As a child Emmanuel endured hardships we all know no 12 year old should ever see. On the occasion of my birthday what I wish is that Emmanuel’s children never suffer from the intolerance toward refugees that so many in our community like to express, enflamed by our out of control mass media and our defective political leaders, and that has at its root in the same evil that infected the hearts of those who forced Emmanuel to endure what he did. My wish is that Emmanuel and his family find peace here, that his children go to school and learn about the
good that is in the world, and that he and his children mingle with Australians, where their different origins are respected and appreciated, and among whom they will each be accepted as one of our own.