UNCC300: Realizing Principles of Common Good in Refugee Context

This report examines the difficulties in realizing the principles of common good within a Sydney neighborhood inhabited by a significant Tamil refugee population. The author, drawing from personal social work experience, highlights the challenges faced by refugees and their host families due to the scrutiny of immigration authorities. The report discusses the importance of treating all individuals with dignity and respect, particularly refugees and asylum seekers. It emphasizes the aspirations of common good, such as providing for the basic needs of refugees. However, the author observes that these aspirations are often hindered by government skepticism and surveillance, which makes it difficult for refugees and those assisting them to integrate and find a sense of security and normalcy. The report references the historical context of the Tamil refugee population and the impact of the civil war in Sri Lanka, which led to their migration. The author's observations underscore the need for empathy and solidarity, but also the significant barriers to achieving common good in the face of governmental policies and societal attitudes.

Running head: REALIZING PRINCIPLES OF COMMON GOOD
Realizing Principles of Common Good
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1REALIZING PRINCIPLES OF COMMON GOOD
Common Good is defined under the tenets of Christian faith as the sum total of the social
conditions that make it possible for people, to either as individuals or groups, in order to reach
the conditions that ensure their fulfillment, more easily and more fully (Westra et al., 2016).
Common good is something that belongs by virtue of its nature to each and every person living
in society and it is indivisible in nature, as it is possible to attain this in a collective and united
way (Reich, 2019). To increase as well as safeguard the effectiveness of common good in the
present and in the future is something that can be achieved in a united and collective manner and
not on an individual basis (Reich, 2019). This opinion piece talks about how realizing the
aspirations of common good appears to be difficult to do in a neighborhood in Sydney that is
home to a large migrant and Tamil refugee population, a population that is under the close
surveillance of the immigration authorities of Australia.
One of the most important aspirations of the common good is to be responsible for all
people living in a society and more specifically in a community, to look out for everyone and to
ensure that everyone is treated with dignity and respect. This is an aspiration that I believe holds
to be true in the treatment of migrant populations, especially populations that are comprised of
refugees and asylum seekers who have already had to flee persecutory conditions from the
countries that they have forcefully migrated from and who now require all the compassion and
support that is needed in order to make a return to normal life again (Arjoon et al., 2018). The
common good aspiration with refugees in particular would involve looking after the needs and
requirements of refugees, making sure that they have a roof over their heads, food to eat and a
status in society that does not invite condescension. Yet this is an aspiration which I have seen is
quite difficult to realize because of the fact that such people are always suspected by immigration

2REALIZING PRINCIPLES OF COMMON GOOD
authorities, who consider their entry in the country of asylum to be illegal and who are to be
deported back to the nation that compelled them to migrate in the first place, at the earliest
possible opportunity (Westra et al., 2016).
I have had the opportunity to perform social work in a neighborhood in Sydney which is
home to a Tamil refugee population, people who made their way to Australia when the civil war
broke out in the early part of the 1980’s between the Sinhalese majority and Tamil minority
population in the country. This was triggered by the activities of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil
Eelam, leading to wreckage and havoc in the country and causing people to flee to other parts of
the world in large numbers as a consequence (Knowles et al., 2018). The Tamil refugee
population that I am alluding to in this piece comprises a family of four members, two children, a
boy and a girl and their parents. They are recent arrivals, having made their way to Australian
shores only a few years ago. A family in the neighborhood has volunteered to take care of them
while they wait to know whether or not their application for refugee status is approved of by the
immigration authorities. The refugee family has faced a lot of hostility because of the fact that it
arrived on boat and the family that has agreed to host them is placed under scrutiny as well, even
though their noble gesture is appreciated by social work organizations in the country, including
those that work for the government (Westra et al., 2016). My observations are that the
willingness of this particular family that is hosting the refugees to perform the common good and
look after needy human beings in society, giving them the dignity and security that they deserve,
are met with challenges because of the fact that refugees are viewed with suspicion by the
government. Realizing the aspirations of the common good because hard to attain because while
solidarity, empathy and even sympathy exist, the skepticism and scrutiny of government

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authorities makes life difficult and challenges with both the refugees and the family that is
hosting them facing a lot of harassment in the bargain.

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References
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Conceptual Framework for Harmonizing the Goals of the Individual, Organizations, and
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https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10551-015-2969-6
Knowles, R. T., & Clark, C. H. (2018). How common is the common good? Moving beyond
idealistic notions of deliberative democracy in education. Teaching and Teacher
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https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0742051X17309484
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