Newsletter for 24 July 20128 Rural Australians for Refugees Bellingen and Nambucca Districts

_{Report on our protest rally}

_{Roadside demonstration: Thursday 26th July}

_{Next market: Valla Beach, Saturday 4th August}

_{Tamil asylum seeker deported}

_{A message from our national RAR committee}

_{Report on our protest rally}

_{A huge thank you to all our supporters who turned out on Saturday to protest about our government’s cruel and inhumane asylum policy. About eighty people took part, and our banners and placards made a spectacular impact, as you can see on the attached photo. It was a very moving occasion, with people reading the biographies of the twelve men who have died on Manus and Nauru whilst in the care of our government. In addition, we had lots of people who came to the microphone to read poetry or to express their outrage at the current situation for asylum seekers and refugees, both in offshore detention and in our communities. What came across most strongly was our shared determination to keep up the fight for a more compassionate Australia, and to hold to account our politicians who seem to have lost their moral compass in their pursuit of votes.}

_{We distributed more than two hundred leaflets, collected about a hundred signatures on our open letter, and signed up twelve new supporters.}

_{Let’s continue to campaign together for a kinder Australia, and for an end to offshore detention.}

_{Roadside demonstration: Thursday 26}^th _July

_{A reminder that our next roadside demonstration is this Thursday on Hogbin Drive, Toormina from 2.30 until 4.00 pm. You will find us about 150 metres down the hill from the fire station, near to what used to be the Sawtell Nursery. It would be great, following Saturday’s hugely successful protest, to welcome a few new people to the demo. We have lots of banners and placards to share.}

_{Next market: Valla Beach, Saturday 4}^th _August

_{Our next market stall will be at the Valla Beach market on Saturday 4}^th _{August from 9.00 am until 1.30 pm. As usual, we’ll be chatting to market-goers, handing out leaflets, collecting signatures on our open letter and selling our merchandise. The markets are a great opportunity to interact with the community and to help people to be better informed about the terrible reality of our government’s policy on asylum seekers. If you could join us for an hour or two at the market, then please let Mike know by emailing him at: mandm.griffin2@bigpond.com.}

_{Tamil asylum seeker deported}

_{Tamil asylum seeker Thileepan, who arrived by boat in Australia in June 2012, was last week deported to Sri Lanka, after his claim for asylum was rejected. He leaves behind his wife and their 10-month-old baby, who were both issued Safe Haven Enterprise visas two days before he was issued with a removal notice. Their separation will almost certainly be permanent, given that his wife, having been granted refugee status, cannot return to Sri Lanka, and is not permitted to sponsor her husband to return to Australia.}

_{Thileepan seemed to have a strong and well-documented case to be granted protection under international conventions, but to no avail. How can this cruel separation of a young family ever be justified, other than in the context of a minister who declares that we, as a country, cannot afford to be compassionate?}

_{Family unity is a fundamental principle of international and Australian domestic law. Australia is a party to the convention on the rights of the child, which states that children have a right to know and be cared for by their parents, and should grow up in a family environment wherever possible. Australia is also a party to the international covenant on civil and political rights, which says the family “is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the state”.}

_{A UNHCR spokesperson had this to say: “This latest incident goes beyond a refusal to reunite families, to instead actively and indefinitely separate them.”}

_{You might want to telephone minister Dutton to express your dismay. His electoral office number is: 07 3205 9977. His email address is: minister@border.gov.au.}

_{A message from our national RAR committee}

_{RAR now has a national campaign team comprising two representatives from Albany in Western Australia, a representative from Wyalla in South Australia, a representative from the Sunshine Coast, another from Cygnet in Tasmania, two from Victoria, and four from NSW (Armidale, Southern Highlands and the Blue Mountains). Following the success of this last week’s protest rallies, the team will be working on campaigns relating to SRSS, children in detention, and an election campaign strategy. Please send suggestions to the team and requests to join the group to the national RAR email address: rar.australia@gmail.com.}

_{Check out the index of subjects on our blog  http://bellorar.blogspot.com.au} 

_{It includes articles from many sources and letters to politicians and newspapers.}

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_{Twitter Account @RARBellingenNam}

_{Email address bellingen.rar@gmail.com}

_{The National RAR web site is at  www.ruralaustraliansforrefugees.org.au} 

_{The National RAR facebook site is at  RAR Facebook}