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25.2.20

Bello Nambucca RAR Newsletter 25th February 2020 Inbox



Roadside demonstration report

Coffs Harbourside market: Sunday 8th March, 9.00 am to 1.30 pm

Harmony Time: a concert on Sunday 15th March at 2.00 pm

A huge thank you, and a fond farewell

Refugee organisations react to last week’s ICC report

Behrouz Boochani’s book: No Friend but the Mountains

Roadside demonstration report
We were a small band of enthusiasts at our roadside demonstration last week, but we succeeded in getting lots of attention and support from passing motorists. We acknowledged that it is not easy to maintain the momentum after so many years of standing by the roadside. However, we quickly agreed that what we are doing is but a tiny sacrifice when compared to the terrible suffering inflicted on refugees and asylum seekers by our political leaders on both sides of parliament. They have been denied their freedom, their dignity and their human rights for almost seven years.
We will keep up the fight!
Our next roadside demonstration will be on Thursday 5th March on Waterfall Way in Bellingen from 2.30 to 4.00 pm. You will find us in our usual spot near the Yellow Shed, opposite the entrance to the golf club. Please consider joining us if you possibly can.
Coffs Harbourside market: Sunday 8th March, 9.00 am to 1.30 pm
A reminder that our next market stall will be at the popular Coffs Harbourside market on Sunday 8th March. We are still looking for helpers for the market, so, if you can lend a hand for an hour or two, then please let Mike know by emailing him at: mandm.griffin2@bigpond.com









Harmony Time: a concert on Sunday 15th March at 2.00 pm
The previous RAR concert was throughly enjoyed.
A reminder that our Harmony Time concert will take place in the Nambucca Community and Arts Centre in Nambucca Heads on Sunday 15th March, starting at 2.00 pm. We have a terrific line-up of musicians to uplift and entertain you, including members of the Coffs Harbour Conservatorium, the Eleventh-Hour Choir, and Heather Rose and friends.
We hope that you have the date in your diary and that you will encourage your friends and family to join us. Our aim is to raise a four-figure sum for the Asylum Seekers Centre in Newtown.
Tickets are priced at $20 for adults and $10 for students. There is no charge for children under ten. You can purchase your tickets NOW from Helloworld Travel, situated on Bowra Street in Nambucca Heads, or you can order them for collection and payment at the door by contacting Mike at: mandm.griffin2@bigpond.com. or by phone: 6569 5419. Alternatively, you can purchase your tickets at the door on 15th March.
We will have our RAR stall and a raffle, and there will be works of art on sale at bargain prices.
If you can help out on the day of the concert, or if you can contribute something for our raffle hamper, then please contact Marlene at: marlene.griffin46@bigpond.com.

Vintage Opaline Glass Vases
A huge thank you, and a fond farewell
This week, two of our longstanding supporters, Carol and John Vernon, are leaving the area to take up a new life to be close to family in Melbourne. They were founding members of the Bellingen and Nambucca District RAR group, established in 2014, and they have been wonderful and steadfast activists since that time. Many of you will have met them at our markets, our roadside demonstrations and our fundraising events over the years. We will greatly miss their enthusiastic support, their friendship, their generosity and their conversation. We wish them well in their move to Melbourne.
The good news is that, as they are downsizing, we now have in our possession a large number of items for our next lunch/ auction. So, if you would like to be the new owner of some excellent Vernon memorabilia, then watch this space for the date of our next fundraiser.
For the past year or so, John has managed our blog, so if there is anyone out there who could take on the job, which John tells us is not onerous, then please let Mike know by emailing him at: mandm.griffin2@bigpond.com



Refugee organisations react to last week’s ICC report
In last week’s newsletter, we reported on the findings of the International Criminal Court in relation to the Australian government’s “cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment” of asylum seekers and refugees in offshore detention. A number of groups, including Amnesty International Australia, Asylum Seekers Centre, the National Justice Project, the Refugee Council of Australia and others, have responded swiftly and collectively to the ICC judgement. 

Dr Graham Thon, of AI Australia, states: “This should be all the encouragement the Australian Government needs to secure third-party resettlement options so people who have suffered so much can start to rebuild their lives. It is completely unconscionable, when there are offers on the table from countries like New Zealand to resettle people, that Australia keeps them detained in conditions that have been found objectively to be cruel and inhumane.”

The Refugee Council of Australia, Paul Power, states: “This long-running ill-treatment of people seeking protection from persecution has done untold damage to Australia’s reputation. Any point that the Australian government wanted to make to the world was clearly made years ago. It’s pointless and unbelievably cruel to be still holding people seven years later.”
  
We clearly still have much work to do!

Behrouz Boochani’s book: No Friend but the Mountains

Many of you will have read Behrouz’s now-famous book, but you might be interested to know that it is now available in some local libraries as an audio book. It is read by an interesting variety of voices, including Richard Flanagan, Thomas Keneally, Isabel Carmody and Geoffrey Robertson. There is a long waiting list at Coffs Harbour library.
The book is also available on Audible.


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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