RAR National Newsletter: Afghanistan, Workshops, Kristina Kenneally & Sieve-X

 

 

 

 

5 September 2021 Hello to all RAR Members and Supporters – Welcome to this RAR Update   Afghanistan “Afghanistan has become a giant prison with dinosaurs ruling it” – Muzafar Ali. The project of “regime change” in Afghanistan has collapsed like a house of cards. In a few days in August, the Taliban advanced from mountainous strongholds to the seats of government. We shouldn’t forget the powers of the Afghan people. Already demonstrations by women have been demanding the continuation of girls’ education. Nonetheless, the Taliban will target women, the 6-million strong Hazara ethnic community, Afghan people who have worked with Coalition forces and with the Afghan Government, journalists, musicians and others. We want to get as many as we can visas for those who need to leave as refugees, although their leaving is going to be much more difficult now. Also, there are thousands of Afghan refugees living in Australia on temporary visas. Clearly they cannot return to Afghanistan. RAR has joined the calls – in multiple petitions and open letters, including those initiated by the Refugee Council (signed by 300-plus organisations) and by Action For Afghanistan (see www.actionforafghanistan.com.au and use the hashtag #ActionForAfghanistan) – for permanent visas for Afghan refugees in Australia or detained offshore, a one-off humanitarian intake of people from Afghanistan of 20,000 in addition to the current intake, and other measures to support Afghan refugees. Canada and the UK have offered a further 20,000 refugee visas. Australian prime minister Scott Morrison has only announced 3,000 places within the government’s current intake of 13,750. We need to act now. Among the resources available is the RAR website’s letter writing kit. Here is national committee member Paul Dalzell talking about phoning MPs: My commitment to the cause of refugees has grown over the years. Each step along the way has meant for me overcoming my own fear and sense of not being worthy. All along the way I have been challenged to ‘feel the fear and do it any way’ by remembering that the fear of those in detention or in danger of losing their lives is nowhere near mine. … I have said ‘yes’ to sponsoring refugee families from Afghanistan. It was the challenge of my own anger at the obfuscation of the politicians on the radio that got me over my fear of telephoning. Now I know the ropes. Phone the office, say my piece politely but  firmly, with a request for action. This kind of action makes me feel that what I can do, I am doing.

We also called for member groups to step up to sponsor Afghan citizens who are under immediate threat in the fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban.  We have had an amazing response. Led by the (unstoppable!) Marie Sellstrom, RAR groups and individuals have submitted over 40 visa applications in the past week. All but 2 are for families. Thanks indeed to the people who have worked so hard to get these visas completed and loaded on the Government website (a challenge in itself). The first eleven of the people we sponsored arrived in Adelaide recently and are in quarantine there. They are exhausted but relieved to be in Australia. Marie has been in touch with Muzafar Ali (many of you will know him from Cisarua Learning and The Staging Post) and our friends at Circle of Friends in Adelaide.  They are looking after their immediate needs. We have worked closely with Greens Senators, Janet Rice and Nick McKim in particular, and staff from their offices.  Jesse Northfield, Senator Kenneally’s deputy Chief of Staff, has been involved as well, liaising with the Department of Home Affairs / Immigration.  We don’t have much information about the visa status of those who have arrived, but the politicians are trying to find this out.  We may need to resubmit visa applications before long. RAR groups are working with Afghan refugees in their communities to identify family members under threat.  We are passing that information onto the politicians for them to advocate for visas.  Many groups have asked how they can give financial support to those who do make it here.  We don’t have much information yet.  People have agreed to sponsor families without any indication of what this will cost them, but have done so confident that RAR groups and supporters will step up and help out when we know what costs are involved. RAR will take donations that people may want to give, to cover costs associated with sponsorship and settling Afghan refugees over the coming months. Our bank account details are:  Rural Australians for Refugees Inc.;  BSB 633 000;  account number: 160 958 096; reference: Afghan sponsorship.  Note: donations through RAR are not tax-deductible. You should also send us an email at rar.australia@gmail.com - that will save us wondering about some deposits! We work closely with Circle of Friends in Adelaide.  They are also sponsoring many people from Afghanistan and donations to them are tax-deductible. Bank details are: BSB 633 000; account number: 150 721 298; reference:  Circle 127 + your surname. They also have a form on their website https://cofa.org.au/donate/ (they will need your email address for a receipt). Individual RAR groups are also supporting community efforts: for example Swan Hill RAR is involved in efforts to host up to 30 Afghan refugees. $3500 is needed for expenses incurred in the application process for each emergency visa for family members of some of the hundreds of male Hazara refugees who, despite having lived and worked in the district from as early as 2001, hold temporary visas. These families – wives and children - are in extreme danger and in desperate need of our compassion and our support. As partners and fathers, the men involved are stressed. The Swan Hill Community Issues (SHUCCI, involving the Uniting Church) Group have been supporting over the year with information, services and volunteer assistance, which has built trust. Now funds are being raised to subsidise or fully pay the visa application expenses, including consultation with lawyers and migration agents, gathering and accurately translating information. There would also be costs for travel, quarantine and support once they are here. The situation in Afghanistan is uncertain.  If these family members have a visa to enter Australia they are ready to travel as soon as the opportunity arises, which is important. Please help us get these visas – visit https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-afghanis-swan-hill-with-family-reunion?member=13473043&utm_medium=email&utm_source=customer&utm_campaign=p_email%2Binvitesupporters%2Bspider1v.   RAR National Matters: Annual General Meeting  and Take Stock Survey and Workshops The 2021 RAR Annual General Meeting will be on Saturday, 18 September, at 2pm, on Zoom. It will feature the annual report and financial statements, and we are also pursuing a guest speaker on the Afghanistan refugee situation – we hope to have an agenda out within a week. Member groups should be organising to choose their delegate (one per member), although other people in each group can also attend. If necessary a group can choose a proxy instead. Groups can also put motions to the meeting. Associates of RAR (supporters who can’t join a RAR group) are also welcome to attend. Members got a separate email providing the Zoom details and the delegate and proxy nomination forms and motion form. Any queries about that, and any of our associates interested in coming, should email this address (secretary.rar.australia@gmail.com) or call Jonathan (national secretary) on 0437 790 306 for the information you need (Zoom details, etc). Meanwhile we are running our Take Stock project to try to understand how we can get the best value from our actions. The RAR National Committee has organised activities over the next three months for our members, and others we work with, to say what your ideas and views are about how we can work most effectively in the years ahead. We will start with an online survey.  We would like as many people as possible to complete this short survey.  Our member groups, members of your groups, our supporters, other refugee support and advocacy groups, refugees and people seeking asylum who we have connected with in some way.  The survey is anonymous.  We would like you to circulate it as widely as you can and encourage your members and supporters to complete it. Here is the link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/RARNational. It is open until 30 September. We will also have intensive discussions through workshops supported by a skilled facilitator, with our newly-elected National Committee (the other job of the AGM), with key stakeholders, such as refugees (please see the recent email your group might have received about this) and our members. For the last, we are having two Zoom sessions, for which people can register to take part in more in-depth discussion, with the facilitator, about RAR and its future directions.  The dates for these are: Tuesday 7 September, from 6pm – 7.30pm and Wednesday 8 September from 9am – 10.30am.  There are eight places for each session so if you would like to attend, please email rar.australia@gmail.com to register.   SIEV-X: 20th Anniversary Commemoration On 19 October 2001, 353 asylum seekers drowned when the Indonesia fishing boat, which had been dubbed by Australian authorities the SIEV-X (Suspected Illegal Entry Vessel-X), sank en route to Australia. We will honour them, to remember them even though we never got to meet. Not long after the tragedy, artist Kate Durham painted portraits of those who drowned. This commemoration will dwell on these portraits. Please join us for this solemn event on: Tuesday Oct 19, 2021, 7pm (EST - Sydney) Speakers: Kate Durham, artist; Julian Burnside, QC; Vivenne Glance and Ismail Afeif (poets in WA); People from Canberra SIEV-X memorial Please register to attend at https://bit.ly/3jyiK9T and then you will receive a confirmation email with a zoom link.   Kristina Kenneally Senator Kristina Kenneally, Labor’s shadow minister for home affairs, has asked to meet with RAR members through a national Zoom forum. She explained she is still trying to meet with as many people as possible during the lockdowns We’ve agreed, with the date and time being Monday 27 September, 6.30pm-7.30pm. Kristina will present for up to 20 mins, leaving most of the time for Q&A. Register for this by emailing Louise at rar.australia@gmail.com. She will send you a Zoom link. If possible, submit questions in advance to the same email, with further questions to come during the session.   Jonathan Strauss National Secretary Rural Australians for Refugees Australia E: secretary.rar.australia@gmail.com Rural Australians for Refugees on Twitter and Facebook. RAR is a member of the Australian Refugee Action Network

Our mailing address is:

Dear Senator Keneally, I have watched the TV footage of the chaos in Kabul

Please see my letter below of some days ago to Senator Keneally. I thought that I would point out to her, a committed Catholic, that various Catholic bodies are calling for a significant increase in our humanitarian visas to support the people fleeing the Taliban. I have not heard the Labor opposition calling for a big increase, but I might have missed it.

What a tragedy. Sadly, we never seem to learn from our serious imperial mistakes, and keep on repeating them. But the  weapons manufacturers need these constant wars to support their bottom line.

Cheers

M.

 
Sent: Wednesday, August 25, 2021 3:13 PM
To: 'senator.keneally@aph.gov.au' <senator.keneally@aph.gov.au>
Subject: Afghanistan

Dear Senator Keneally,

Like everyone else, I have watched the TV footage of the chaos in Kabul with deep dismay. The spectacle of seeing thousands of people fleeing for their lives is truly shocking.

As one of the countries which has had a military presence in the country for the past twenty years, we  surely have a moral responsibility to help those who now are begging for our assistance. In previous crises, the Australian government has shown compassion and generosity in making additional humanitarian places available to refugees from Vietnam and Syria. It was, therefore, deeply disappointing to hear the Prime Minister tell the nation that we would accept just 3,000 refugees from Afghanistan, and that these places would come out of our already much-reduced humanitarian intake. This is an utterly inadequate response.

Afghanistan is now in turmoil, and Kabul is not a safe place, particularly for girls and women nor for the thousands of Afghans who, for the past two decades, have assisted the coalition forces in a range of activities. There should be no question of ever sending any of the several thousand Afghans currently living in Australia on TPVs back to Afghanistan against their will.

Archbishop Mark Coleridge, on behalf of the Australian Catholic Bishop Conference, is urging the government to provide at least 20,000 humanitarian places for Afghan refugees. The Jesuit Refugee Service is urging the government to grant permanent protection to the 5,100 Afghan refugees living in Australia on TPVs. In the current emergency, these seem to me to be utterly reasonable proposals, which I do hope that the Labor opposition will support.

I therefore urge you and the Labor party to urgently to press the government to:

• ensure the safety of refugees from Afghanistan in Australia by providing them with permanent protection visas so that they can remain here safely.
• increase the humanitarian visa quota with a generous one-off intake for the people in Afghanistan in the most danger.
• provide a pathway for refugees from Afghanistan to apply to reunite with their families in Australia.

This is NOT the time to be warning darkly about people smugglers or people drowning at sea. The government solved that problem seven years ago, and it’s time to move on.

I  would very much like your assurance that the Labor party will press the government to do much more than it is currently undertaking to do.

Yours sincerely,

M.

Valla Beach

NSW

Reply to letter re Afghan refugees by Pat Conaghan M.P.

 

From: Conaghan, Pat (MP) <Pat.Conaghan.MP@aph.gov.au>

Sent: Thursday, August 26, 2021 2:01 PM
To: M. G.
Subject: RE: Afghanistan

 

Dear Mr G,

 

Thanks for your email.

 

The situation in Afghanistan continues to be volatile and dangerous.

 

Our top priority is the safe departure of Australian citizens and visa holders, including Afghan former locally engaged employees. We continue to work with our friends and partners to support one another’s evacuation operations.

 

Since 18 August, we have supported the evacuation of about 2,450 people from Kabul, including Australian and New Zealand nationals, visa holders and foreign nationals including British, US and a Fijian. Four more flights airlifted evacuees on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning (AEST) with more than 750 people. We have had three charter planes from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) into Perth, Melbourne and Adelaide that have returned 419 people to Australia.

 

Our consular officials are using every means possible to assist Australian citizens and visa holders – phoning and emailing directly as well as providing regular updates on the Government’s Smartraveller website.

 

Access to Hamid Karzai International Airport (HKIA) continues to be very challenging, but we do have a significant presence on the ground at the airport. We are encouraging Australian citizens, Permanent Residents and Australian visa-holders to go to HKIA, if it’s safe to do so. We will do everything we can in the time we have to get as many people out as safely as possible.

 

There is a discussion going on about the prospect of US extending its withdrawal deadline and we are part of those discussions and we are absolutely ready to support a continuing operation at HKIA.

 

Every visa applicant who does not meet the criteria of the category of at-risk employees now has their application forwarded automatically to the Department of Home Affairs to be automatically considered under another humanitarian stream. This process has already resulted in hundreds of other visas being granted to those who are ineligible for the special category.

 

The Australian Government has announced that an initial 3,000 humanitarian places will be allocated to Afghan nationals within Australia’s overall annual humanitarian program. The Government anticipates this initial allocation will increase over the course of this year, giving first priority to Afghan nationals within the offshore humanitarian program and affording them visa processing priority in the year ahead.

 

While I fully support this, I believe we can and should resettle more Afghan nationals as part of our humanitarian program. I will be urging my Parliamentary colleagues to join me in advocating for a minimum of 10,000 additional places in response to this crisis. Australia is consistently one of the world’s most generous humanitarian resettlement countries and I believe this is an opportunity to provide greater levels of support for Afghani people at risk from the Taliban.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

PAT CONAGHAN MP

Federal Member for Cowper

Letter to Minister Andrews re: Afghanistan

Subject: Afghanistan

Dear Minister Andrews,

Like everyone else, I have watched the TV footage of the chaos in Kabul with deep dismay. The spectacle of seeing thousands of people fleeing for their lives is truly shocking.

As one of the countries which has had a military presence in the country for the past twenty years, we  surely have a moral responsibility to help those who now are begging for our assistance. In previous crises, the Australian government has shown compassion and generosity in making additional humanitarian places available to refugees from Vietnam and Syria. It was, therefore, deeply disappointing to hear the Prime Minister tell the nation that we would accept just 3,000 refugees from Afghanistan, and, disgracefully, that these places would come out of our already much-reduced humanitarian intake. This is an utterly inadequate response.

Afghanistan is now in turmoil, and Kabul is not a safe place, particularly for girls and women nor for the thousands of Afghans who, for the past two decades, have assisted the coalition forces in a range of activities. There should be no question of ever sending any of the several thousand Afghans currently living in Australia on TPVs back to Afghanistan against their will.

I therefore urge you and your government to urgently:

• ensure the safety of refugees from Afghanistan in Australia by providing them with permanent protection visas so that they can remain here safely.
• increase the humanitarian visa quota with a generous one-off intake for the people in Afghanistan in the most danger.
• provide a pathway for refugees from Afghanistan to apply to reunite with their families in Australia.

This is NOT the time to be warning darkly about people smugglers or people drowning at sea. The government solved that problem seven years ago, and it’s time to move on.

I look forward to your early response to this most urgent crisis.

Yours sincerely,

M... G.

Valla Beach

NSW

National RAR news, 15 August 2021: A survey & a zoom meeting with Kristina Kenneally

Hello to all RAR Members and Supporters – Welcome to this RAR Update (some members have asked to be sent a Word version of this newsletter: if you want this, please email me again so I can maintain a list for the future).
 

RAR National Matters: Take Stock Survey and Workshops, and Annual General Meeting

RAR started 20 years ago, in September 2001.  Twenty years of supporting refugees and people seeking asylum, and advocating for fairness, decency and humane treatment of people seeking safety.

We did not anticipate we’d still be here in 2021!  Yet we are.  We are bringing a particular rural and regional perspective to refugee advocacy.

We want to understand how we can get the best value from our actions. The RAR National Committee has organised activities so that we can take stock and look at how we will work through the next three years.

Over a three-month period, you, our members and others we work with, can say what your ideas and views are about how we can work most effectively in the years ahead. This will include intensive discussions through two workshops, which will be supported by a skilled facilitator, and with key stakeholders.

We will start with an online survey.  We would like as many people as possible to complete this short survey.  Our member groups, members of your groups, our supporters, other refugee support and advocacy groups, refugees and people seeking asylum who we have connected with in some way.  The survey is anonymous.  We would like you to circulate it as widely as you can and encourage your members and supporters to complete it.

 
Here is the link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/RARNational. It is open until 30 September.
 

We will also hold two Zoom sessions, for which people can register to take part in more in-depth discussion, with the facilitator, about RAR and its future directions.  The dates for these are: Tuesday 7 September, from 6pm – 7.30pm and Wednesday 8 September from 9am – 10.30am.  There are eight places for each session so if you would like to attend, please email rar.australia@gmail.com to register.

Meanwhile, the 2021 RAR Annual General Meeting will be on Saturday, 18 September, at 2pm, on Zoom. It will feature the annual report and financial statements.

The formal call for groups to nominate people for the National Committee will come soon (and this will give all the other meeting details as well). You should consider what you might want to raise, who you want to send, and who you might want to nominate.

Associates of RAR are also welcome to attend.

 

Tampa Anniversary
 

Also 20 years ago, on August 26, the MV Tampa rescued 433 people from a stranded boat. Its passengers were attempting to reach Christmas Island, where they would intending to lodge claims for asylum. Australian authorities had sent out the call for the boat to be rescued.

At the request of a number of the asylum seekers and with concerns for the safety of those onboard, the Tampa captain, Arne Rinnan – who subsequently, with the crew and the ship’s owner, received the UNHCR’s  Nansen Refugee Award, sailed for Christmas Island. 
The Howard Coalition government refused to allow the Tampa to disembark the asylum seekers on Christmas Island. SAS forces boarded the vessel by Australian SAS forces and seized the asylum seekers. Most were ultimately removed to a hurriedly established offshore detention centre on Nauru.

 

This was a significant moment in the history of Australian asylum policy, political debate and migration law. The ‘Tampa affair’ and the newly introduced offshore detention of asylum seekers to purportedly deter them from coming to Australia became a leading issue in the 2001 election. In broader perspective, it was a product of an already restrictive and politicised asylum policy and contributed to the rationale for the system of offshore processing and the policy of turning back boats that developed. This has impacted on the asylum-seekers Australia is responsible for, as well as within Australian politics.

This anniversary offers important opportunities for action, including in support of the 108 refugees still held on Nauru and the 125 held in PNG at the Australian government’s behest. You can find resources – sample letters to be sent to local MPs and media, memes for social media, and relevant cartoons and photographs – at https://aran.net.au/actions/20-years-since-tampa (ignore the coming soon message at the top and scroll down to find these).

 

 

Freedom Street

 
Freedom Street is a documentary which uncovers the history on how Australia became the world's leader in punitive policies to deter vulnerable people from seeking policy. The Freedom Street Documentary Info Night and Fundraising event is on Saturday August 21 at 7pm via Zoom.

Learn more about the Indonesia's side in Australia's Turn Back the Boats policy and the colossal impact on the lives of the 14000 refugees who are there. The film also explores Australia's history to find out how we got to this point and pragmatic long term solutions.

The night will be facilitated by the filmmaker Alfred Pek, who will screen an exclusive small preview of the film. Joniad, Azizah and Ashfaq - the refugee stars currently in limbo in Indonesia - will join live.

There will be a Q&A discussion regarding the refugee experience and the impact of Australian policies on asylum seekers. As well as reading performances by Joniad and Azizah.

For your ticket, go to: https://events.humanitix.com/freedom-street-documentary-info-night-and-fundraising
 
Kristina Kenneally

 
Senator Kristina Kenneally, Labor’s shadow minister for home affairs, has asked to meet with RAR members through a national Zoom forum. She explained she is still trying to meet with as many people as possible during the lockdowns.

We’ve agreed, with the date and time being Monday 27 September, 6.30pm-7.30pm – you can put that in the diary, with the Zoom link to be advised. Kristina will present for up to 20 mins, leaving most of the time for Q&A.

If possible, submit questions in advance to rar.australia@gmail.com, with further questions to come during the session.

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........

Letter to A. Albanese M.P. re Temporary Protection Visas

To: 'A.Albanese.MP@aph.gov.au' <A.Albanese.MP@aph.gov.au>
Subject: Labor policy on TPVs

 

Dear Mr. Albanese,

The Labor Party commendably went to the last Federal election promising to abolish temporary protection visas. The party recognized that offering just temporary protection to genuine refugees has consigned this cohort of some 30,000 people to living with permanent anxiety and uncertainty. The Coalition policy has inflicted immense suffering on a group of people who have met the criteria for our protection under international conventions. They pose no threat to our security, they work hard to contribute to Australian society, they pay their taxes, and yet we send them the clear message that they are not quite welcome here. To require them, every three or five years, to relive their trauma and to prove once again that they deserve our protection is both cruel and completely unnecessary. To deprive them of the possibility of family reunion consigns them to a life of unhappiness and stress.

I urge you, and the Labor Party which you lead, to resist the pressure to abandon the commitment to ending TPVs. Please  promise that at the next election you will retain your policy to grant permanent protection to all the refugees who are currently forced to spend their lives in a permanent limbo of stress and uncertainty.

Please stick to your principles, show compassion and humanity, and resist the calls from the usual quarters to demonstrate that you are as tough as the Coalition on refugees. The Australian people will reward you for it.

Yours sincerely,

M.... G......

Valla Beach NSW 2448

Two letters to Minister Hawke & P.M. Morrison by one of our RAR members

 

Letter to Minister Andrews: It's eight years today

Dear  Minister Andrews ,

It's eight years today since Kevin Rudd’s announcement  to send asylum seekers to offshore detention centres.  In this time, over 4000 asylum seekers have been detained  offshore.  At the moment roughly 240 refugees and people seeking asylum still remain on Manus Island or Nauru.                                                                  

Many of these asylum seekers are fleeing their countries as a result of wars – most often initiated by Western Nations  and many such wars have been supported  and promoted by Australia. We must therefore play our part in repairing  the damage and human upheaval wrought by such wars.

The human costs on the detainees are mounting by the day. Already 13 young men have died over these past six years and many more have attempted self-harm out of utter despair.

International agencies have been appalled by the conditions under which our offshore detainees  live and the effects on their health, spirits and self-respect.

The harsh treatment of asylum seekers  – most of whom have been proven genuine refugees casts  shame on this country  in the eyes of ourselves and of the rest of the world.

Apart from the human suffering,  indefinite detention contravenes several International Laws and Conventions. Every person has the right to seek asylum in another country to escape persecution or threat to life. Australia was one of the original 48 nations to vote for this when, alongside other nations, Australia signed “The Declaration of Human Rights’. Our present policy also breaches a number of articles stated in the “Convention on the Rights of The Child”.

It is time to find an alternate and conscionable solution. It is time to bring detainees  here or to other welcoming countries such as New Zealand or Canada.  We here in Australia must play our part. We must accept a fair number of refugees into our communities here in Australia. The number of asylum seekers arriving in Australia  over the past 5 years is a very small number of the world’s total. It has been estimated at less than 1%. Developed Countries like Australia must take their fair share of the numbers being displaced and likely to be displaced from war torn countries in coming years. Instead the burden at the moment is falling on poorer countries  such as Lebanon, Jordon and Pakistan that are taking more than a fair share of present refugee numbers.

There is a worker shortage in many areas of Australia at the moment due to a lack of overseas labour . Here is a possible solution. Find work for these asylum seekers instead of paying colossal sums for them to be detained. Many refugees were skilled people in their home countries and some were successful professionals. They have much to contribute to Australian communities.

We do not need offshore detention to ‘stop the boats’. The boats are now few in number and  our Australian Border Force has been in action for many years to deal with this problem.

Its time to re-think our policies on these issues so that they reflect our solidarity, decency and care . We must put an end to this shameful chapter and put an end to Offshore Detention. It has been going on for eight years too long.

From a political viewpoint the present government  need to understand that there are many of us that will never vote for a political party that continues to pursue offshore detention and uses refugees as a political ploy .

Yours Sincerely,

M....... G...... 

Valla Beach . New South Wales. Australia 2448    19. 7 2021

                                    

 

 

 

 

Letter to Minister Hawke: Eight years too long

 

From: M..........................
Sent: Monday, July 19, 2021 11:15 AM
To: 'Alex.Hawke.MP@aph.gov.au' <Alex.Hawke.MP@aph.gov.au>
Subject: Eight years too long

 

Dear Minister Hawke,

Today, 19^th July 2021, marks the grim eighth anniversary of the Rudd government’s decision to consign asylum seekers arriving by boat to indefinite limbo, a policy which your government has pursued relentlessly over the years.

You are very familiar with the details: at least 14 people have died whilst in the “care” of the government, many hundreds have self-harmed out of despair at their indefinite detention, many have been coerced in to returning to their homelands, and most of those remaining are seriously unwell. The cost in human suffering is enormous.

We know from many sources that Nauru and PNG are not safe places for refugees, and that they live in constant fear. In spite of the government’s statements to the contrary, the welfare of these people is the responsibility of the Australian government, which shows little regard for their plight, and continues to spend an enormous amount of taxpayers’ money to keep them out of sight and out of mind.

These refugees pose no threat to Australia’s border security. That is taken care of by the ABF.  The resettlement of more than 900 refugees in the US has not led to a resumption of the people-smuggler trade.

It is time for the government to end the suffering of these people, who have fled war and persecution in their home countries to seek asylum on our shores, as is their right under international conventions to which Australia is a signatory.

I call on you, therefore: to immediately accept the NZ offer to resettle 150 refugees per annum ;  to bring all the refugees remaining in PNG and Nauru to Australia for resettlement here or in other safe countries; to release all those remaining in onshore detention or APODs into the community where it is safe to do so, and to ensure that they receive the medical assistance and other support that thy need. They are entitled to a future.

This inhumane and cruel treatment of innocent people has gone on for far too long.

Yours sincerely,

M.... G........

Valla Beach, NSW 2448

People rally for refugees aross Australia. Two recent Bellingen RAR events

 Across Australia  there are people rally to show their disgust at the inhumane indefinite detention of refugees.

These events took place on the north coast of NSW.

"A near-record turnout for the demo, and a great market in very windy Bellingen yesterday. "

 

"We took $500 in sales, donations and the raffle, 

which was incredible. "

 

"Also, lots of signatures on our open letter and 38 postcards sent on their way this morning to Morrison and Hawke. Perhaps they’ll give the issues some thought!"

 

REFUGEE WEEK IN THE BLUE MOUNTAINS

 

The Blue Mountains Refugee Support Group Letter Writers braved freezing conditions on two occasions during Refugee Week to set up a stall in Leura Mall. We asked passers by to add their signature to an open letter to Anthony Albanese, put together by Bellingen and Nambucca District RAR,  asking him to commit Labor to a more humane and principled policy on refugees than the current government.

We also asked people to sign  postcards  to Immigration Minister, Alex Hawke and Home Affairs Minister, Karen Andrews asking them to take up the NZ offer to resettle refugees from Manus and Nauru.

Given the adverse weather conditions, the renewed COVID threat and the impending lockdown, we were overwhelmed by the positive public response. We received 213 signatures on the open letter and we’ll be posting 155 postcards to Parliament House. The groundswell of support for a humane policy and for the Australian government  to do the right thing is growing. Governments need to listen.

 

Judy R.......

BMRSG

Leura

Two letters to Pat Conaghan MP for Cowper re the Murugappan Family.

 Dear Mr. Conaghan,

I was heartened to hear the new leader of the Nationals Party adding his voice in support of the Murugappan family. Like so many Australians, he believes that it is time to end the uncertainty for this family, and to let them return to, and settle in, Biloela. He went so far as to say that, if the little girls’ names had been “Jane and Sally”, this matter would have been concluded a long time ago.

Do you agree with Barnaby Joyce’s assessment of the situation? Will you now join your leader in calling on the government to release the family from community detention in Perth and to allow them to restart their lives in Biloela, where the community will welcome them with open arms?

I look forward to your response.

Yours sincerely,

Mike G.........

........Valla Beach NSW 2448

 

 

Dear Mr Conaghan,

 

As we know, the Nationals Party now has a new leader in Barnaby Joyce. In recent times he has expressed the view that the Murugappan family should be allowed to return to Biloela and be granted permission to stay in Australia .

Many of us support this view and are concerned to know what your own position is on this . Do you support the view of your new leader and can we look forward to support from your party to put an end to the years of isolation and suffering of this family?  They have the support of their community in Biloela , the husband was in work and they were no drain on the public purse. As the situation has unfolded, millions of dollars have been spent keeping the family isolated on Christmas Island. Do you support this arrangement and will you be a voice in parliament to  press for the family to be able to return to their Queensland home ?

Yours sincerely,

Marlene G........

.........., Valla Beach NSW 2448

 

Our stall at Coffs Harbour Harbourside Market.

 Here are a few photos from the stall held by our group in Coffs Harbour last weekend.

Our poster and book display in Bellingen Library.

 

In the brochure stand at the front are flyers for our upcoming Rally for Refugees in Coffs Harbour on 19^th July.

The Murugappan Family from Biloela: Two letters.

 "The Murugappans are a family of four: mother Priya, father Nades, Kopi, and her three-year-old sister Tharnicaa." BBC

  

 

To: Pat.Conaghan.MP@aph.gov.au

 Dear Mr Conaghan,

I have been reading, with increasing dismay, about the treatment of the youngest child of the Biloela family at the hands of those entrusted to protect them. How can it possibly be acceptable for the parents of this young child to have to plead for days before she was seen by doctors at the hospital on Christmas Island? How can we allow a small child to suffer in this way? Why was her condition allowed to deteriorate over  period of several days to the extent that she became so unwell that she had to be airlifted to Perth? This is beyond appalling.

It is not acceptable for our Prime Minister to continually remind us that there is a matter before the courts in relation to the family. He knows, the Minister knows, and you know, that the Minister could exercise her discretion NOW to allow the family to return to Biloela, regardless of the case before the courts.  Sadly, that seems not to be the outcome that our Prime Minister wants. His hope, quite clearly, is that the family will lose the case currently before the courts, thereby opening the door for their deportation to Sri Lanka.

Does the Coalition government really need to demonstrate such a level of inhumanity just to let everybody knows who is in charge?

Will you please make a principled stand, as my elected member, and formally demand of the Prime Minister that the family be granted permission to remain in Australia, and that they be allowed to return to Biloela, where the community will welcome them with open arms? It is about time that the government showed some empathy and compassion.

Yours sincerely,

M....... Griffin

.............Valla Beach NSW 2448

 

to:		karen.andrews.MP@aph.gov.au
cc:		Pat.Conaghan.MP@aph.gov.au

To karen.andrews.MP, 

Dear Minister Andrews,

I have followed the unfolding story of the Biloela family with increasing dismay and disbelief.  Dismay that our political leaders feel that it’s OK to continue to treat vulnerable human beings as pawns in a political game. Disbelief that our elected leaders could begin to think that this is an acceptable and appropriate way to treat other human beings in pursuit of an ideological obsession.

This just cannot go on.

I cannot believe that you think it is acceptable for you to appear in front of the camera to mouth the usual platitudes about the various avenues that may or may not be in play in relation to the future of this vulnerable family. You are the minister in charge. You could, at the stroke of a pen, decide that this family should be freed from detention on Christmas Island, and returned to their home in Biloela, where they will be welcomed with open arms.

JUST DO IT!

M....... Griffin

...................Valla Beach NSW 2448

 

Rural Australians for Refugees campaign for refugee rights in Valla Beach