Next Market Stall - Coffs Harbourside Sun 27th August
Next Roadside Demo - Bellingen Thursday August 10th 2:30pm
National RAR group
That telephone conversation
Valla Beach market report
A big thank you to all our supporters who turned up to help at Saturday’s market in Valla Beach. Fourteen supporters came along at different times to lend a hand, making for a lively presence and a great impact. We had a new bumper sticker for sale, a new pamphlet about the Manus Island crisis, we collected lots of signatures on our petition, did an interview with Nambucca Valley Radio and sold quite a lot of merchandise. A very successful morning, including a lot of interaction with market-goers, which is so important to our key objective, which is to inform the public about the cruelty, immorality and inhumanity of our government’s asylum policy, and to demand an end to offshore detention.
Our next market stall will be at the Coffs Harbourside market on Sunday 27th August. If you can 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.
Roadside demonstration: Thursday 10th August, Bellingen: 2.30 to 4.00 pm
A reminder that our next roadside demonstration is this Thursday in Bellingen. You will find us at a new location on Waterfall Way, adjacent to the playing fields, just after the entrance to the High School as you come into Bellingen from Urunga. The offshore detention situation is now becoming critical and dangerous. Refugees on Manus are under huge pressure to leave the current detention centre and to move to the dangerous Lorengau transit centre. The recent publication of Turnbull/ Trump telephone conversation can only add to the fear and desperation of the refugees. Please therefore try to join us if you can on Thursday to send a strong message to the government and the Labor opposition that this cruelty must end.
National RAR group
We now have a national RAR committee which plans to strengthen our voice on the national stage. You can find an update from the national group on our blog. The committee is planning to organise and coordinate a national day of action on 8th October. Watch this space!
That telephone conversation
You are no doubt familiar with the details of the telephone conversation between our Prime Minister and the US President of some months ago, the transcript of which was published last week. Twice in the conversation, our PM made it clear to Trump that there is no obligation in the agreement for the US to take any refugees. The US could accept 1,000, 100 or none at all. Turnbull’s words were: “the obligation is to only go through the process.” This looks more and more like a cynical exercise in which our obligations towards the refugees take a very poor second place to political calculation. Turnbull also stated untruthfully that the refugees are “economic refugees”. The fact is that all those being considered for resettlement in the US have already had their refugee claims investigated thoroughly by the Australian government and have been granted refugee status. That is, it has been established, under the Refugee Convention, that they have a “well founded fear of persecution in their country of origin”, and are therefore legally owed protection by the Australian government. Economic hardship is not a criterion for refugee status.
Throughout the conversation it is clear that neither leader has any concern at all for the well-being of the refugees, many of whom have now been languishing on Manus and Nauru for up to four years. For these two businessmen, this is just another transaction.
All the more reason to keep up our protest. Please consider writing to both Coalition and Labor politicians, whose details were provided in last week’s newsletter, which you’ll find on our blog.
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
No comments:
Post a Comment