Newsletter for 1 May 2018 Rural Australians for Refugees Bellingen and Nambucca Districts

_{Next Roadside Demo - Bellingen, May 3rd 2:30pm}

_{Fundraiser Sunday 10th June}

_{12yo on Nauru pleads for help}

_{Confessions of former Border Force commissioner}

_{And finally...}

_{Roadside demonstration: Thursday 3rd May 2.30 to 4.00 pm}

_{Our next roadside demonstration is this Thursday 3rd May on Waterfall Way, Bellingen. You will find us in our usual spot, opposite the entrance to the golf club, and adjacent to the Yellow Shed. Several of our “regulars” will be away on holiday this week, so it would be much appreciated if others could come along to support us in this important activity. We have lots of placards and banners to share and it’s a great opportunity to get the message across about our government’s cruel treatment of asylum seekers and refugees. Please join us if you can.}

_{Future demonstrations are as follows:}

_{Thursday 17th May: Coffs Harbour, opposite the Base hospital.}

_{Thursday 31st May: Hogbin Drive, Toormina.}

_{Thursday 14th June: The Big Banana, Coffs Harbour.}

_{Fundraiser: Sunday 10th June, starting at 2.00 pm}

_{On Sunday 10th June we will be staging a matinee music concert, “Reaching Out” in the main hall of the Nambucca Community and Arts Centre, which is located on Ridge Street in Nambucca Heads. We have several outstanding musicians lined up, and you are guaranteed a wonderful and uplifting experience. Please put the date in your diaries, and look out for further details in next week’s newsletter. If you can help on the day – selling tickets on the door, helping in the kitchen, selling our RAR merchandise etc, then please email Marlene at:marlene.griffin46@bigpond.com.}

_{All profits from the event will be used to help refugees and asylum seekers in Australia.}

_{Let’s make it a big one!}

_{Twelve-year-old on Nauru pleads for help}

_{A recent Guardian article, which you can read in full on our Facebook page, paints yet another heartbreaking story of the suffering of detainees on Nauru, where they continue to be held in mouldy tents in the tropical heat. The detainees – men, women and children - are becoming increasingly unwell and deeply depressed. Ali, the young boy in the article, who is himself clearly unwell, pleads for help for his very sick mother. To date, requests by doctors for her urgent transfer from Nauru have been resisted by the Australian Border Force (ABF), who routinely ignore the advice of medical practitioners. In correspondence, the ABF has offered to assist Ali’s mother in returning to Iran, the country from which she fled some five years ago.}

_{Catherine Stubberfield, a spokesperson for UNHCR in Canberra, reminds us that offshore processing is entirely inappropriate, particularly for children. She states: “The harm caused by over four years in harsh and punitive conditions has taken an enormous toll, confirmed by experts ranging from psychiatrists and paediatricians to the government’s own chief medical officer. Further mental health deterioration is both predictable and wholly preventable”.}

_{There are still approximately 100 children held on Nauru, including 42 in the detention centre.}

_{Confessions of the former ABF Commissioner}

_{In Twitter exchanges over recent days, the former Australian Border Force Commissioner, Roman Quaedvlieg, conceded that genuine medical transfer requests from Manus and Nauru are routinely “obstructed and thwarted” by the ABF. A former senior medical officer on Nauru, Dr Nick Martin, told Quaedvlieg: “...you must remember that every time, without fail, that I tried to get deserving cases the care they needed, they were  thwarted and obstructed by ABF. Every time.”  Quaedvlieg replied: “Understood, and I accept without equivocation”.}

_{It is deeply concerning  that the management of urgent medical needs, involving the transfer of patients from Manus or Nauru, takes second place, every time, to the political imperative of preventing asylum seekers from setting foot in Australia. It is also concerning that the current chief medical officer for the ABF is a bureaucrat who has no medical training.}

_{And finally....}

_{With my last breath before the lights go out, I’d prefer to say: “I’m glad I did something”, rather than “I wish I’d done something.”}

_{Julian Burnside QC. Patron of our national RAR group}

_{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 >560 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}