the ability of bilingual or multilingual citizens, they should support us more. I don’t think anyone can deny the benefit that this society will get from our children who can manage two or more languages. Look, to which direction this society is heading. Global business, tourism and multiculturalism, can Iceland stand without those?

Mother- tongue education is not only about the language, but also it is about our culture. That’s the different point about mother– tongue education from the Icelandic student’s learning foreign language in a college. The society should recognize better the importance of mother-tongue education and support it.
We need to continue to appeal for this.

5.
I have mentioned three points, that were important twenty years ago, and are still important for us. The importance of home study, the importance of not to misjudge the capability of our children and the importance of getting better understanding in the society regarding mother- tongue education. I am aware that you know these things well already. My apology if you got bored. Nevertheless it is worth repeating, I think.

Lastly I want to add one word and I think this is my mission word for today. Again I repeat a thing you already know well. My mission word for today is: “Continue, and never give up”.

I remember when my first child, my son, was so small and he had not begun to speak words. I was talking to him in Japanese every day, and got no response from him. It was as if I was talking to a wall and I felt like I was a stupid man who was making effort for nothing. So I was so happy when he uttered a word in Japanese “murasaki”, that meant purple color when he saw purple flowers in our garden. Ever since I use only Japanese in talking with my son, and also with my daughter.

My daughter speaks even better Japanese than my son. Actually she speaks Japanese quite the same as ordinary Japanese people. But she has never lived in Japan. She has visited Japan only in summer vacations that are only three to four weeks at most. I want to boast of my children, but more than that, I want you to see my daughter as an example of what mother-tongue teaching can achieve, even without living in the home country.

Our mother-tongue teaching is the mutual work of parents, kids and surrounding people, like the association Móðurmál. With mutual help and encouragement, we can do it. So please “Continue”, and “Never give up”.

Thank you very much for your patience to listen to me, half retired man.
God bless you, your kids and Móðurmál.  

-Welcoming speech at the conference of Móðurmál “The treasure of languages” 
 at the Gerðuberg, 21st of August 2015- 

                 


Úr dagbók prests innflytjenda - Dymbilvika

Enn rennur upp hátíðartímabil. Fermingarmessa og pálmasunnudagsmessa í hverri kirkju og bráðum koma páskar. En rétt eins og jólunum, þá er ég langt í burtu frá hinu stóra sviði hátíðarviðburðanna. Ég öfunda pínulítið aðra presta sem stjórna þessum hátíðum. En hins vegar hef ég nóg á minni könnu og það sem meira er, ég nýt þess mikið!

Undanfarna daga hefur aðstoð við flóttafólk aukist bersýnilega þar sem hvorki Reykjavíkurborg né Reykjanesbær hefur getað tekið á móti fleira flóttafólki og Útlendingastofnun verður að aðstoða það í þeirra hversdagslífi. En stofnunin er hins vegar ekki faglegur aðili í umönnun fólks og um stundarsakir varð algjört kaos. Sífellt koma upp óvæntar þarfir. "Mig vantar rakvél“: sagði maður. Hann átti ekki krónu. Rakvél? Er það nokkur rakvél í leigu í bænum?foot-in-mouth

Á ákveðnu tímabili gat fólk á einu gistiheimilinu ekki notað þvottavélina þar. "Við erum í sömu fötunum í lengur en viku.“ Því bauð ég fólki að koma í Neskirkju og þvo þar. Það tók fjóra tíma að þvo og þurrka föt og nærföt þriggja manns. Ég kynntist því óvænt þvottaherberginu í kjallara safnaðarheimilis Neskirkju!

Heimsókn fólks á flótta er orðin hversdagslegur hlutur í lífi mínu, aðstoð við einfalda hluti eins og innkaup matar, að kynna þeim fyrir borg og bæ og fleira. Í síðustu viku varð slys og maður var fluttur á spítala með sjúkrabíl. Bæði kallaði ég á sjúkrabílinn og eins vitjaði ég sjúklingsins á hverjum degi.

Auk þess byrjaði ég frá og með janúar á „átaksverkefni“ sem er að fylgjast með flóttafólki í messu. Það er of erfitt fyrir það að sækja messu sem er á íslensku, tungumálið er hindrun. Því sæki ég það og fer með því, fyrir hádegi og einnig eftir hádegi, stundum í Reykjanesbæ. Þetta er sem sagt eins konar "fylgdarþjónusta.“

Áður fannst mér skrýtið þegar ég sá prest sem var alltaf í prestskyrtu. Sjálfur var ég aðeins í henni þegar ég annaðist athöfn í kirkju. En núna er ég í prestsskyrtu alla daga – frá mánudegi til sunnudags. Get ekki farið úr henni. Að sjálfsögðu eru margir á meðal flóttafólks sem ekki eru kristnir og því tek ég stundum af "kragann“ úr hálsinum til að minnka "kristilegt einkenni“. Þjónustan hjá mér er fyrir alla sem óska eftir henni án tillitis til þess hvaða trú viðkomandi aðhyllast.

Samt fel ég ekki að ég sé prestur kirkjunnar. Mér finnst óheiðarlegt að fela hver maður er í raun. Nú kallar margt fólk mig "Father Toshiki“. Það er heiðurstitill finnst mér. Ég kann vel við hann. "Fylgdarþjónusta Father Toshiki“!innocent

Þjónustan sem ég er í núna líkist frekar djáknaþjónustu en prestsþjónustu. Ísleningar eru hrifnir að skipta hlutverki meðal sín: prestsþjónustu, djáknaþjónustu eða starfsemi trúboða. En slík hlutverkaskipting er aðeins tæknileg en ekki kjarnamál þjónustunnar að mínu mati. Í Japan þar sem ég var skírður, var þetta þrennt í sömu í einni prestsþjónustu. Heilaga þrenningin.

Að sjálfsögðu hlusta ég einnig á sögu fólks um flótta og geri ýmislegt sem hægt að gera til að styðja við fólkið. Það er jú talsverð mikil vinna í raun. Samt gætuð þið haldið: "Allt of mikið sem er ekki tengt fagnaðareindi“.

En fylgdarþjónustan er mikilvæg, af því að hún aðstoðar fólk í hversdagslífi þeirra eða brýtur það upp. Að þvo þvotta, fara saman í innkaupaleiðangur eða að vaska upp eftir matinn, allt er þetta hluti af hversdagslífi fólks.

Og ekki er hægt að skilja bænir frá hversdagslífinu. Með því að deila hversdagslegum hlutum hvert með öðru, eykst samstaða í bænargjörð efalaust mikið. Þegar bænir verða kraftmeiri, finn ég þar ómetanlega náð Guðs og nærveru Jesú.

Það er ákveðin og skýr lína dregin milli fólks á flótta og mín. Fólkið er á flótta, en ekki ég. Þessi munur er raun svo stór að ég get ekki brúað það sjálfur. En Jesús getur. Það er Jesús sem kemur í veg fyrir að þjónustan mín verði "vorkunn blessaðs manns“. Við erum, þrátt fyrir allt, að þiggja öll fylgdarþjónustu Jesú.

Birtingarform prestsþjónusta og kirkjuþjónustu er margvísleg og fjölbreytt. En þær allar spretta út úr sömu rótinni, sem er kærleiki Jesú Krists og hans krossinn.

Gleðilega páska! Drottinn er upprisinn og hann er ekki í gröfInni. Og við erum heldur ekki!smile

 

 


,,Hví ofsækir þú mig?"

Duldir fordómar

Komið þið sæl og blessuð. Toshiki Toma heiti ég og mig langar að þakka fólki í undirbúningshópi málþingsins innilega fyrir þetta tækifæri í dag. Ég hef starfað sem prestur innflytjenda síðustu tuttugu ár og í starfi mínu hef ég oft þurft að fjalla um fordóma sem innflytjendur hafa mætt hérlendis. Fólk sem þekkir vel málefni innflytjenda á Íslandi bendir allt á að á Íslandi ríkja duldir fordómar þegar kemur að innflytjendum.

Ofbeldisfullt árás á útlending er t.d. flokkað í sýnilega fordóma, en duldir fordómar eru yfirleitt ósýnilegir. Dæmi slíka fordóma eru þegar afgreiðslumaður í búð hunsar viðskiptavin af erlendum uppruna og sýnir ekki vilja til að afgreiða hann en tekur á móti öðrum viðskiptavini á undan. Duldir fordómar snúast um framkomu þar sem viðhorfið er niðrandi án þess að orðalag eða framkoma sé fordómafull.

Duldir fordómar geta einnig orðið hluti af samfálagskerfinu. Fyrir tíu árum samþykkti Alþingi frumvarp sem kvaddi á um að: Maki Íslendinga, sambúðarmaki eða samvistarmaki sem er yngri en 24 ára, getur ekki fengið dvalarleyfi á þeirri forsendu að vera nánasti aðstandandi Íslendinga.

Tilgangurinn var að hefta fjölda útlenskra maka Íslendinga á landinu. Nokkrir hagsmunaaðilar innflytjenda tóku eftir fordómum og mismunun sem fólust í frumvarpinu og bentu á þau, og þau urðu ekki lengur ,,ósýnileg“ en þetta var dæmi hvernig fordómar gætu orðið að hluta samfélagskerfisins.

Þannig birtast duldir fordómar í framkomu einstaklings og einnig komast þeir inn í opinbera samfélagskerfið. Og að mínu mati mæta umsækjendur um alþjóðlega vernd, eða fólk á flótta, þessum dulda fordómum daglega. Þetta mun koma í ljós þegar við skoðum hversdagslíf þeirra.

Skráningarskírteini

Umsækjendur um alþjóðlega vernd eru ekki einsleitur hópur og við þurfum alltaf að hafa það í huga, en samt eiga þeir eitt sameiginlegt; það er að sækja um vernd hérlendis. Þá eiga umsækjendurnir að fá skráningarskírteini.

Skráningarskírteinið er einu gögn sem umsækjendurnir geta notað til að auðkenna sig, þar sem þeir verða að afhenda yfirvöldum öll skjöl sem þeir hafa með sér. Líklega hugsum við ekki um það venjulega, en skírteinisleysi er mjög hættlegt.

Fyrir nokkrum árum lendi maður sem var að sækja um alþjóðlega vernd í bílslysi og það þurfti að flytja hann á spítala, en gangandi fólk í staðnum gat ekki fundið hver viðkomandi maður var og mjög hikandi að kalla á sjúkrabíl. Sem betur fer var þetta ekki alvarlegt tilfelli eða lífshættulegt, en kerfið þarf að læra af reynslu sinni.

Reglugerð útlendingalaganna kveður á: að ,,Umsækjandi um hæli (….) skulu eins fljótt … fá í hendur skráningarskírteini hælisumsækjanda…“ í 92. grein. Engu að síður er staðreynd sú að sumir hafa skírteini og aðrir ekki. Næstum enginn í Fit er með skráningarskírteini.

Ég spurði nokkra sem voru með skírteini hvenig þeir hefðu fengið það. Þá sögðu þeir við mig: ,,Ég kvartaði yfir skírteinisleysi í félagsþjónustunni. Þá hafði starfsmaður samband við Útlendingarstofnun, og síðan var mér sagt að fara í Útlendingarstofnun til að taka mynd af mér. Ég fór og eftir nokkra daga kom skírteinið til mín“.

Sem sé, það er ekki upplýst almennilega hvernig umsækjendur um alþjóðlega vernd geta fengið skráningarskírteini. Reglugerðin er til. En það sem hún kveður á er ekki framkvæmt á réttan hátt, þrátt fyrir ítrekaða athugasemd frá okkur áhugafólki um málefnið undanfarin ár. En af hverju? Þetta er dæmi um ,,óvirkt viðhorf“ þjónustuveitanda.

Atvinnuleit

Eins og þið þekkið, mega nokkrir umsækjendur um alþjóðlega vernd ráða sig í vinnu. Mér finnst þeir sem mega starfa heppnir miðað við þá sem mega ekki vinna.

En hér langar mig að gera smáathugasemd. Þurfum við ekki að spyrja okkur hvort reglan, sem snýst um það hver má vinna hér og hver ekki, sé sanngjörn eða ósanngjörn? Þeir sem eru tengdir Dyflinnarreglunni mega ekki vinna. En samt hafa nokkrir af þeim verið hér lengur en eitt ár eða jafnvel tvö ár. Þarf reglan ekki að vera sveigjanlegri?

En hvað sem öðru líður þá kemur vinna ekki sjálfkrafa til fólks á flótta. Umsækjendur, sem mega fá sér vinnu, verða að fara sjálfir í atvinnuleit.
En eftir því sem ég þekki, gengur atvinnuleit umsækjendanna mjög illa.

Fyrst og fremst mega þeir ekki nota þjónustu Vinnumálastofnunar, af því að þeir eru ekki í kerfinu. Þeir kunna ekki íslenskt tungumál og einnig eiga þeir yfirleitt ekki marga íslenski vini sem geta veitt þeim aðstoð. Þó að maður sendi umsókn um vinnu til allra vinnuveitenda sem auglýsa fyrir lausa stöðu, er sárasjaldan sem koma svör frá þeim.

Sumir vinnuveitendur þekkja ekki hvernig þeir geta ráðið útlending sem hefur ekki kennitölu og það getur einnig verið góð afsökun fyrir þá til að ráða ekki fólk á flótta.
Þó að einhver sé heppinn nógu að finna vinnu fyrir sig, kemur atvinnuleyfi ekki endilega tímanlega.

Eitt dæmi sem ég hef vitnað í var þetta: Umsækjandi um alþjóðlega vernd fékk ráðningarsamning. Hann var heppinn, en lögmaður hans kynnti hann fyrir atvinnurekanda sem leitaði að starfsmanni. Umsókn um atvinnuleyfi var sent til yfirvaldanna. En eftir hálft ár hafði verið liðið, var atvinnuleyfi enn ekki komið. Atvinnurekandinn gat ekki beiðið lengur en þetta og ráðningarsamningnum var slítið.

Spurningar mínar eru þessar: Af hverju geta umsækjendur um alþjóðlega vernd, sem mega fá sér vinnu, ekki notað þjónustu Vinnumálastofnunar? Ég held að það sé nægileg ástæða þess að þeir fá sérstakt leyfi um aðgang að þjónustu Vinnumálastofnunar.

Af hverju býr Útlendingastofnun eða annar ábyrgðaraðili á málinu ekki til upplýsingarhefti sem útskýrir aðstæður fólks sem sækir um alþjóðlega vernd og hvernig vinnuveitandi getur ráðið því, svo að fólkið getur tekið það með sér í atvinnuleit og látið vinnuveitanda hafa?

Af hverju tekur það svona langan tíma að útvega atvinnuleyfi, þó að það sé einnig mál sem varðar alla innflytjendur utan ESB?
Er það ósanngjarnt í garð annarra innflytjenda utan ESB að veita fólki á flótta, sem er hlutfallslega fátt, undantekningu frá skyldu um atvinnuleyfi?

Menntun og sjálfboðastarf

Hvað um fólk sem má ekki vinna á meðan það er að bíða eftir úrskurði yfirvalda um mál sitt? Þó að það geti ekki unnið, nýtist tíminn samt í menntun, sjálfboðastarfsemi eða tómstundagaman fyrir sig.

En hingað til er eina tækifæri fyrir fólk á flótta til að mennta sig, íslenskunámskeið, og auk þess, enskunámskeið í Reykjavík. Mér skilst að íslenskunámskeiðið í Reykjavík sé frá kl. 9 til 12 á fjóra daga í viku og stendur í þrjá vikur og mér finnst þetta vera ekki slæmt, ef nýtt námskeið kemur tímanlega eftir lok eins námskeiðs.

En í Reykjanesbæ er námskeiðið aðeins fjórar klukkustundir í viku og stendur í tíu vikur. Og það virðist langt á milli námskeiða þar. Ég ætla ekki að segja að Reykjanesbær vanræki ábyrgð sína, af því að við fréttum um gríðarleg fjárhagsvanda Reykjanesbæjar og sennilega vantar hann peninga til að auka tækifæri menntunar fyrir flóttafólkið. En samt er meginatriðið hér að það er ekki nægileg starfsemi hjá umsækjendum um alþjóðlega vernd.

(*Leiðrétting: Ég fékk ábendingu eftir málflutninginn, en námskeiðið í Reykjavík er tvær klukkustundir á dag, annað hvort f.h. eða e.h. og stendur í fjóra vikur, en það er bara fjórar vikur á hverju hálfu ári. Því er staðan næstum sama og í Reykjanesbæ).

Þá komum við að sjálfboðastarfi. Margir umsækjendanna óska þess að taka þátt í sjálfboðastarfsemi. En í rauninni er afar lítill möguleiki til heldur á sjálfboðavinnu. Mér sýnist að það sé bersýnilegt að við þurfum að skapa fleira tækifæri fyrir sjálfboðastarf fyrir fólk á flótta.

Að því leyti hvílir ábyrgðin ekki aðeins á yfirvöldunum heldur einnig á öðrum stofnanum sem eiga erindi við málefnið eins og Rauði Krossinn eða jafnvel Þjóðkirkjan að mínu mati. En það þýðir ekki að yfirvöldin beri hér enga ábyrgð.

Persónulega finnst mér eins og yfirvöldin telji sig ekki bera neina ábyrgð á líðan og vanlíðan umsækjenda um alþjóðlega vernd, en er slíkt rétt viðhorf? Iðjuleysið sem umsækjendur eru dæmdir til gegn vilja sínum skapar geðræn vandamál eins og kvíði og þunglyndi.

,,Eat, sleep, eat, sleep… I’m getting depressed“. Það er andleg pynting að láta mann skynja eins og að maður væri óþarfur. Allir hafa rétt á að leggja sitt af mörkum til samfélagsins. Það eru grunnréttindi.

Lokaorð

Þegar er skoðað hversdagslíf umsækjenda um alþjóðlega vernd, munum við verða að viðurkenna það að allt of mörg atriði séu skilin eftir hálfgerð, þó að það sé hægt að sinna þeim betur og bæta þau.

Ég þekki ekki mikið til um verkaskiptingu sveitarfélaga, einstaka ráðuneyta og stofnana en mér finnst ofboðslega skrítið þegar velferðarráðuneytið segir ekki orð um málefni umsækjenda um alþjóðlega vernd. Það talar þó hátt um flóttafólk sem ríkið býður nýtt líf á Íslandi. Skortur á virkum vilja hjá yfirvöldunum og aðgerðarleysi eru nú komin á stig duldra fordóma.

Og þegar ég tek svo til orða þá er ég líka að tala um þá staðreynd að yfirvöld refsa fólki á flótta, fólki sem neyddist til að nota falskt vegabréf, þvert ofan í 31. grein flóttamannasamningsins. Yfirvöldin skilja einnig að hjón með því að vísa maka sem er umsækjandi um alþjóðalega vernd úr landi.

Ég verð að segja að hvort tveggja er jafnvel meira en duldir fordómar, það eru duldar ofsóknir. Ef til vill hefur sérhver starfsmaður hjá yfirvöldnum ekki slíkt í huga, en vinnubrögðin sem heild í málefninu eru dulin ofsókn gegn umsækjendum um alþjóðlega vernd.

Þá langar mig að spyrja yfirvöldin:
Af hverju ofsækið þið fólk á flótta? Af hverju hafið þið andúð á því?

Nú er tími til að við fáum svar.

Kærar þakkir til ykkar á málþinginu


(Þessi ræða var flutt í ræðuefnishluta um ,,hversdagslíf” málþings um málefni flóttamanna ,,Farðu burt!!“. Málþingið var haldið á vegum MFÍK í Iðnó þann 23. nóvember 2014)





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