Newsletter for 3 October 2017 Rural Australians for Refugees Bellingen and Nambucca Districts

_{Next Market Stall -Valla Beach Sat 7th October}

_{Another death on Manus}

_{Duttons latest attack on refugees}

_{Our new petition}

_{Next Roadside Demo - Coffs Hospital Thursday October 12th 2:30pm}

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_{Our next market stall: Valla Beach, Saturday 7th October}

_{Please note that our next market stall will be this coming Saturday at the Valla Beach market. We’ll have the new petition to sign and as usual we’ll be handing out leaflets, talking to market goers and selling merchandise to raise funds for the Asylum Seekers Centre. If you can lend a hand between 9.00 am and 1.30 pm, then please let Mike know by emailing him at : mandm.griffin2@bigpond.com, or just drop by to say hello and to sign the petition.}

_{Another death on Manus Island}

_{A Sri Lankan Tamil asylum seeker, Rajeev Rajendran  32,  died on Manus overnight.  He is the 6th Manus Island detainee to die in the past four years.  This is another reason why we need to double our efforts in writing to politicians and attending the rallies this Sunday and also on the 15th in Sydney.}  

_{On and around  Sunday 8 October, around Australia, rallies and other protests will be held around Australia calling for the asylum seekers and refugees on Manus Island and Nauru to be brought immediately to Australia:   “Manus Island and Nauru – Not Safe for Refugees – Bring Them Here”}

_{There is extreme concern that the Manus Island detention centre is closed on 31 October, the asylum seekers and refugees will face real dangers if they are forced to live in the PNG community.  Some have already been attacked and the PNG authorities are not able to protect them. The situation on Manus is again reaching crisis point, as the situation there and on Nauru grows more desperate. Pressure on the refugees on Manus to leave the detention centre is growing daily, as Immigration bulldozes compounds, cut back activities and shuts off power and water. But it is not safe for refugees outside in the community on Manus Island. In late June a refugee was attacked with a machete and robbed, almost losing his arm. Both inside and outside the detention centre, the government's criminal neglect of the people it is responsible for has resulted in too many deaths already, most recently the death of Hamed Shamshiripour.}

_{Many of the people on Manus and Nauru have been detained for four years. Although we welcome the prospect that some will be resettled in the United States, it is not known how many will be accepted by the US, and there is no indication about how long it will take. The only certainty is that some of the people detained on Manus and Nauru will be left to fend for themselves..}

_{The Australian Refugee Action Network (ARAN) –a national network of scores of refugee activist groups – has called for these protests as matter of urgency. These are listed in a following section.}

_{Dutton’s latest attack on refugees}

_{Last week, some 52 refugees from Manus and Nauru finally boarded  planes to take them to safety in the US, following years of suffering in our offshore detention centres. Minister Dutton’s response to their departure, rather than acknowledging that this would be a new start for the refugees, was to vilify them on his favourite commercial radio station. He labelled them as “economic refugees” – a term that does not exist either in domestic or international law – and suggested, amongst other things, that the refugees on Nauru were in possession of  “the world’s biggest collection of Armani jeans and handbags”. He painted a picture of the Nauru and Manus island detention centres as akin to holiday camps and suggested that, once off the islands, the refugees would tell a different story. The evidence, of course, is very different. The harsh reality of our offshore detention centres has  been well documented, in spite of the government’s attempts at secrecy. They are places where the picture is one of physical violence, including murder, rape and sexual abuse of women and children, allegations of torture by guards, medical neglect leading to death, and catastrophic rates of mental health damage, self-harm and suicide attempts. For the Minister to attempt on national radio to portray these hell-holes as places where people are actually enjoying their stay is a disgrace. If you want to tell him so, then please email him at : minister@border.gov.au.} 

_{Our new RAR petition}

_{We have put together a new petition, which is in the form of an open letter to Shayne Neumann, who is the Labor Shadow Minister for immigration and border protection. The petition is supported by the national RAR committee and has been distributed to all RAR groups around Australia. Our plan is to launch it at our next market in Valla Beach. The text of the petition is set out below, and a petition sheet is attached to this newsletter for you to download and print. It would be wonderful if a significant number of our supporters could collect signatures from family, friends and colleagues. Details of what to do with completed petition sheets can be found on the form.}

_{Dear Mr Neumann,}

_{The Australian government has clear obligations under the Refugee Convention and international law to treat people seeking asylum with respect and humanity, to assess their asylum claims in a timely manner and to resettle in Australia all those arriving on our shores who are found to be refugees, regardless of their mode of arrival.  We therefore call upon the Labor Opposition to:}

_{·         make unambiguous its opposition to mandatory detention.}

_{·         demand the immediate  resettlement in Australia of all genuine refugees on Manus and Nauru who are not cleared for resettlement in the US.}

_{·         commit the Labor Party to working with other countries in the region and with UNHCR to provide alternative, safer pathways to eventual resettlement in safe  countries, including Australia.}

_{·         demand that people currently held in offshore detention who have close family  members living in Australia be able to rejoin them here as a matter of urgency.}

_{National Day of Action in support of refugees}

_{A number of rallies to protest about the government’s treatment of asylum seekers and refugees will be taking place across Australia in the days ahead. Details so far are as follows:
Canberra. 8th October. 1.00 pm. Garema Place
Geelong. 8th October. 11.30 am on the lawns at the Waterfront.
Melbourne. 8th October. 2.00 pm at the State Library.
Hobart. 6th October 5.00 pm. at the corner of Murray and Macquarie Streets.
Sydney. 15th October. 2.00 pm. Venue tbc.}

_{If you happen to be in one of these places at any of the above times, you might consider joining the rally to send a clear message to the government that we do not support its cruel and punitive asylum policies. If you have friends or families  living in these cities, you might want to encourage them to attend.}
 

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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.}

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

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