Newsletter for 21 March 2017 Rural Australians Bellingen and Nambucca Districts

Sri Lankan Curry Lunch Sun 26th March

Auction items?

Next Market - Valla Beach April 1st

Next Roadside Demo - Thurs 23rd March Coffs Base Hospital 3pm

March in March - Sat 25th March 11am

Sri Lankan Curry Lunch: Sunday 26th March at 1.00 pm: 12, River Street, Mylestom

In last week’s newsletter we set out the proposal for a curry lunch to take place this coming Sunday, in response to the urgent appeal for funds by the Refugee Advice and Casework Service, as they struggle to meet the impossible deadlines for asylum seekers in Australia to submit their claims for protection under the Refugee Convention. So far we have not had much response from supporters for the event.  The cost will be $30 per person, and all the money raised will be donated to RACS. If you plan to attend, then it is essential that you let our hosts Margie and Georgie know by Thursday evening (24th March), so that they can either organise the shopping or cancel the event. Please email Margie and Georgie at: gsmh@fastmail.fm or phone: 0414 592 519 to book seats for you and your friends. 

Auction: going, going............?

At the proposed curry lunch, we hope to hold an auction to raise further funds for the RACS appeal. If you have an item that you think will sell for at least $20, then please let Mike know by email at: mandm.griffin2@bigpond.com.  or phone him on: 6569 5419 by Thursday evening.

Markets

As we are sure you will be aware, the Bellingen market was cancelled last weekend, due to the very heavy rain.  We are not having much luck of late, having also been rained off recently in Coffs Harbour!

Our next market will be at the Valla Beach market onSaturday 1st April. If you are able to help out at any time between 9.00 am and 1.30 pm, then please let Mike know by emailing him at : mandm.griffin2@bigpond.com.  Let’s hope that the sun shines and that we can make up for the disappointments of Coffs Harbour and Bellingen.

Roadside demonstration: Thursday 23rd March from 3.00 pm to 4.30 pm in Coffs Harbour

Our next roadside demonstration will be this Thursday, 23rd March in Coffs Harbour, (weather permitting). You will find us by the side of the Pacific Highway, opposite the Base hospital. Please come and join us if you can. We have lots of banners and placards to share, and these demonstrations are an important reminder to people that we will not give up the fight for justice and humanity  for asylum seekers, whether they be on Manus Island, Nauru or  mainland Australia.

March in March: Nambucca Heads, Saturday 25th March at 11.00 am

As explained in last week’s newsletter, there will be a March in March in Nambucca Heads on Saturday 25th March, at which we are hoping for substantial presence of our RAR supporters. If you can join us and help carry our banners and placards, then please come to the Plaza shopping centre car park for an 11.00 am start.  We plan to march with our banners to Bellwood Park and to address the crowd.

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 >480 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

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Newsletter for 7 March Rural Australians for Refugees Bellingen and Nambucca Districts

Roadside Demo Nambucca Thurs 9th

Next Market Stall - Bellingen Sat 18th March

Refugee Advice and Casework Services Appeal

Our next Roadside Demonstration: Thursday 9th March, Nambucca Heads: 3.00 pm to 4.30 pm

A final reminder that our next roadside demonstration is this Thursday in Nambucca Heads. We we will located in our usual spot, on the Pacific Highway adjacent to the Plaza shopping centre. Please come and join us if you can, even if only for part of the time. We have lots of banners and placards to share, but we do need a sizeable group of supporters to help to get our message across  to passing motorists.  It would be great to see a few new people. Why not give it a go?

Our next market stall: Bellingen market, Saturday 18th March from 9.00 am to 1.30 pm

A reminder that our next market stall will be at the Bellingen market on Saturday 18th March. We are seeking support from 9.00 am until 1.30 pm.  Many of you will be familiar with the Bellingen market and you will know that it is a busy and lively event. It presents a great opportunity for us to talk to market-goers, give out leaflets, collect signatures on our petition, sell our refugee merchandise and collect donations for the Asylum Seekers Centre in Newtown, to whom we have donated $750 since August last year. If you can join us for an hour or two, then please let Mike know by emailing him at : mandm.griffin2@bigpond.com.

Refugee Advice and Casework Services appeal

Last week in the newsletter we wrote about the latest crisis facing asylum seekers living in Australia, as they seek to meet the sudden imposition of impossible deadlines for their applications for refugee status. It is  incredibly difficult for asylum seekers to complete  the 60-page application, which is in English only. They cannot do so without legal assistance, and yet, as we reported, federal funding for legal assistance has been reduced by 90% in recent times. As David Manne, the executive director of Refugee Legal explains:  “These people are not refusing to apply. To understand this process means people need legal assistance, and what’s been removed is public legal assistance.These 60-day letters have created great fear and panic in the refugee community. There’s a serious miscarriage of justice here – it could mean the deportation of people to torture or death.”

In an effort to increase the level of legal support available, the Refugee Advice and Casework Service has launched an online appeal to raise funds, the details of which we posted our our RAR Facebook page on 28th February.  (Our Facebook link is at the bottom of this newsletter). We know that several of our supporters have already made generous donations, which is great. Some people have suggested that we could organise a fundraising event. Ideas include a charity lunch at the Bellingen Butter Factory; a concert; or a charity auction. What do you think? Have you any suggestions that you would like to put forward? And, importantly, would you be able to help with organising an event? Please let us have your responses by email to: bellingen.rar@gmail.com. It would be helpful to have your responses in the next week or so, since we will need to move fairly quickly if we decide to undertake a fundraiser.

If you have difficulty in finding the link on our Facebook page, then simply Google  “Refugee Advice and Casework Services” and follow the prompts.

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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 >480 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

Newsletter for 14 February 2017 Rural Australians for Refugees Belllingen and Nambucca Disticts

Roadside Demo Report

Reza Barati

Medical care in offshore detention

Roadside demonstration report

We held our first roadside demonstration of 2017  by the Big Banana in Coffs Harbour last week. As always, we received lots of positive support from passing motorists at this busy spot. What was disturbing, though, was the significant increase in the number of negative responses, which took a variety of forms. It seems clear that over recent months, with the rise of populist demagogues , and the election of racists to our parliament, it has become legitimate to exercise one’s “right to be a bigot”, as Senator Brandis put it.  The Coalition government remains silent on the issues,  and the Opposition acquiesces in this race to the bottom. All the more reason for groups like ours to continue to carry the torch for a more compassionate and principled policy in relation to refugees. A big thank you to the seven supporters who turned up to the demo.

Our next roadside demonstration will be in Bellingen, adjacent to the Library on Waterfall Way on Thursday  23rd February at 3.00 pm. It would be great to have a few more people joining us.

Reza Barati

Three years ago, on 17th February 2014, Reza Barati, a  23 year old Iranian asylum seeker, was brutally murdered by a group of G4S guards, whose job it was to protect him.  Eventually, in 2016, two local guards were convicted of his murder and sentenced to  five years in jail. The judge gave them a lenient sentence on the basis that two other guards involved in Reza’s murder – an Australian and a New Zealander  - had left the Island and had not been arrested or charged. Their identities are apparently known to the authorities, but they remain at large. Our group was established soon after Reza’s death. We were deeply shocked by the incident, and by the Minister’s attempt to blame the refugees for the death and the many injuries inflicted on asylum seekers on that fateful night.  We initially had about 40 supporters. That number has grown over the past three years to more than 500, reflecting as it does the very significant community anger about our government’s cruel and inhumane asylum policies. We need to keep up the fight for the closure of the offshore centres and for the permanent resettlement of all the genuine refugees who currently languish in these two hellholes.

Medical care in offshore detention centres

The level of care for asylum seekers on Nauru and Manus Island is yet again under scrutiny in parliament.  The latest of many enquiries relates to the death of Faysal Ishak Ahmed, who suffered a seizure inside the Manus Island detention centre on 22nd December 2016, after months of complaining to doctors about his deteriorating health. He died in a Brisbane hospital two days later.  Faysal had sought medical help at least 13 times in the two months prior to his death. So concerned were other detainees about his poor health that they wrote a letter to the medical staff in which they pleaded for effective intervention to help him. They were ignored.  The sad truth is that the clinical opinions of doctors at the offshore detention centres are often overruled by bureaucrats in Canberra , who actively discourage the transfer of sick patients to the mainland. The president of the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine,  Prof. Anthony Lawler writes: “ACEM considers there is no evidence that the healthcare provided in regional processing centres is at a standard which would be acceptable or expected for any patient in Australia.”

The healthcare services in offshore detention centre are provided by International Health and Medical Services, a for-profit organisation.

Roadside demo at the Big Banana last week

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 >480 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