Roadside demonstration: Thursday 4th October 2.30 to 4.00 pm
Next Market stall: Valla Beach, Saturday 6th October
National demonstration: Tuesday 16th October, Canberra
Our meeting and fundraiser: Sunday 14th October from 11.00 am
Getting children off Nauru
Meanwhile, on Manus island….
Roadside demonstration: Thursday 4th October 2.30 to 4.00 pm
Our next roadside demonstration is this Thursday, 4th October, by the Big Banana in Coffs Harbour. Please come and join us if you can, and help us to keep the issue of the appalling treatment of refugees and asylum seekers on Manus and Nauru in the public eye. We have lots of banners and placards to share. We would love to see some new faces at our fortnightly demos.
Next Market stall: Valla Beach, Saturday 6th October
Our next market stall is coming up at the Valla Beach market this Saturday from 9.00 am until 1.30 pm. We’ll be handing out leaflets, encouraging people to sign our new open letter to the Prime Minister and selling our merchandise in support of the Asylum Seekers Centre in Newtown. If you can help out for an hour or two, then please let Mike know by emailing him at: mandm.griffin2@bigpond.com.
National demonstration: Tuesday 16th October, Canberra
Our national RAR committee is coordinating a protest outside parliament on Tuesday 16th October from 12.00 until 2.00 pm. The intention is to ramp up the campaign to get all children off Nauru by the 20th of November, which is Universal Children’s Day. If you are in Canberra on the 16th, please consider joining the protest, or if you have friends or family in the area, please encourage them to attend. Hopefully there will be a lot of people taking part and sending a clear message to the government and the opposition that this cruelty must end.
You can add your voice to the national RAR campaign by visiting: www.kidsoffnauru.com/call. This link, organized by RAR, will help you to find your MP’s phone number, will give you a number of ideas about what to say and will allow you to provide feedback to national RAR.
Our meeting and fundraiser: Sunday 14th October from 11.00 am
A big thank you to all of you who have offered items for the auction. Please keep them coming! It’s really important that we have the details in advance so that we can number the items and put a running order together.
It’s also important that we have lots of people who plan to attend. Please support our efforts to raise $1,000 for the ASC, by letting Mike know that you will be there on 14th October. A quick email to: mandm.griffin2@bigpond.com would be appreciated. Please arrive at 11.00 am for the meeting, or at midday for music and lunch followed by the auction.
In addition to the auction items received so far, we took delivery this week of a very special contribution. It’s a classical guitar by Maton, Australia’s leading guitar maker. It’s a C25 model, serial number 325, made in 1972 and it’s in superb condition. It doesn’t just make a beautiful sound, it’s also a rare collector’s item. There is a C25 currently advertised on Gumtree for $899. Please share this information with anyone who you think might be interested in purchasing this lovely instrument, as we realise that we will have to cast the net widely to get a sensible price for it that reflects its value. You can view photos of the instrument on our Facebook page by clicking on the link at the end of the newsletter.
Getting children off Nauru
The national campaign to end the appalling treatment of children and their families on Nauru is gathering momentum. More than 180 charities and organisations, including World Vision, the Australian Council for International Development, the Refugee Council of Australia and many more, are now actively petitioning the government, giving it until 20th November to have families transferred to Australia or another safe third country. Professor Paul Colditz, a leading paediatrician, says: “as doctors we have compelling evidence that detention and uncertainty is damaging to people’s health and wellbeing and that this damage can be severe and lifelong”.
Notwithstanding all the evidence of the damage being done to people’s health by detaining them indefinitely offshore, our government spent $326,000 in legal costs last year, fighting requests for the urgent transfer of individuals from Nauru. In this financial year, the costs will be much higher, given the worsening plight of so many young people. More than 30 cases have been brought before the courts this year, all of which appear to have been upheld, resulting in up to fifty children being brought to Australia against the government’s wishes.
Meanwhile, on Manus island….
In the Saturday Paper at the weekend, there was a harrowing article written by Behrouz Boochani about the current conditions on Manus, two months after the fifth anniversary of the advent of indefinite detention. He paints a picture of men who are increasingly succumbing to effects of their sense of despair and hopelessness. A doctor who visited the island very recently had this to say to Behrouz Boochani: “Mental health is a significant, if not the largest, health concern here amongst previously well men aged 22-54…Problems range from major (reactive) depression, depression with psychotic features, significant and untreated PTSD and outright psychosis. The escalation in the rates of self-harm and suicide attempts over the past few months is reflective of not only the desperate need for a voice, but the total inadequacy of psychiatric care provided to the vulnerable…. It’s disgraceful”.
How do our political leaders sleep at night?
You can read Behrouz’s article on our Facebook page.
Check out the index of subjects on our blog http://bellorar.blogspot.com.au
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Email address bellingen.rar@gmail.com
The National RAR web site is at www.ruralaustraliansforrefugees.org.au
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