Rural Australians for Refugees Bellingen and Nambucca Districts

This blog has been set up to further the cause of compassion for Asylum Seekers. We will post letters that have been sent to politicians, building up the pressure to provide compassionate support to all refugees in Australia and anywhere where people have been sent by the Australian Government. Send your letter and any reply to our email address and we will post it on the site. Any other information of use will also be posted. For Facebook page click on "contact us" tab below.

27.2.18

Newsletter for 27 February 2018 Rural Australians for Refugees Bellingen and Nambucca Districts

_{Next Roadside Demo -
Bellingen March 8th 2:30pm}

_{Fundraising film
screening this coming Sunday, March 4th}

_{Freedom Stories - DVD
available for loan}

_{Harmony Festival -
Coffs Sunday 25th March}

_{Conditions on Nauru
exposed}

_{Roadside
demonstration report}

_{A big thank you to
the group of supporters who turned up for last week’s roadside
demonstration in front of the Big Banana in Coffs Harbour. As always, we had
lots of support from passing motorists, together with the usual small minority
of dissenters. We feel that it’s really important to keep the issue of the
cruelty of our government’s asylum policy in the public eye. It’s clear
that the Coalition and the Labor opposition will maintain the current
regime of indefinite offshore detention unless we, the Australian voters,
convince them that the tide has turned, and that this cruel and inhumane policy
is no longer a vote winner.}

_{Our next roadside
demo will be on Waterfall Way in Bellingen, near the Yellow Shed, on Thursday
8th March from 2.30 to 4.00 pm.}_{It would be great if a few more supporters
could join us.}

_{Fundraising
screening of Hope Road: Sunday 4th March at 2.00 pm}

_{A final reminder that
our fundraiser for the Asylum Seekers Centre in Newtown is this coming
Sunday at the Memorial Hall in Bellingen, starting at 2.00 pm. You
will find a flyer about the screening attached to this newsletter and we would
greatly appreciate it if you could print a few copies and share them with your
friends or work colleagues. It’s an inspiring film which you will enjoy, so
please come and join us if you can. We’ll have a stall in the foyer where you
can buy our asylum seeker merchandise. The ASC, like other NGOs working with
refugees and asylum seekers, is desperately in need of funds to enable them to
continue with their important work, so we are very much hoping for a good turn
out.}

_{Freedom Stories :
a great DVD available on loan}

_{You may remember that
we advertised this DVD, available on loan to RAR supporters, a couple of weeks
ago. Freedom Stories is a documentary-based project that brings together a
collection of personal stories from former asylum seekers who sought asylum in
Australia at a time of great political turmoil circa 2001, but who have long
since dropped out of the media spotlight. The people who participated in the
project are all now Australian citizens. Given the ongoing controversies
over “boat people” it is timely that their stories be heard. To borrow
the DVD, contact Mike at: mandm.griffin2@bigpond.com. The DVD is licenced for public
viewing, so in addition to viewing it at home, you might like to consider
organising a viewing for a local group, which could have a big impact for our
cause.}

_{Margaret Henley, who
has recently watched the film, writes:}

_{I experienced a
mixture of emotions as I watched this documentary: elation at seeing
these former refugees as productive Australian citizens, sadness at hearing of
the traumas they suffered and anger at the heartlessness of the Australian
government’s treatment of these asylum seekers.}

_{I admired
Aoham, a teacher from Iraq who struggled with the difficulties of finding a
teaching job at a school other than an Islamic one. Reyhana, after suffering
depression for three years after leaving detention, now works at the Migrant
Resource Centre in SA. She no longer wears a veil and emphasised that she now
has the freedom to make that choice.}

_{What impressed
me about the men who were interviewed was their determination to establish
their own businesses, from tiling to painting to forming a company, which
organises work for sub-contractors. They did not avoid talking about the pain
of being separated from family, the depression many of them still suffer from
and the memories of self-harm they witnessed in the detention camps.}

_{One of the more
unexpected stories in the documentary showed Sherie, mother of three sons, one
of whom has cerebral palsy. She was taking driving lessons in a truck, almost
ready for her Heavy Rigid licence but aiming for the licence that will enable
her to drive B-doubles. “I’ve always wanted to be a truck driver” she said.}

_{Harmony Festival
2018: Coffs Harbour, Sunday 25th March}

_{This year’s Harmony
Festival will take place on Sunday 25th March from 9.30 am until
2.30 pm in the Botanic Gardens, Coffs Harbour. The festival will be
a wonderful celebration of everyone’s journey to calling Coffs Harbour home.
Come along and enjoy an uplifting day of cultural performances and vibrant world
music. If previous festivals are anything to go by, you will find the event
full of life, colour, happiness and amazing aromas from around the world.}

_{Entry is by gold coin
donation and all are welcome. It will be a great family day out.}

_{If you would like to
volunteer on the day, than please phone Jane on: 6648 4850.}

_{Appalling
conditions on Nauru exposed}

_{It seems almost
unimaginable that refugees and asylum seekers on Nauru, including children, are
still living in mouldy tents, with no air-conditioning, on this tropical
island. About 20 fly-in-fly-out former Nauru immigration detention centre
workers have become seriously ill as a result of of exposure to mould, and the
microbiologist contracted to assess the problem, Dr Cameron Jones, says
that the contamination was “of epic proportions”. At least three confidential
documents have been prepared for government over four years, detailing that
“highly toxic” mould was an overwhelming problem across the centre, and posed a
“major risk to the health and safety of the occupants”. Notwithstanding the
evidence to the contrary, the government insists that “there have been no cases
of anyone developing health issues following exposure to mould at the Nauru
RPC”.}

_{How can we continue
to expose these asylum seekers and refugees to such appalling danger? Yet
another reason to close these hell holes and bring these innocent people to
Australia for resettlement.}

_{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 >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}

20.2.18

National RAR Press Release 20 February 2018 Border Force refusal of medical attention

PRESS RELEASE

The spiteful decision by Australian Border Force to refuse a critically depressed son to accompany his mother to Australia for medical attention appals all fair minded Australians said Marie Sellstrom President of Rural Australians for Refugees. While politicians are arguing about their sex lives in Canberra refugees with life threatening conditions are suffering on Nauru and Manus.

Fatemeh an Iranian woman on Nauru has serious health problems including diabetes, imminent risk of heart attack and severe depression she is unable to come to Australia for urgent medical attention as she will not leave without her 16 year old son.

Her son has severe depression and is at risk of suicide. His mother does not want to leave him alone on Nauru.

“The refusal by Australian Border Force to allow her son to accompany her is inhumane” said Marie Sellstrom National President of Rural Australians for Refugees “Australia has a duty of care for refugees they have sent to Nauru and Manus and we are disgusted at this decision to disregard the health of a mother and son who are both at risk”.

newsletter for 20 Feb 2018 Rural Australians for Refugees Bellingen and Nambucca Districts

_{Next Market -
Bellingen Sat 17th March}

_{U3A session on
refugee issues}

_{Next Roadside Demo -
Big Banana Coffs February 22nd 2:30pm}

_{Behrouz Boochani reports
from Manus}

_{Seriously ill mother
still trapped on Nauru}

_{Coffs Harbourside
market report}

_{A great turnout of
ten supporters to help on our stall in Coffs Harbour on Sunday. The
new venue , apart from the lack of shade until the newly planted trees grow, is
very pleasant and well set out. There was lots of positive interaction
with visitors to our stall, as well as lively conversations amongst
our supporters. As always, a very good response from members of the public,
together with deep dismay about the treatment of asylum seekers and refugees by
our government.}

_{Our next market stall
will be at the Bellingen Community markets on Saturday 17th March.}

_{U3A session on
refugee issues}

_{Some 25 people
attended the U3A meeting on the subject of refugees on Monday 19th February in
Nambucca Heads. In the first part of the meeting, Michael Blockey gave us a
very comprehensive overview of the development of asylum policy by governments
on both sides of politics, and mapped out the shift from the bipartisan policy
of welcoming refugees to one of demonising them for party political advantage.
The result has been the “race to the bottom” in which politicians use the
tactics of fear and nationalism to turn the Australian public away from the
tradition of wanting to give people a helping hand and to offer them the
opportunity to build a new life in a safe country. In the second part of the
session, Vigeeta Chauhan, who works for Settlement Services International in
Coffs Harbour, gave us a detailed picture of how SSI works with newly arrived
refugees to assist them in navigating the complexities of moving to a new
country, learning a new language and adjusting to a completely new existence.
SSI supports the refugees with housing, education, health issues, shopping,
finding employment and much besides. It is a vital service, without which many
refugees would simply find it impossible to adapt to their new lives. You can
find further information at: www.ssi.org.au.}

_{Next roadside
demonstration: Thursday 22nd February in Coffs Harbour}

_{Our next roadside
demonstration is this Thursday 22nd February outside the Big Banana in
Coffs Harbour from 2.30 until 4.00 pm. Please do try to join us if you can,
but remember to wear covered shoes to keep the ants at bay! We have lots of
banners and placards to share and we need to continue to demonstrate to the
public that many Australians are deeply appalled by the government’s cruel and
punitive policy, which is designed to break people’s spirits and to encourage
them to return to the danger that they have risked their lives to escape from.}

_{Behrouz Boochani
reports from Manus}

_{On the fourth
anniversary of the brutal murder of Reza Barati at the hands of those
paid by the Australian government to protect him, Behrouz Boochani, an Iranian
refugee held on Manus island, writes passionately about Reza’s murder, and
about the plight of the men still languishing there, many of them since 2013.
Behrouz writes: “His death is an utter tragedy. The way he was killed, and the
violence that left him dead, more than anything else, echoes the level of
ruthlessness inherent in the system of offshore processing. Four years have
passed since that event and questions are still left unanswered. Why didn’t the
police force try to stop the attack by the locals and G4S officers on that
night? Why weren’t those two Australians ( G4S guards implicated in
Raza’s murder) pursued and investigated? And why didn’t they appear in any
court? Also, what was the role of G4S guards who had the responsibility to
protect the refugees? And why didn’t they carry out their responsibilities
appropriately?”}

_{You can read the
whole article, together with a very moving poem by Behrouz, on our Facebook
page.}

_{Seriously ill
mother still trapped on Nauru}

_{The very sick mother
who needs urgent heart treatment, remains on Nauru, simply because she insists
that she cannot leave her only son on Nauru whilst she undergoes treatment in
Australia. The Australian Border Force – not well known for its expertise in
diagnosing patients’ needs – has received repeated requests, including two in
January, for the mother to be evacuated from the island, but refuses to budge
on the need for her to be accompanied by her son. The latest medical report
states that : “she is at extremely high and imminent risk of having a
catastrophic cardiac event such as heart attack, or sudden death due to arrhythmias.”
A former senior medical officer on Nauru who treated the mother, repeatedly
warned the Australian immigration authorities that she needed a higher level of
care than can be provided on Nauru. He states: “ For the Australian Border
Force to use her son as a way of denying treatment is breathtakingly cynical.”}

_{If you would like to
protest about this to the government or the opposition, then please phone
Malcolm Turnbull on (02)6277 7700 or Bill Shorten on (02) 6277 4022.}