Newsletter for 4 December 2018 Rural Australians for Refugees Bellingen and Nambucca Districts

_{Roadside demonstration report}

_{Valla Beach market report}

_{Nauru and Manus: numbers update}

_{Making that call: Tips from a RAR member}

_{Nauru testimonies from Médecins Sans Frontières}

_{Roadside demonstration report}

_{We had a good turnout for our demo at the Big Banana last Thursday and, as usual, we received overwhelming support from passing motorists. Our calculation was that for every negative response, we had at least twenty people waving, giving us the thumbs up, or honking their horns. Candidates in the upcoming Federal election might like to note that the tide has turned and that they need to catch up with the public mood. It’s time to end offshore detention.}

_{Our final roadside demonstration of 2018 is on Thursday 13}^th _{December by the Pacific Highway, opposite the Base hospital in Coffs Harbour, from 2.30 to 4.00 pm. Let’s make it a big one!}

_{Valla Beach market report}

_{Our final market of 2018 was a great success, with lots of visitors to our stall, all of them expressing their dismay about the disgraceful policies of the government in relation to refugees and asylum seekers. Many people find it astonishing that the main political parties can agree to inflict such cruelty on people who have sought refuge and safety in Australia. Nobody is buying the line that, in order to protect our borders and save lives at sea, we have to detain people on remote islands for five years and counting.}

_{Our first market of 2019 will be at the Bellingen Community Market on Saturday 19}^th _{January. Please put the date in your diary.}

_{Nauru and Manus: numbers update}

_{Nauru: As at 21}^st _{October 2018, there were 652 refugees and asylum seekers on Nauru. There were 541 refugees, 88 asylum seekers who have STILL not had their asylum claims processed, and 23 failed asylum seekers. Some 163 people are accommodated in the regional processing centre, with the remainder dispersed on this tiny island, which is smaller than Melbourne airport. There are still 12 children detained on Nauru. As at 21}^st _{October 2018, 276 people had been transferred to the United States for permanent resettlement.}

_{Manus Island: As at 21}^st _{October 2018, there were 626 refugees and people seeking asylum on Manus Island. By the same date, 146 refugees had been resettled in the United States from Manus Island. These 626 men are accommodated in three separate transit camps on the outskirts of the Lorengau township.}

_{Summary: There are still 1,278 people, including 12 children, detained indefinitely on Nauru and Manus. More than two years after the Australian government struck a deal with the US to transfer up to 1,250 refugees from Nauru and Manus to the US, just 422 have been resettled there.}

_{Making that call: Tips from a RAR member}

_{Some people say that they feel a little reticent, even nervous, about phoning the office of one of our elected politicians. Here is what one RAR member had to say:}

_{“At 9 am today I called the PM’s office. I had to let the phone ring for ages, but finally someone answered and I was able to tell the receptionist that:}

_{I’m horrified that children are still in detention}

_{It is completely wrong to lock up children at all, let alone for five years}

_{I have called the PM regularly to protest, and will continue to do so until something is done about this}

_{I cannot understand why Mr Morrison has still not dealt with this appalling situation. Both he and Minister Dutton could easily end it this minute if they wanted to}

_{I live in a marginal constituency, and will be voting in the next election}

_{Then I asked the receptionist if my call made any difference – she explained that all comments are noted and passed on to staffers who compile daily reports, so the PM will be made aware of what people are thinking.}

_{The more calls they receive, the more they will know how we feel. So, if we all call today, the message will continue to trickle through.}

_{Lock Morrison’s number into your phone, and keep calling. 02 6277 7700”}

_{Nauru testimonies from Médecins Sans Frontières}

_{“In 10 years of field experience with MSF in highly critical contexts around the world, Nauru was the project that affected me the most: the project where I saw the highest level of desperation among our patients.}

_{I could see the daily struggle of our mental health team trying to support the patients, to help them to not collapse, to give them some humanity. The main frustration of the team was seeing that most of our patients were not improving – the main reason being, they can start to recover only when they are resettled in a safe place, where the word “future” can have some meaning for them. In the case of asylum seekers and refugees on Nauru, the human being seems to be totally forgotten at the expense of border policies. Empathy does not exist anymore.” Virginie Thys, Field Coordinator for MSF on Nauru.}

_{“On my third visit to Nauru in September 2018, I witnessed a sharp decline in the mental health of the asylum seeker and refugee population. I saw increased severity of depression, increases in suicidality, and the emergence of a rare and extreme condition in children that I had never seen before, called traumatic withdrawal syndrome. This is where kids completely withdraw socially, and are unable to eat, drink or toilet themselves.}

_{In September, almost every patient I spoke with was acutely and intensely suicidal. This was not the case when I was there four months earlier. But in the past months, it seemed that all hope the patients had held, hope for a life where they could feel safe and happy, had been completely destroyed.”}

_{Dr Robyn Osrow, Mental Health activities manager for MSF on Nauru.}

_{We are committed to keeping up the fight to end this shameful chapter in our history. We will not give up until the last refugee is evacuated from Nauru and Manus, and until they are all resettled permanently in Australia, New Zealand or other safe countries where they can start to rebuild their shattered lives.}

_{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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_{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}