Newsletter for 26 February 2019 Rural Australians for Refugees Bellingen and Nambucca Districts

_{Roadside demonstration report}

_{Not the Coffs Harbour market report}

_{Donation to Asylum Seekers Centre}

_{Craig Foster speaks out on Australia’s asylum policy}

_{From Manus and Nauru to Christmas Island} 

_{Roadside demonstration report}

_{Showers had been forecast for our roadside demonstration last week, but instead we enjoyed a warm, sunny afternoon in Coffs Harbour. We were not very numerous, but made up for that with our enthusiasm, and we were greatly encouraged by the positive and at times noisy response from passing motorists.}

_{Our next roadside demonstration will be in Bellingen, on Waterfall Way adjacent to the Yellow Shed on Thursday 7}^th _{March from 2.30 to 4.00 pm. Please join us if you can to help us keep the issue of offshore detention in the public eye.}

_{Not the Coffs Harbour market report}

_{The weather was a different story on Sunday! Mike arrived at the market with all our gear at 6.30 am, only to learn that the organisers had decided to call off the event due to the wet and windy conditions. These things happen from time to time, but fortunately, not too often.}

_{Our next market stall will be at the Bellingen market on Saturday 16}^th _{March from 9.00 am until 1.30 pm. If you can lend a hand for an hour or two, then please let Mike know by emailing him at: mandm.griffin2@bigpond.com.}

_{Donation to Asylum Seekers Centre}

_{Last week we made a $500 donation to the Asylum Seekers Centre, following our recent fundraiser. A great start to our 2019 fundraising efforts. Watch out for our next event, which will be revealed in next week’s newsletter.}

_{Craig Foster speaks out on Australia’s asylum policy}

_{The whole nation was jubilant recently when Melbourne-based refugee and soccer player Hakeem al-Araibi was finally freed from a Thai jail and was able to return to Melbourne. The central role played by ex-Socceroo Craig Foster in securing Hakeem’s release has been widely praised. Last week, Craig Foster wrote a powerful open letter to Scott Morrison and Bill Shorten, which was published in the Sydney Morning Herald. In the letter, he highlights the difficulties that he encountered in the international arena when pleading for countries to uphold their international human rights obligations. He states: “One of the reasons it was so difficult to garner international support was because of our treatment of refugees. This was a constant theme throughout discussions with international stakeholders.” He goes on to remind us that it cannot be right for a country that was deeply involved in the creation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to be prepared to put people seeking asylum at risk of physical and psychological harm in order to deter others. Like so many public figures, organisations, RAR groups, doctors, lawyers and members of the public, he spells out that: “The policy of indefinite, offshore detention does not uphold our international obligations and we need to be strong enough to admit this and to find a fair and humane solution to this crisis of our conscience”.}

_{It is surely high time for our political leaders to finally grasp the nettle and to acknowledge that the current policy of indefinite detention, supported by both sides of politics, is a deep and shameful stain on our nation’s reputation and conscience. It has caused irreparable harm to so many people, a thousand of whom still languish on Manus and Nauru.} 

_{From Manus and Nauru to Christmas Island} 

_{Just a week ago, there was general incomprehension about the government’s decision to re-open the Christmas Island detention centre, just a few months after its closure. It now seems that the purpose of the move is to continue to make it more difficult for sick refugees to be transferred to mainland Australia. The plan, it now transpires, is to transfer people from tiny islands in the Pacific Ocean to a tiny island in the Indian Ocean, at great expense.}

_{Why should we be concerned about this latest move?}

_{The hospital on Christmas Island is ill-equipped to deal with the complex physical and mental health needs of the refugees. It has only six beds! Residents on Christmas Island have to be transferred to Australia for more complex medical treatment. As Doctors For Refugees president Barri Phatarfod commented: “Transferring them to Christmas Island is like evacuating a critical patient from Bourke and flying him to Kalgoorie.”}

_{The plan is to place the refugees in detention on arrival on Christmas Island. But it is their indefinite detention and their loss of hope, that has created their medical problems in the first place. How can this plan help them in the longer term?}

_{The plan will inevitably create further delays for appropriate intervention. Patients will have to be assessed on Christmas Island, and then in time, if it is deemed necessary, they will be transferred to mainland Australia.}

_{The plan adds yet more unnecessary costs for the Australian taxpayer to bear. Medivac flights from the Indian Ocean Territories this financial year have cost the taxpayer between $50,000 and $103,000 each.}

_{It seems clear that, in spite of the Bill which was passed in the parliament just days ago, the government continues to do its utmost to maintain control of the process, rather than ceding responsibility to the treating doctors. The Labor party had earlier supported the Bill enabling the medical evacuation to Australia, with Bill Shorten correctly stating that: “I believe that the vast majority of Australians understand you can have a strong border and still treat people humanely within our care,” Later in the week, however, he said that: “If the medical treatment is required and it’s delivered on Christmas Island and it makes people well, well that’s fine.”} 

_{Please consider contacting Bill Shorten (6277 7560 or email: Bill.Shorten.MP@aph.gov.au) and Shayne Neumann ( 6277 8533 or email: Shayne.Neumann@aph.gov.au), urging them to stand firm and to remind them that the intention of the legislation is to facilitate the expeditious transfer of sick people to Australia. Tell them that transfers to Christmas Island should not be supported, and that the detention centre should not be re-opened.} 

_{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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_{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}