Passengers stopped deportation of passenger by refusing to take their seats before take off on 19 December 2014
reported by Refugee Action Collective (Vic)
click on http://rac-vic.org/2014/12/23/deportation-stopped-by-passengers-protest/
17.12.14
Letter to senate cross benchers following passing of Marine and Maritime Powers amendments bill
9.12.14
Dear Senator
Xenophon,
I was
dismayed to learn that you voted for the government's Marine and Maritime Powers amendments in the
Senate last week. I realise that you may have felt under immense pressure to
support the bill, given that the Minister for Immigration had cynically linked
its passage to the release of children from detention on Christmas Island. It saddens me greatly that you caved
in to this bullying tactic.
You know as
well as I that there was nothing in the
amendments relating to the release of children in detention, and that
the government could have chosen to release all children and their families
from detention at any time since coming to office.
You have now
passed into law a most shameful piece of legislation, which gives the Minister
for Immigration unprecedented, unchallengeable and secret powers to determine
the fate of individual asylum seekers.
You have removed all references to the
Refugee Convention from the legislation, notwithstanding the fact that
Australia is a signatory. You have decided that Australia can now flout its
international obligations with its "new, independent and self-contained
statutory framework".
You must be well aware that you have given powers to
the government which will enable it to return asylum seekers to places where
they have been, or will likely be, persecuted, tortured or worse.
You must
also know that the reinstatement of TPVs is a backward step. As in the past,
placing vulnerable, traumatised asylum seekers in limbo, for purely political
ends, will cause serious damage to their mental health and wellbeing. Last time
round, more than 90% of asylum seekers on TPVs were ultimately granted
permanent protection, but the cost of attempting to repair their damaged lives
has been immense.
Why repeat the same mistakes?
The passing
of this legislation was a very dark day for asylum seekers, for the upholding
of human rights and for our international obligations. We should all hang our
heads in shame.
Yours
sincerely,
Mike
9.12.14
Letters to Refugees on Manus Island
Dear David
I am forwarding 2 messages to me from Julian Burnside.
I have sent letters to the 8 refugees on Manus Is whose names Julian gave me in his emails.
Put them on the blog if you think it’s OK.
Judy
please contact bellingen.rar@gmail.com to obtain names, if you want to send letters to refugees on Manus Island
Begin forwarded message:
From: Julian Burnside <burnside@vicbar.com.au>To: Judy Cooney <greenspot@westnet.com.au>Date: 21 November 2014 11:15:00 am AEDTSubject: RE: Offshore detention
Dear Judy
I sent letters to 2 refugees last April but didn’t get a response from them, probably because there were no facilities for them, if they received them at all)
Letters are now getting through, after an initial blockage which the Department of Immigration could not (ie would not) satisfactorily explain. This is the reason replies have (until recently) been so scarce. I think it will get better from here on. the letters are very gratefully received.
The address for writing to refugees on Manus Island is:
Manus Island Regional Processing Centre
PO BOX 213
Lorengau
Manus Province
Papua New Guinea
There are some more on Manus you can write to if you have the energy:
Refugees are able to get stamps for one point, so it is no longer necessary to put a stamp on your self-addressed envelope. Make sure your name and address are very clearly written on the self-addressed envelope.
You should now try writing direct, and make a point of giving an email address and/or Facebook name
Very best wishes
Julian
----
Julian Burnside AO QC
Level 30, 200 Queen St,
Melbourne, 3000
@JulianBurnside
www.julianburnside.com.au
A timid question will always receive a confident answer. - Lord Darling
War does not determine who is right - only who is left. -- Bertrand Russell
-----Original Message-----
From: Judy Cooney [mailto:greenspot@westnet.com.au]
Sent: Wednesday, 19 November 2014 7:15 PM
To: Julian Burnside
Subject: Offshore detention
Dear Julian
I sent several letters to people detained on Manus Is. to your Melbourne PO address.
Many thanks for your work on behalf of refugees.
Judy Cooney
3.12.14
Letter to Luke Hartsuyker 2 December 2014 legal and moral responsibilities for Asylum Seekers
Dear Mr Hartsuyker,
You will be aware that the UN Committee Against Torture has now published its report on Australia’s treatment of refugees, including children. The report unsurprisingly finds that the government’s treatment of refugees amounts to “cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment” which, as you will know, is forbidden by international law. The report describes in some detail the harsh conditions in detention centres and the huge uncertainty about the future, which create serious physical and mental pain for asylum seekers. It is simply not good enough for you to continually tell us that government action to “stop the boats” in any way justifies the cruel and inhumane policies that you have adopted to achieve this objective. Nor is it acceptable for you to continue to assert that the cruel punishment –for that is what it is – meted out to asylum seekers on Nauru and Manus Island are matters for the Nauruan and PNG governments. The UN report makes it clear that Australia has effective control over these detention centres and cannot therefore outsource its responsibilities.
When will the government begin to listen to the voices of all the organisations – Church groups, NGOs, the UN, Amnesty International and many other groups – who are telling you loud and clear that the government’s policy in relation to refugees is cruel, inhumane, immoral and unlawful? In recent days, Alastair Nicholson QC, Chairman of Children’s Rights International, stated on ABC National radio: “ What the Minister is doing unfortunately is the very thing that the UNHCR has pointed out should not happen, and that is to use children as a pawn to achieve a political objective”. He goes on to say: “ It’s time that we realised that we are in breach of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, we’re in breach of international law, and the Minister has been hiding the facts and pretending that in some way he’s acting lawfully, when he knows full well that he’s not.”
It’s surely time for the government to acknowledge it’s responsibilities – both legal and moral- in relation to asylum seekers seeking refuge in Australia, and to recognise that there is therefore an urgent need to close the detention centres on Christmas Island, Manus Island and Nauru. Asylum seekers in these centres should have their claims thoroughly and properly assessed, with a view to those receiving a positive determination of their claims being resettled in Australia without undue delay.
Yours sincerely
Mike Griffin
39, Rogers Drive, Valla Beach, NSW 2448
2.12.14
Letter to Hartsuyker treatment of refugees
Dear Mr Hartsuyker,
You will be aware that the UN Committee Against Torture has now published its report on Australia’s treatment of refugees, including children. The report unsurprisingly finds that the government’s treatment of refugees amounts to “cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment” which, as you will know, is forbidden by international law. The report describes in some detail the harsh conditions in detention centres and the huge uncertainty about the future, which create serious physical and mental pain for asylum seekers. It is simply not good enough for you to continually tell us that government action to “stop the boats” in any way justifies the cruel and inhumane policies that you have adopted to achieve this objective. Nor is it acceptable for you to continue to assert that the cruel punishment –for that is what it is – meted out to asylum seekers on Nauru and Manus Island are matters for the Nauruan and PNG governments. The UN report makes it clear that Australia has effective control over these detention centres and cannot therefore outsource its responsibilities.
When will the government begin to listen to the voices of all the organisations – Church groups, NGOs, the UN, Amnesty International and many other groups – who are telling you loud and clear that the government’s policy in relation to refugees is cruel, inhumane, immoral and unlawful? In recent days, Alastair Nicholson QC, Chairman of Children’s Rights International, stated on ABC National radio: “ What the Minister is doing unfortunately is the very thing that the UNHCR has pointed out should not happen, and that is to use children as a pawn to achieve a political objective”. He goes on to say: “ It’s time that we realised that we are in breach of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, we’re in breach of international law, and the Minister has been hiding the facts and pretending that in some way he’s acting lawfully, when he knows full well that he’s not.”
It’s surely time for the government to acknowledge it’s responsibilities – both legal and moral- in relation to asylum seekers seeking refuge in Australia, and to recognise that there is therefore an urgent need to close the detention centres on Christmas Island, Manus Island and Nauru. Asylum seekers in these centres should have their claims thoroughly and properly assessed, with a view to those receiving a positive determination of their claims being resettled in Australia without undue delay.
Yours sincerely
Mike Griffin
39, Rogers Drive, Valla Beach, NSW 2448
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