“...the law of humanity,
which is anterior to all positive laws,
obliges us to afford them relief,
to save them from starving...”
so said an English court in 1803
in a judgment ruling
that poor foreigners should not go hungry,
before the genocide and national flight
of the 20th century,
there was, in this land,
a law of humanity.
before the signatures were borne
for international treaties,
to help those travellers
who we know today as refugees
whose destination is the safety they seek
there was once, in this land,
a law of humanity.
but beware the myth of a nation
riding the phoenix road to national pride
it leaves an ashen contempt
for stories from a different side
if self-determination and liberty
are ideals worthy of our species,
humanity allocated by flag stripes
should give us pause for sobriety
for in the measure of justice
there is a simmering disconnect
can a court offer confidence
without the chance of access
refugees are thwarted at borders
and dumped into detention
Parliament argues
while souls float in the Mediterranean.
so it goes
bombs and boats
machine guns and stowaways
missiles
and the economy class of a plane
midnight escape from rape
knife in the spine
privilege averts its gaze
red top headline
diplomatic communique
rebels in retreat
bribery at the gates
papers are exchanged
exhale on terra firma
a new garden called home
now surrounded by racist fervour
the survivor stands alone.
all bound by common consequence
man-made violence
man-made opportunity
man-made silence
man-made impunity.
but
the law of humanity
the cause of philosophical quarrels
which flows through the ages
and shakes the scales of our morals
anterior to all positive laws
etched on stone and parchment
your conscience knew the path
before you drew the quill to mark it
obliges us to afford them relief
with bread and shelter indeed
the only conditions relevant
are that you're human and in need
to save them from starving
for life is the sacred harvest
no child should become a corpse
because our dignity has departed.
there was, in this land,
a law of humanity
there must be a law
fit to break the boomerang of history
a law of humanity
beyond books and civility
a law that speaks
to our most intimate moments of sanity
a law of humanity
that dwells deeper than our family trees
a law that rips the fiction
out of our hypocrisies
the law of humanity
entrenched against the oppressor's creed
the law of humanity
that stands with refugees.
Notes
1. R v Inhabitants of Eastbourne (1803) 102 ER 769, per Lord Ellenborough C.J.
Benson Egwuonwu is a lawyer and poet based in London, United Kingdom. He has worked on international human rights interventions with The Law Society of England and Wales.