Roadside demonstration report
Bellingen market report
Letter to the Prime Minister
Update on Bomana prison, Port Moresby
New open letter
Roadside demonstration report
Our
demonstration in Bellingen last Thursday attracted hugely positive
responses both from passing motorists and from people walking by. Whilst
it is understandable that, after six years, people might grow weary of
feeling the need to stand regularly at the roadside to remind the public
about our government’s heartless and cruel asylum policy, there are two
powerful reasons for continuing with our campaign. Firstly, our
government has been forced to respond to this kind of public pressure
about the treatment of refugees: there are now no children detained on
Nauru, and the Manus island detention centre has closed. Secondly, it is
intolerable that so many refugees – including some 220 men in PNG -
remain in limbo, and in poor health, after being detained since 2013. We
simply have to keep up the fight for their freedom. Please consider
joining us at our roadside demonstrations to help maintain the pressure.
Our upcoming demonstrations are as follows:
Thursday 30th January: Big Banana, Coffs Harbour
Thursday 13th February: Opposite the base hospital, Coffs Harbour
Thursday 27th February: Waterfall Way, Bellingen
Thursday 12th March: Big Banana, Coffs Harbour
Thursday 26th March: Opposite the base hospital, Coffs Harbour.
All the demonstrations run from 2.30 to 4.00 pm
Bellingen market report
Bellingen has received some much-needed rain in recent days, which resulted in the organisers cancelling Saturday’s market, so we have nothing to report!
Our next market stall will be at Valla Beach market on Saturday 1st February from 9.00 am until 1.00 pm. If you are able to help out for an hour or two, then please let Mike know by emailing him at: mandm.grifffin2@bigpond.com.
Letter to the Prime Minister
This
week we finally sent off the open letter to the Prime Minister, signed
by 575 supporters at our market stalls, calling on the government to end
the practice of issuing Temporary Protection Visas (TPVs) to refugees
who have been found to be in need of protection under international law.
The normal practice across the world is for refugees, once their asylum
claims have been investigated and validated, to be given permanent
protection, so that they can rebuild their lives in a new country. The
current policy, reintroduced by the Abbott government, leaves refugees
in a permanent state of uncertainty and anxiety. It is driven by
political rather than humanitarian considerations. You can find the
letter on our blog letters page.
New open letter
We
have a new open letter to the Prime Minister, which we had planned to
launch at the Bellingen market, but which we will now launch at the
Valla Beach market on 1st
February. The focus is very much on the plight of the asylum seekers
and refugees who remain in limbo in PNG, and who our government is keen
for us to forget about. You can view the open letter on our blog letters page. If you
would like a copy of the petition, so that you can collect signatures
from family and friends, then please email Mike at: mandm.griffin2@bigpond.com. Just think, if 50 supporters each collected just 10 signatures, that would really boost our efforts!
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