Christian refugees have always identified readily with the Gospel stories of Jesus' trial and killing. In the sufferings of a good man persecuted for no good reason, and subject to unjust laws they can see their own experience reflected.
In the unravelling and current attempts to re-ravel the Malaysian solution, they will be even more strongly impressed and discomforted by the parallels. The stories of Jesus' trial in the four Gospels highlight the triumph of expediency over legality and morality. The Roman governor Pilate recognises that Jesus is not guilty of any crime but still has him first scourged and then crucified. In John's account he ignores the plea of his wife, the voice of conscience.
In the background to the story of Jesus' death is the voice of the crowd. The crowd is easily manipulated and an ever present threat both to Pilate's tenure and to the remaining independence of the local Jewish administration. It is expedient for both levels of government to get rid of Jesus.
Asylum seekers recognise in these details the part that corrupt legal systems played in the persecution from which they fled. They also readily see in Pilate's behaviour similarities to their treatment in Australia.
They know that Australian law commits the government to protect refugees and to detain them only in order to establish their identity. But precisely because they are innocent and are likely to be granted protection as refugees, they are punished by prolonged detention in order to deter others.
They also read enough of the Australian media coverage to know how strongly popular opinion can run against refugees and how it is manipulated by prejudiced journalism.
In the Malaysia solution and the scramble to restore it, asylum seekers familiar with the Christian Gospels will be struck by the detailed similarities.
In John's Gospel, Pilate is caught between the claims that justice makes on him to release Jesus and the voice of the crowd; between being fair and being firm. He hits on the expedience of a swap. He promises the crowd that he will free one prisoner as a favour, and offers them the choice between the innocent Jesus and Barabbas, a terrorist. The crowd, of course, chooses the terrorist. The swap unravels and Pilate is left looking neither fair nor firm.
In Luke's description of Jesus' trial, too, Pilate finds Jesus not guilty of the charges brought against him but then has to face the judgment