Newsletter for 7 May 2019 Rural Australians for Refugees Bellingen and Nambucca Districts

_{Roadside demonstration report}

_{Meet the Candidates Forum: Tuesday 7}^th _{May from 5.00 pm to 7.00 pm}

_{Rally for refugees and asylum seekers: Saturday 11}^th _September

_{Our open letter to Minister Dutton}

_{Letters to the local press}

_{Did you see our advert in the Coffs Coast Advocate?}

_{An important date for your diary: Sunday 26}^th _{May, 11.30 am}

_{Roadside demonstration report}

_{A great turn out for our demonstration on Friday in Coffs Harbour, with twelve supporters waving banners and placards, attracting lots of positive support from passing motorists. A big thank you to all who participated.}

_{Meet the Candidates Forum: Tuesday 7}^th _{May from 5.00 pm to 7.00 pm}

_{A reminder that the Meet the Candidates Forum takes place this evening in the Memorial Hall on Hyde Street in Bellingen. We will have the opportunity to raise questions about the candidates’ and parties’ policies on asylum policy. Please come along to join in the discussion and to help us get our message across about the current bipartisan approach to the despicable policy of indefinite offshore detention, and the very poor treatment of asylum seekers in Australia as they wait for years to have their claims for protection finalised. This is our one and only opportunity to engage with the candidates before the election on 18}^th _{May. Let’s make our voices heard!} 

_{Rally for refugees and asylum seekers: Saturday 11}^th _September

_{We are planning our final activity in advance of the federal election, and we hope that many of you will join us for at least some of the time.}

_{Where? The Jetty Foreshores in Coffs Harbour, adjacent to the jetty.}

_{When? Saturday 11}^th _{May, from 11.00 am until 12.30 pm}

_{Why? To engage with passersby and to send a clear message to the candidates in the federal election that it is time to end offshore detention without delay. The 930 adults who remain indefinitely on Manus and Nauru, and who have been languishing there for more than five years, have surely suffered enough. People have died, many have self-harmed, and most of them are suffering from significant mental health issues. All of this as a result of our government’s cruel policy of indefinite detention, deliberately designed to drive people to despair and to break their spirits. It is surely time to show some compassion, and to demonstrate that everyday Australians are better than this.}

_{We have lots of banners and placards to share, but you may of course want to bring your own. Please encourage your family and friends to join us. Let’s make this a big show of solidarity with Australia’s refugees and asylum seekers.} 

_{Please make a big effort to join us if you can.}

_{Our open letter to Minister Dutton}

_{In recent days we finally sent off our open letter to Minister Dutton, calling for an end to offshore detention and appealing to him to finally show some compassion towards refugees. Some 775 people signed the letter at our market stalls and at events run by a number of other RAR groups. You can find the accompanying letter to Minister Dutton on our blog, the details of which you will find at the bottom of the newsletter. Maybe we won’t have to correspond with him for too much longer!}

_{Letters to the local press}

_{A number of our supporters write regularly to the local press to encourage people to consider the plight of refugees and asylum seekers, and it’s really encouraging to see that their letters are regularly published in the Coffs Harbour, Nambucca Heads and Bellingen papers. Our practice is to publish the letters on our blog, but a letter from one of our supporters, which will hopefully appear in the press in the days ahead, deserves to be read by you all in the newsletter. You will not fail to be moved by it.}

_{“I am part of a group who advocates for refugees in the Bellingen, Coffs and Nambucca area. You may have seen us standing by the side of the road with our signs supporting refugees.}

 _{Occasionally passersby call out “Send them Home.”  So, I have decided to tell you about a certain family of four who are my friends in Sydney who can’t go home to their Middle Eastern country which they left in a hurry in fear of their lives.} 

 _{They were in the last boatload of asylum seekers to land on Christmas Island before the government decided to send all boat people to offshore detention.  After six turbulent years of learning a new language, dealing with the trauma of their lives, missing their extended family members left behind and looking for jobs, they are living in Sydney.}

 _{They receive no money from the Government. The sons are settled at school, the father, a former school principal, is working and studying as a tradesman and the mother, a B.Sc. graduate, is working in Aged Care and continuing her studies.}

 _{They love Australia, they love their work and each month they donate money from their minimal wages to St Vinnies because, as the mother explained to me:}

 _{“When we were dependent on money from the Government, we made a pact with each other that when we had jobs we would give back to Australia.”}

 _{It is people like these, who are still waiting for a permanent visa, that some politicians and passersby want to “send home.” I want people like these to be my neighbours.}

 _{Vote for compassion.”}

 _{Margaret Henley}

_{Did you see our advert in the Coffs Coast Advocate?}

_{On Saturday 4}^th _{May our half-page advert appeared in the Coffs Coast Advocate. We do hope that you saw it and had the time to read it. If not, you can access it on our blog by clicking on the link at the end of this newsletter. The advert sets out clearly our position and our concerns about government policy, and appeals to voters to consider the terrible plight of asylum seekers on Nauru and Manus when casting their votes in the federal election.}

_{The advert cost just under $975, and we are deeply grateful for the magnificent response from our supporters. But we are not quite there yet. If you could consider making a donation, no matter how small towards the cost of the advert, that would be greatly appreciated.}

_{Our BCU bank details for making a payment online are:}

_{Account name: Bellingen and Nambucca RAR}

_{BSB: 533000}

_{Account number: 238205}

_{If you are transferring funds from a BCU account, then the account number is 238205S44}

_{Please mark your donation as “advert”}

_{An important date for your diary: Sunday 26}^th _{May, 11.30 am}

_{Whatever the outcome of the federal election, we know, sadly, that our work will not be over. The Labor Party, in its election material, makes clear that it is just as committed to maintaining offshore detention, and to refusing to allow the detainees on Manus and Nauru to resettle in Australia, as the Coalition. It has, though, pledged to take up the New Zealand government’s offer to resettle 150 refugees from Nauru and Manus, which we welcome.} 

_{Once the election is over, our group needs to meet to consider the outcome, to review our strategy and to decide our priorities for the year ahead. To that end, we would like to hold a meeting, to which everyone is invited, on Sunday 26}^th _{May, starting at 11.30 am and followed by a social lunch from 12.30 pm.}

_{Venue: 39, Rogers Drive, Valla Beach.}

_{This will be an important meeting, and we hope that many of you will come along to help us shape our actions and priorities for the year ahead. The lunch will be a great opportunity to relax with friends, to meet new people and to share our commitment to the human rights of asylum seekers and refugees}

_{Please put the date in your diary. Further details in next week’s newsletter.}

_{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 >620 recipients}

_{Our Face book is at https://www.facebook.com/Rural-Australians-for-Refugees-Bellingen-and-Nambucca-Districts-269696303205083/timeline/}

_{(579 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}