Newsletter for 2 April 2019 Rural Australians for Refugees Bellingen and Nambucca Districts

_{Fundraiser report}

_{Our Change.org petition to confront hate speech and fearmongering}

_{Next Market Stall: Valla Beach Market: Saturday 6}^th _April

_{Testimonies from Nauru: Médecins Sans Frontières}

_{The Invisible Man}

_{Fundraiser report}

_{The rain came down with a vengeance for our fundraising lunch and auction in Mylestom on Saturday, but we were well prepared and our spirits were in no way dampened. It was a hugely successful and enjoyable occasion, attended by more than forty supporters. Our target was to raise at least $2,000 for the Asylum Seekers Centre in Sydney, but we exceeded that by a very significant margin. Our provisional total is that the lunch and auction raised a total of $3,464. A huge thank you to all those who donated items for the auction and to all the generous bidders. A very special thank you to Margie and Georgie who hosted the event in their lovely home and cooked up the wonderful main course, to Ton who provided the exquisite desserts, to Marlene who took care of the money, and to Mike our auctioneer.} 

_{We know that the ASC will put the money to good use in supporting asylum seekers and refugees in the Sydney area. A great team effort!}

_{Our Change.org petition to confront hate speech and fearmongering}

_{Have you signed yet?}

_{So far, the response to our petition has been very slow. Could you please read the petition, the text of which is reproduced below, then click on the link to sign. It’s as easy as that! This is surely the moment to call time on the normalization of the demonization of asylum seekers, refugees, Muslims and other minority groups who call Australia home. We would be greatly encouraged, therefore, if you could take a couple of minutes to sign the petition and then forward it to your friends.}

_{A call on companies to withdraw their advertising from the Alan Jones Breakfast Show}

_{Members of the Bellingen and Nambucca District Rural Australians for Refugees call on all the companies who advertise on Alan Jones’ breakfast show to withdraw their advertisements. We urge them to join with the Australian community in demonstrating in the clearest possible way that they will no longer support intolerance and bigotry on the airways.}

_{The tragic events of Christchurch leave us all searching for explanations. Many commentators have written about far-right white supremacists and their ability to share their extreme beliefs on the internet. But these extremists don’t exist in a vacuum. For years we have increasingly normalized bigotry, anti-Muslim and anti-asylum seeker sentiments in Australia. Demonising, demeaning and mistreating those who are “not like us” has been mainstreamed by sections of the media, radio shock jocks and politicians on the right.} 

_{This has to stop if we are to have any real hope of developing a multicultural nation at peace with itself, a nation where people respect and celebrate difference. We must cease using fear, mistrust and vilification as a political weapon to garner votes.}

_{The Alan Jones Breakfast Show is the favourite echo chamber for leading politicians on the right – from Abbott and Dutton to Morrison and Abetz.  Their regular discourse with Jones has done much to spread fear of the “other”, and to demonise refugees, asylum seekers and members of the Muslim community.  Jones donated $10,000 to One Nation’s successful campaign to elect Mark Latham to the NSW Legislative Council. Latham has a long history of preaching intolerance, and advertisers should not associate themselves in any way with his brand of politics. This fearmongering has to end, and it needs to end now.}

_{Please sign our petition.} 

_{https://www.change.org/p/bellingen-and-nambucca-rural-australians-for-refugees-we-call-on-companies-to-withdraw-their-advertising-from-the-alan-jones-breakfast-show}

_{Next Market Stall: Valla Beach Market: Saturday 6}^th _April

_{A reminder that our next market stall is at the Valla Beach market on Saturday 6}^th _{April from 9.00 am until 1.00 pm. As usual, we’ll be talking to market-goers, handing out leaflets, selling our merchandise and inviting people to sign our open letter to Minister Dutton. If you can help out for an hour or two, then please let Mike know by emailing him at: mandm.griffin2@bigpond.com.}

_{Testimonies from Nauru: Médecins Sans Frontières}

_{A recent report by MSF paints a harrowing picture of life in detention on Nauru. MSF provided mental health support for asylum seekers before being forced to leave the island in October 2018. Ashan (not his real name), tells MSF “We fled Sri Lanka because of the war. The army was looking for my dad, so he left first. My mother, my siblings and I left later. We didn’t expect to be sent to Nauru. There, we spent four years living in a tent. We didn’t feel safe there: there were bad accidents that happened. When refugees would return to the camp at night, sometimes locals would kick them and take their money.}

_{My younger brother’s mental health was very bad when we were on Nauru. He made a suicide attempt four or five times…washing powder, cutting his hand. We fled Sri Lanka in search of a place where we could live in safety, but on Nauru my brother was doing worse than in our home country.}

_{Now in Australia, my brother is slowly recovering. He is good at school and he’s being seen by a counsellor, but still sometimes he gets angry and scared.”}

_{Our government, supported by the opposition, has inflicted untold harm on so many people who have sought safety on our shores. Let us keep up our efforts to seek a more humane and compassionate approach to refugees and asylum seekers.} 

_{The Invisible Man}

_{The extraordinary story of Behrouz Boochani, the stateless refugee who won Australia’s richest literary award while living on Manus Island, but remains unable to set foot in this country. Here is the link to the ABC iView site of Australian Story that aired last night. Highly moving.}

_{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.}

_{This newsletter is sent to >620 recipients}

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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}

Newsletter for 3 October 2017 Rural Australians for Refugees Bellingen and Nambucca Districts

_{Next Market Stall -Valla Beach Sat 7th October}

_{Another death on Manus}

_{Duttons latest attack on refugees}

_{Our new petition}

_{Next Roadside Demo - Coffs Hospital Thursday October 12th 2:30pm}

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_{Our next market stall: Valla Beach, Saturday 7th October}

_{Please note that our next market stall will be this coming Saturday at the Valla Beach market. We’ll have the new petition to sign and as usual we’ll be handing out leaflets, talking to market goers and selling merchandise to raise funds for the Asylum Seekers Centre. If you can lend a hand between 9.00 am and 1.30 pm, then please let Mike know by emailing him at : mandm.griffin2@bigpond.com, or just drop by to say hello and to sign the petition.}

_{Another death on Manus Island}

_{A Sri Lankan Tamil asylum seeker, Rajeev Rajendran  32,  died on Manus overnight.  He is the 6th Manus Island detainee to die in the past four years.  This is another reason why we need to double our efforts in writing to politicians and attending the rallies this Sunday and also on the 15th in Sydney.}  

_{On and around  Sunday 8 October, around Australia, rallies and other protests will be held around Australia calling for the asylum seekers and refugees on Manus Island and Nauru to be brought immediately to Australia:   “Manus Island and Nauru – Not Safe for Refugees – Bring Them Here”}

_{There is extreme concern that the Manus Island detention centre is closed on 31 October, the asylum seekers and refugees will face real dangers if they are forced to live in the PNG community.  Some have already been attacked and the PNG authorities are not able to protect them. The situation on Manus is again reaching crisis point, as the situation there and on Nauru grows more desperate. Pressure on the refugees on Manus to leave the detention centre is growing daily, as Immigration bulldozes compounds, cut back activities and shuts off power and water. But it is not safe for refugees outside in the community on Manus Island. In late June a refugee was attacked with a machete and robbed, almost losing his arm. Both inside and outside the detention centre, the government's criminal neglect of the people it is responsible for has resulted in too many deaths already, most recently the death of Hamed Shamshiripour.}

_{Many of the people on Manus and Nauru have been detained for four years. Although we welcome the prospect that some will be resettled in the United States, it is not known how many will be accepted by the US, and there is no indication about how long it will take. The only certainty is that some of the people detained on Manus and Nauru will be left to fend for themselves..}

_{The Australian Refugee Action Network (ARAN) –a national network of scores of refugee activist groups – has called for these protests as matter of urgency. These are listed in a following section.}

_{Dutton’s latest attack on refugees}

_{Last week, some 52 refugees from Manus and Nauru finally boarded  planes to take them to safety in the US, following years of suffering in our offshore detention centres. Minister Dutton’s response to their departure, rather than acknowledging that this would be a new start for the refugees, was to vilify them on his favourite commercial radio station. He labelled them as “economic refugees” – a term that does not exist either in domestic or international law – and suggested, amongst other things, that the refugees on Nauru were in possession of  “the world’s biggest collection of Armani jeans and handbags”. He painted a picture of the Nauru and Manus island detention centres as akin to holiday camps and suggested that, once off the islands, the refugees would tell a different story. The evidence, of course, is very different. The harsh reality of our offshore detention centres has  been well documented, in spite of the government’s attempts at secrecy. They are places where the picture is one of physical violence, including murder, rape and sexual abuse of women and children, allegations of torture by guards, medical neglect leading to death, and catastrophic rates of mental health damage, self-harm and suicide attempts. For the Minister to attempt on national radio to portray these hell-holes as places where people are actually enjoying their stay is a disgrace. If you want to tell him so, then please email him at : minister@border.gov.au.} 

_{Our new RAR petition}

_{We have put together a new petition, which is in the form of an open letter to Shayne Neumann, who is the Labor Shadow Minister for immigration and border protection. The petition is supported by the national RAR committee and has been distributed to all RAR groups around Australia. Our plan is to launch it at our next market in Valla Beach. The text of the petition is set out below, and a petition sheet is attached to this newsletter for you to download and print. It would be wonderful if a significant number of our supporters could collect signatures from family, friends and colleagues. Details of what to do with completed petition sheets can be found on the form.}

_{Dear Mr Neumann,}

_{The Australian government has clear obligations under the Refugee Convention and international law to treat people seeking asylum with respect and humanity, to assess their asylum claims in a timely manner and to resettle in Australia all those arriving on our shores who are found to be refugees, regardless of their mode of arrival.  We therefore call upon the Labor Opposition to:}

_{·         make unambiguous its opposition to mandatory detention.}

_{·         demand the immediate  resettlement in Australia of all genuine refugees on Manus and Nauru who are not cleared for resettlement in the US.}

_{·         commit the Labor Party to working with other countries in the region and with UNHCR to provide alternative, safer pathways to eventual resettlement in safe  countries, including Australia.}

_{·         demand that people currently held in offshore detention who have close family  members living in Australia be able to rejoin them here as a matter of urgency.}

_{National Day of Action in support of refugees}

_{A number of rallies to protest about the government’s treatment of asylum seekers and refugees will be taking place across Australia in the days ahead. Details so far are as follows:
Canberra. 8th October. 1.00 pm. Garema Place
Geelong. 8th October. 11.30 am on the lawns at the Waterfront.
Melbourne. 8th October. 2.00 pm at the State Library.
Hobart. 6th October 5.00 pm. at the corner of Murray and Macquarie Streets.
Sydney. 15th October. 2.00 pm. Venue tbc.}

_{If you happen to be in one of these places at any of the above times, you might consider joining the rally to send a clear message to the government that we do not support its cruel and punitive asylum policies. If you have friends or families  living in these cities, you might want to encourage them to attend.}
 

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_{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.}

_{This newsletter is sent to >500 recipients}

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

_{(482 likes)}

_{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}

_{Attachments area}