Rodney Hide: Grim humour in human tragedy

Bob Geldof. Photo / Getty Images

Bob Geldof is taking four families. Finland's Prime Minister is opening up his holiday home. It was only a matter of time before John Key backflipped to take more Syrian refugees.

It's a terrible human tragedy but with grim events we can, I think, be allowed a smile.

Imagine it: you and your family are in war-ravaged Syria; next minute, Sir Bob's London flat. Or in Juha Sipila's holiday home in the north of Finland with its subarctic climate and the winter sun popping up for fewer than three hours a day.

I suspect the transition would be hard. Imagine the counselling needed to flat with Geldof.

But the best from around the world was undoubtedly our own political leader and former Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters. He declared himself happy for New Zealand to take the women and children - but not the men. They should be fighting for their country's freedom. Just like we are.

And, to be clear, we should reduce Asian immigration.

What's not clear is who Peters would have the men fighting. Would he have them fighting for the Government? Or against the Government? Or should they join one of the estimated 1000 rebel groups?

His is a peculiarly Peters-type solution - and just what Syria needs: more Syrians fighting each other. And it's pure Peters that he doesn't flesh out exactly who they should be fighting. I would have thought that a critical policy detail.

Angelina Jolie has confused me. As UN special envoy on refugees she can normally be relied upon. But she said the world must distinguish economic migrants fleeing poverty and refugees fleeing for their lives.

She may have been having a dig at Geldof. I am not sure. The people he has staying over may only be poor and not real refugees. Certainly he has more history with feeding the poor. Jolie has focused on refugees.

But Jolie says just taking refugees won't solve the problem. She's urging diplomatic efforts to end the conflict in Syria. That would be nice. Instead of taking in more Syrians we should perhaps be sending Murray McCully. Or Peters.

Jolie makes it sound hard. It sounds easy when Geldof says what we should do. He has that ability. It's like when he organised a concert to feed Africa. World problems appeared easier in the 1980s.

Meanwhile, the British Government launched a drone attack into Syria that killed two British jihadists. The drone was piloted from 5000km away in England and the jihadists were hit driving their vehicle.

It's amazingly complex. The human suffering is real and witnessed. The answer must lie somewhere between Geldof opening up his homes, Peters urging Syrians to fight on, Jolie calling for diplomacy and drones attacking Jihadists. Surely.