Letter 2 to A. Albanese M.P.

 

Dear Mr Albanese,

 

I have supported and worked for the Labour Party for over 50 years but in recent times have been unable to give Labor my support due to the party’s policies on the issue of the treatment of refugees. “Offshore Processing” has been a harsh and cruel policy over the years and one which sadly, Labor has supported.  Many of us  would like Labor to press for an end to this.

 

A further pressing issue at the moment revolves around the continued use of Temporary Protection Visas for refugees . As you will know, there are over 30, 000 genuine refugees on TPV’s in Australia. These people have often spent years in detention and many have been through a life of terror and stress . Even though they have been designated refugees they are still living in insecurity and hardship on TPV’s with no certainty around their futures. At the recent ALP National Conference, Labour committed to the conversion of Temporary Protection Visas to Permanent Protection Visas. We urge you to keep to this commitment and press for Temporary Protection Visas to be abolished.

 

The Labor Party through the years has always  been a party of compassion and humanity and it is this central tenet that has seen Labor successful at election time. It would be to Labor’s advantage in the polls to demonstrate by its policy platform that these principles are still embedded in the Labor manifesto. Temporary Protection Visas serve no purpose in relation to border security and prevent hardworking  migrants and their families from fully settling in Australia and  contributing to Australian society.

 

Many asylum seekers are professional people  and are highly skilled. They deserve an opportunity to re-build their lives. As for the overall policy of “Offshore Processing” and “ Indefinite Detention”  – Labor needs to be clear and decisive on these issues . These policies must end – they bring shame on Australia in the eyes of the rest of the world.   

 

Yours sincerely,

 

M........m G........

5 questions about temporary protection visas in the age of COVID-19: UNSW Newsroom

The Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law 

COVID-19 is having an impact on everyone around the world, but particularly the most vulnerable.

 Image: Shutterstock

In Australia, government responses so far have been directed toward protecting public health, and supporting businesses and employees. We asked Sarah Dale, the Centre Director and Principal Solicitor at the Refugee Advice and Casework Service (RACS), about how this public health crisis is affecting refugees and people seeking asylum who are on temporary visas.

Q1. Who are the refugees and asylum seekers on temporary visas in Australia?

Bello Nambucca RAR Newsletter 17th December 2019

Christmas Island

Roadside demonstration report

Our fundraising total for 2019

News from National RAR committee

Refugees in limbo

Our first market stall of 2020

Christmas Island

And finally…

Roadside demonstration report

Our final roadside demonstration for 2019 took place last Thursday in Coffs Harbour. As usual, the response from passing motorists was overwhelmingly supportive, which should not surprise us, given that survey after survey indicates that the majority of Australians want the cruelty of offshore detention to end, and want the government to accept the New Zealand offer to take refugees from Nauru and PNG. One of our supporters asked the question: “I wonder if we will still be doing this next December?” The only way we can achieve a “no” to that question is to redouble our efforts in 2020 to bring this shameful chapter in our history to an end. We hope therefore that more supporters will take part in our campaigning next year.

Our first roadside demonstration of 2020 will take place on Waterfall Way in Bellingen on Thursday 16^th January from 2.30 to 4.00 pm. You will find us opposite the entrance to the golf club, near to the Yellow Shed. Why not make a New Year’s resolution to join us?

Our fundraising total for 2019

At the beginning of the year, we had a tentative target of $10,000 to support the Asylum Seekers Centre in Sydney. As you will be aware, the ASC supports hundreds of asylum seekers in Sydney as they wait, seemingly indefinitely, to have their claims for protection to be processed, whilst living very precariously in the community. The ASC provides people with essential support, ranging from meals, English lessons, legal advice, financial support, equipment for children starting school, help in securing housing and employment, and much besides. They are entirely dependent on donations to keep the service going.

Throughout the year, we have raised funds through a range of activities: musical events, auctions, lunches, raffles, the sale of merchandise, and individual donations. Every dollar that we have raised has been donated to the ASC, apart from $160 sent to National RAR committee to cover our insurance and to support their operation. This week, we have transferred $3,000 to the ASC, making the total for the year an amazing $12,200. That’s a great result, and we would like to thank everyone who has supported our fundraising efforts in any way during 2019. The ASC’s Jaclyn Dunn responded: “Thank you so much for your email! What fantastic news. I am blown away by what Bellingen and Nambucca District RAR have done this year. Surpassing your fundraising target by $2,200 is amazing. These funds will help ASC provide vital services to many people. Many thanks to you and everyone involved.”

Our big challenge now is to come up with some new ideas to raise funds in 2020. If you have a bright idea to share, and you are prepared to roll your sleeves up to make it happen, then please let Mike know by emailing him at: mandm.griffin2@bigpond.com. 

News from National RAR committee

The RAR National Conference will take place in July 2020 in the Blue Mountains, and the draft programme will be posted on the web site shortly. There will be a strong focus on breakout sessions, together with a number of keynote speakers. The last conference, held in Albury in 2018, and attended by three members of our group, was hugely successful and inspiring. Look out for the details of the 2020 conference on the National RAR web site.

Two members of the National committee have had to step down for personal reasons. This means there is an opportunity for two RAR members to step up and join the National Committee for the rest of the year - up to the July AGM. The committee meets via Zoom (on-line) twice a month on Wednesday evenings (AEST) from 6.00 to 7.30 pm. Please contact Louise at rar.australia@gmail.com if you would like to discuss this.

Refugees in limbo

A world-first study tracking 1100 refugees over three years has found that people who come to Australia seeking asylum are nearly two and a half times more likely to think about killing themselves or to believe that they would be “better off dead” than those with more secure visas. People with insecure visa status are also two to four times more likely than secure visa holders to have been tortured and imprisoned, and to have witnessed friends, family and strangers being raped, assaulted and killed. Those on insecure visas also faced more stress once they arrived in Australia, which was exacerbated by their experiences in detention. Nearly all were terrified of being sent home and most worried about those they had left behind.

These findings should surprise no one. Our government’s punitive asylum policy is focused on making life as difficult and stressful as possible for those seeking protection on our shores. That’s the key reason that our current open letter to the Prime Minister, in which we argue for the return of permanent protection visas, which the Abbott government replaced with temporary visas in 2014. As we state in the letter, which has so far attracted 500 signatures at our market stalls: “These temporary visas, whether TPVs or SHEVs, leave refugees in a permanent state of anxiety, when what they so urgently need is a sense of security to enable them to rebuild their lives.” 

Our first market stall of 2020

Please note that our first market stall of 2020 will be at the Bellingen market on Saturday 18^th January from 9.00 am until 1.30 pm. We hope to see you there.

Christmas Island

The politicians have isolated Priya, Nades and their QLD-born girls on Christmas Island, 5,000km from their Biloela home. They are now facing their second Christmas in detention.

Today, please post a card with a message of hope and compassion to Priya & Nades, c/- Phosphate Hill Immigration Detention Facility, Christmas Island, 6798.

It can take two months for ordinary mail to reach Christmas Island. To help your card arrive in time, make sure you add a 50c Australia Post Priority Label: bit.ly/prioritylabel

Thank you to everyone who has offered to send gifts to Christmas Island. Because of the limited capacity for mail on the twice weekly flights to Christmas Island, a simple card is the best way to show your support right now. Rest assured a ‘Christmas care package’ has already been sent from Bilo.

And finally...

This is our last newsletter for 2019. We will now take a break for a couple of weeks. Our next newsletter will appear in your inbox on Tuesday 7^th January. A huge thank you to you all for your support and commitment during the past year. Our work is not over, and we will need to return, refreshed, in 2020 to keep up the fight for justice for refugees and asylum seekers whose lives and wellbeing have been sacrificed on the altar of political expediency for so many years.

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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Our Face book is at https://www.facebook.com/Rural-Australians-for-Refugees-Bellingen-and-Nambucca-Districts-269696303205083/timeline/

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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

Rally for refugees and asylum seekers in Sydney

"Eight years without my family"
Rally for refugees and asylum seekers
12pm next Monday 12 August,
Immigration Dept, 26 Lee St, Sydney (see map here)

Following their rally in Canberra join asylum seekers and refugees who face permanent uncertainty and mental torture due to the policy of Temporary Protection Visas to protest in Sydney next Monday lunchtime.

Hundreds of refugees from across the Iraqi, Rohingya, Bangladeshi, Hazara and other communities are expected to attend. People are growing desperate due to the prospect of another three years separated from their families, with their children barred from tertiary education and without the certainty that they can stay here. Please come along at lunchtime on Monday to show them your support!

Invite your friends at www.facebook.com/events/343212429941368/

Letter to Pat Conaghan MP, August 2019

                                                                                8^th August 2019

 Dear Mr Conaghan,

You will be aware, I’m sure, that some one thousand refugees and their friends recently held a demonstration outside parliament.

These people have been accepted by Australia as genuine refugees who cannot return to their countries of origin because they have a well-founded fear of persecution or worse. After all the trauma that they have suffered, they need now to rebuild their lives in Australia. Sadly, the current government policy of issuing these genuine refugees with Temporary Protection Visas (TPVs) or Safe Haven Enterprise Visas (SHEVs), rather than permanent protection, makes it very difficult indeed for them to get on with their lives.

Many of these refugees are separated from their families, and haven’t seen their loved ones for years, but these temporary visas do not permit their families to join them. Without the express permission of the Australian government, they are not permitted to travel overseas to third countries where they could at least meet up with family members. Every three years (TPVs) or five years (SHEVs) they have to reapply for protection, meaning that their lives are full of uncertainty. Just imagine a female refugee being forced to relive her story of sexual violence at the hands of militias, to a complete stranger, often male, through an interpreter. Why do we need to punish and humiliate people in this way?

And what about their children, as they approach university age? Their temporary visa means that they are not able to access the student loans scheme (HECS), but are required to pay the full overseas student fee, which is completely beyond the capacity of almost every refugee family.

It should be abundantly clear that these temporary visas serve no good purpose, and that they inflict great harm. It need not be like this. It has not always been like this.  Other developed countries treat their refugees with compassion, regarding them as an asset rather than a burden. With the federal election now behind us, this is surely an opportune moment to right this wrong and to put this punitive and unnecessary policy behind us.  I request that you raise these matters with the Department of Home Affairs, and that you advocate for a change of policy, namely the reintroduction of permanent protection for those whose claim for protection has been approved.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely,

M

Refugee Action Coalition Sydney Newsletter, August 1, 2019

Refugee Action Coalition forum Temporary Protection Visas and life in limbo for refugees

6pm next Monday 5 August
NSW Teachers Federation, 23-33 Mary St Surry Hills

Speakers:
Sabrin Farooqui (Shakti Refugee and Migrant Women's Support Group NSW)
Sajeda Bahadurmia (Rohingya community activist and TPV holder)
Ruby Wawn (Refugee Action Coalition)

Refugees who arrived by boat now only receive TPVs, meaning they must reapply again after three years, with the chance of rejection and being sent back, and have no right to bring family members here. The election result means they now face another three years of uncertainty and isolation from their families. Join us to discuss this situation and the efforts to demand justice.

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Hundreds of TPV refugees rally in Canberra

More than 1000 refugees and asylum seekers rallied in Canberra on Monday, chanting "eight years in enough" in protest at their desperation at being denied permanent status and family reunion rights.
Read a full report in the Canberra Times here. Watch the SBS news report here, or check out a collection of photos from the Refugee Action Campaign Canberra here.


 

RACNSW Newsletter (Part)

Thousands say six years too long, Save Medevac

Thanks to everyone who rallied to mark six years of detention on Manus and Nauru on the weekend. There was an excellent turnout of around 1500 people in Sydney (photos below).

The SBS news report on the rally along with a report is online here, and another report is here and you can watch Dan Ilic's speech from the Sydney rally here. 

There is also a great photo of the crowd in Melbourne here.

 

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Refugees rally for permanent protection
 

Protest at parliament in Canberra 10.30am next Monday 29 July

A group of refugees on Temporary Protections Visas (TPVs) and bridging visas will protest in Canberra next week, travelling from Melbourne and Sydney. Refugees who arrived by boat are now only receiving TPVs, meaning they must reapply again after three years, with the chance of rejection of being sent back, and have no right to bring family members to Australia. Facebook event here

If you are interested in travelling down from Sydney contact us at info@refugeeaction.org.au