《Letters to Ali》是羅卓瑤的第一部紀錄片,是一部她不想拍但覺得非拍不可的電影。風格很個人化,但無論在澳洲或香港放映時,不少人看完後都哭了。
紀錄片追隨澳洲女醫生Trish Kerbi一家人(包括她的丈夫及四個孩子)萬里長征,花三個星期時間開車到Port Hedland,探訪一個來自阿富汗的難民男孩Ali,藉此揭示澳洲難民政策不人道的一面。
為逃離塔里班的戰禍,才十多歲的阿里獨自一人越洋漂流到澳洲尋求庇護,卻換來長期禁錮,看不到明天。
Trish 透過志願機構認識了阿里,和他通信了兩年,阿里開始叫她「媽」,她的一家人也漸把他當作家人看待,不但為他辦 Bridging visa,還收拾好房間等待他入住,只是申請visa 卻幾經波折。
現時在澳洲有百多個難民小孩被關在拘留所,住在四面高牆、沒有窗戶的房間,阿里曾投訴自己遭性侵犯,但卻換來被獨自監禁了數天,從此,阿里不敢再投訴了。
很多非法入境者最後不被確定難民身份,由移民局遺返原地,但有些人一踏入伊朗等地的機場時即被殺掉;他們通常由移民局職員陪伴返國,但職員的任務是確定他們已返國,不是保障他們的人生安全。
可悲的是澳洲公眾對難民的事情漠不關心,政府又總把難民刻劃成罪犯及殺人兇徒。拘留所不淮傳媒或任何人拍攝,當日連Trish一家人要帶一件薄餅給他也被禁止。
Nature is beautiful. But people could be more beautiful.
影片總在最美麗的澳洲景色下訴說最殘酷的故事,令人聽了更心酸。
但最令人感動的是Trish一家人無私地為一個異族男孩四處張羅,這令我們對人重拾信心-人真的可以更美麗的。
從《Letters to Ali》網頁找到一些關於澳洲難民政策的資料,引述如下:
Australia is the only Western country that has a system of mandatory detention of asylum seekers including children, that also severely limits the capacity of detainees to obtain proper judicial review of their detention.
In August 2001, children made up 23.4% of all detainees. As at 11 Feb 2004, at least 174 children were locked up in detention centres in Australia. Some children have been imprisoned for years.
Children in detention have been found with lip sewing, slashing, ingestion of shampoo, attempted hanging and threats of self-hurt. Some suffer from bed-wetting, nightmares, depression and separation anxiety. Some are overly withdrawn, while others are overly familiar with strangers. Many exhibit impaired linguistic and cognitive development.
All the detention centres have been declared off-limits to journalists. All staff employed in the detention centre — including professionals like nurses, doctors and psychologists — are required to sign secrecy clauses and banned from speaking publicly about conditions inside.
放映後的座談會中,有觀眾提到香港人是否也應該反省一下,我們如何對待越南難民及大陸新移民的問題。朋友提醒我,香港當時只是越南難民的第一收容港,問題反而出在西方國家遲遲不肯收容這批難民的偽善態度。
然而在大陸新移民的問題上,我們又是否總帶著歧視或偏見的目光呢?但香港這個小島又真能收容這許許多多的人嗎?
我們總是在制度與人道立場之間找一個平衡點…… 只希望人總可更美麗一點。