Next Market -
Bellingen Sat 17th March
U3A session on
refugee issues
Next Roadside Demo -
Big Banana Coffs February 22nd 2:30pm
Behrouz Boochani reports
from Manus
Seriously ill mother
still trapped on Nauru
Coffs Harbourside
market report
A great turnout of
ten supporters to help on our stall in Coffs Harbour on Sunday. The
new venue , apart from the lack of shade until the newly planted trees grow, is
very pleasant and well set out. There was lots of positive interaction
with visitors to our stall, as well as lively conversations amongst
our supporters. As always, a very good response from members of the public,
together with deep dismay about the treatment of asylum seekers and refugees by
our government.
Our next market stall
will be at the Bellingen Community markets on Saturday 17th March.
U3A session on
refugee issues
Some 25 people
attended the U3A meeting on the subject of refugees on Monday 19th February in
Nambucca Heads. In the first part of the meeting, Michael Blockey gave us a
very comprehensive overview of the development of asylum policy by governments
on both sides of politics, and mapped out the shift from the bipartisan policy
of welcoming refugees to one of demonising them for party political advantage.
The result has been the “race to the bottom” in which politicians use the
tactics of fear and nationalism to turn the Australian public away from the
tradition of wanting to give people a helping hand and to offer them the
opportunity to build a new life in a safe country. In the second part of the
session, Vigeeta Chauhan, who works for Settlement Services International in
Coffs Harbour, gave us a detailed picture of how SSI works with newly arrived
refugees to assist them in navigating the complexities of moving to a new
country, learning a new language and adjusting to a completely new existence.
SSI supports the refugees with housing, education, health issues, shopping,
finding employment and much besides. It is a vital service, without which many
refugees would simply find it impossible to adapt to their new lives. You can
find further information at: www.ssi.org.au.
Next roadside
demonstration: Thursday 22nd February in Coffs Harbour
Our next roadside
demonstration is this Thursday 22nd February outside the Big Banana in
Coffs Harbour from 2.30 until 4.00 pm. Please do try to join us if you can,
but remember to wear covered shoes to keep the ants at bay! We have lots of
banners and placards to share and we need to continue to demonstrate to the
public that many Australians are deeply appalled by the government’s cruel and
punitive policy, which is designed to break people’s spirits and to encourage
them to return to the danger that they have risked their lives to escape from.
Behrouz Boochani
reports from Manus
On the fourth
anniversary of the brutal murder of Reza Barati at the hands of those
paid by the Australian government to protect him, Behrouz Boochani, an Iranian
refugee held on Manus island, writes passionately about Reza’s murder, and
about the plight of the men still languishing there, many of them since 2013.
Behrouz writes: “His death is an utter tragedy. The way he was killed, and the
violence that left him dead, more than anything else, echoes the level of
ruthlessness inherent in the system of offshore processing. Four years have
passed since that event and questions are still left unanswered. Why didn’t the
police force try to stop the attack by the locals and G4S officers on that
night? Why weren’t those two Australians ( G4S guards implicated in
Raza’s murder) pursued and investigated? And why didn’t they appear in any
court? Also, what was the role of G4S guards who had the responsibility to
protect the refugees? And why didn’t they carry out their responsibilities
appropriately?”
You can read the
whole article, together with a very moving poem by Behrouz, on our Facebook
page.
Seriously ill
mother still trapped on Nauru
The very sick mother
who needs urgent heart treatment, remains on Nauru, simply because she insists
that she cannot leave her only son on Nauru whilst she undergoes treatment in
Australia. The Australian Border Force – not well known for its expertise in
diagnosing patients’ needs – has received repeated requests, including two in
January, for the mother to be evacuated from the island, but refuses to budge
on the need for her to be accompanied by her son. The latest medical report
states that : “she is at extremely high and imminent risk of having a
catastrophic cardiac event such as heart attack, or sudden death due to arrhythmias.”
A former senior medical officer on Nauru who treated the mother, repeatedly
warned the Australian immigration authorities that she needed a higher level of
care than can be provided on Nauru. He states: “ For the Australian Border
Force to use her son as a way of denying treatment is breathtakingly cynical.”
If you would like to
protest about this to the government or the opposition, then please phone
Malcolm Turnbull on (02)6277 7700 or Bill Shorten on (02) 6277 4022.
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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