letter to editor - close these barbarous centres 24 November 2018

_{24 November 2018}

_{With so many issues clamouring for media attention lately, it’s no wonder the plight of the poor, traumatised people still locked away in remote Nauru and Manus Island have faded from media attention. We need to remind ourselves that their plight is our responsibility, because the barbarous treatment they still receive (out of sight) after five years is done in our name. Both Labour and Coalition parties have acted in contravention of Human Rights agreements. We cannot turn our backs.}

_{Nor can we accept the blatantly distorted argument that they’re locked in the prisons as a deterrent to other would-be boat arrivals. The boats are stopped now, thanks to militant Australian border protection strategies. So the cruel treatment inflicted on vulnerable children and adults is also pointless.}

_{Elections are happening: Victoria last Saturday, NSW next March, and a Federal election due any time before May 2019, so the current Morrison government, rather than change policies, is quietly having desperately ill and mentally disturbed children flown from Nauru to Australia for treatment. The unstated aim seems to be to dispose of these people from the two ‘concentration camps’ (they are this, in effect) so that by election time it will no longer be an embarrassment for them.}

_{New Zealand has offered to take 150 asylum seekers each year, but the only way this government will consent is on the proviso that they never be permitted to enter Australia, as is normal with New Zealand citizens. This is not good enough.}

_{We must keep this issue alive in the public domain. We cannot rest until we force our political leaders to close these barbarous centres and allow the suffering people holed up there to become citizens here or in New Zealand. Thirteen have died there already in our name. They are not terrorists. They are humans like us, but not so lucky.}   

_{Suzanne Ferris}

_Bellingen

Newsletter for 20 November 2018 Rural Australians for Refugees Bellingen and Nambucca Districts

_{Roadside demonstration report}

_{Bellingen market report}

_{A volunteering opportunity in Coffs Harbour}

_{Canstruct makes $43 million profit}

_{Universal Children’s Day: Tuesday 20}^th _November

_{Roadside demonstration report}

_{A big thank you to the supporters who turned up to our roadside demo in Toormina last Thursday. As usual, we had lots of positive support from passing motorists, which seems to indicate that more and more people are unhappy about our government’s cruel treatment of refugees on Nauru and Manus. Our next roadside demonstration will be on Thursday 29}^th _{November from 2.30 to 4.00 pm next to the Big Banana in Coffs Harbour. We would very much encourage new supporters to consider joining us.}

_{Bellingen market report}

_{We arrived at the market at 6.45 am, just as the rain began to fall, so we had a fairly soggy start, but the skies eventually cleared and the market-goers turned up in large numbers. We were kept busy all morning, handing out leaflets, collecting signatures on the open letter to the Prime Minister, and engaging in lots of constructive conversations with visitors to our stall. A great team of supporters, as always!}

_{Our final market stall of 2018 will be at the Valla Beach market on Saturday 1}^st _{December from 9.00 am until 1.30 pm. If you can lend a hand for an hour or two, then please let Mike know by emailing him at: mandm.griffin2@bigpond.com.}

_{A volunteering opportunity in Coffs Harbour}

_{Would you like to be a volunteer learner driver supervisor? There are many refugees in Coffs Harbour who need to complete their driving hours so that they can access greater opportunities to find employment in the area. Many of them were experienced drivers in their country of origin, and just need help to complete their statutory hours of driving practice. You will be required to supervise participants in on-road practice and/or support learners to prepare for the knowledge test. Vehicles and induction are provided. For more information, please contact: Community Project Officer, Jude, on 0450 747 923 or email at: jbarker@redcross.org.au.}

_{Canstruct makes $43 million profit}

_{You may recall that this Brisbane-based company was awarded a contract last year to provide “garrison and welfare services” for running Australia’s immigration detention centre on Nauru. With a turnover of $212 million, the company has made a very healthy profit through overseeing the misery and hardship of the asylum seekers and refugees trapped on the island. The company’s contract has now been extended to April 2019, with our government increasing its payment to Canstruct from $28.9 million to $34.4 million per month. That’s more than a million dollars a day to maintain our government’s cruel detention regime.}

_{Universal Children’s Day: Tuesday 20}^th _November

_{On this day in 1959 the UN General Assembly adopted the Declaration of the Rights of the Child. This was followed thirty years later, on the same date, by the signing of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Australia is a signatory to both documents. It goes without saying that our government’s treatment of children in detention is utterly inconsistent with the obligations which were signed up to. This week, therefore, is a very good time to remind our leaders of their obligations to protect children and to ensure that they have access to family life, education, healthcare and freedom. Please consider phoning the Prime Minister’s office (02 6277 7700) or Minister Dutton’s office (02 6277 7860) to demand that: the families remaining on Nauru be brought to Australia immediately; families are reunited without delay; families must be given their freedom when they are brought to Australia, and not be held in onshore detention centres; families must be given permanent resettlement so that they can begin to rebuilt their shattered lives. Please call on our leaders to resettle these families here or accept the New Zealand government’s offer to resettle 150 refugees.}

_{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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_{The National RAR web site is at  www.ruralaustraliansforrefugees.org.au} 

_{The National RAR facebook site is at  RAR Facebook}

Newsletter for 13 November 2018 Rural Australians for Refugees Bellingen and Nambucca Districts

_{Roadside demonstration: Thursday 15}^th _{November: 2.30 to 4.00 pm}

_{Our next market stall: Bellingen market, Saturday 17}^th _November

_{“These Hands”, by singer-songwriter Stewart Peters}

_{Nauru update}

_{Manus island update}

_{And finally…….}

_{Roadside demonstration: Thursday 15}^th _{November: 2.30 to 4.00 pm}

_{A reminder that our next roadside demonstration is this Thursday on Hogbin Drive, Toormina. You will find us in our usual spot, down the hill about 150 metres from the fire station, in the direction of the airport. Please come and join us if you can, and help us to win the fight in getting the public on side in our campaign to end offshore detention. We are getting there, but we are not there yet.}

_{Our next market stall: Bellingen market, Saturday 17}^th _November

_{A reminder that our next market stall is this Saturday at the Bellingen Community market from 9.00 am until 1.30 pm. We have been allocated site E46, which is accessed via Ford Street. As usual, we’ll be handing out leaflets, talking to market-goers, collecting signatures on our open letter, and selling merchandise to raise funds for the Asylum Seekers Centre in Newtown. If you can help out for an hour or two, then please let Mike know by emailing him at: mandm.griffin2@bigpond.com. The markets are a great opportunity to interact with the public, in additional to catching up with friends and enjoying a chat.} 

_{“These Hands”, by singer-songwriter Stewart Peters}

_{We hope that you enjoyed listening to Stewart’s haunting refugee song, which he performed for us at our recent fundraiser. If anyone wishes to share the song more widely, then it would be appreciated if you could discuss this first with Stewart, by emailing him at: stewart@soundshed.com.au.}

_{Nauru update}

_{Last week we reported that 35 children were still languishing on Nauru, most of them in poor physical and mental health. Since then, another 25 people, including eight children in six family units, have been brought to Australia, leaving 27 children on the island. They could all, of course, be brought to Australia immediately, but our government, for purely political purposes, chooses to let this terrible situation drag on. Serious concerns remain for the many adults and children still on the island, as well as numerous families and couples separated between the two countries and even within Australia. A few examples: A pregnant Somali woman was in the Villawood detention centre for four months until she was released into community detention last week, while her husband remains on Nauru. A Lebanese mother and daughter who came to Melbourne for medical treatment a month ago are in community detention but another daughter of hers, aged 14, and her son, are in the Melbourne detention centre. Nauru-based siblings Narges and Daryoush were transferred to Sydney last week after more than four years of being separated from their parents and sister, but remain in Villawood detention centre instead of being placed in community detention with their family. These examples are but three of many. All of them are avoidable, and our government should be doing everything in its power to ensure that families are reunited, in keeping with our international obligations. And the Labor opposition should be pressing it to do so.}

_{Manus island update}

_{Last week, in the run-up to the APEC summit in PNG, the PNG government returned more than 20 refugees to Manus from Port Moresby, where they were undergoing or awaiting medical treatment. A further 30 or so were told that they would be returned to Manus imminently, regardless of their medical issues. This is perhaps another example, as with the recent conference on Nauru, where the authorities are keen to keep the refugees well out of sight. It is reported that one man, on learning of his imminent return to Manus, attempted suicide. Behrouz Boochani, the well-known writer and journalist who has been held on Manus for more that five years, reports that the situation for the 650 men on Manus is steadily deteriorating, with at least two suicide attempts and three instances of self-harm in the past week. This is clearly an intolerable and unsustainable situation, and we must continue to maintain the pressure on the government and the Labor opposition to bring these men to Australia for resettlement either here, in the US, in New Zealand or in other countries where it is safe for them to begin to rebuild their shattered lives.} 

_{And finally…….}

_{“Only a sociopath could pray and weep for a child on Nauru, and then oppose their medical treatment in court”}

_{Father Rod Bower, Anglican Parish of Gosford.}

_{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}

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

_{(579 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}