Australians are becoming more and more receptive to giving refugees a fair go. Certainly this rally outside the Big Banana in Coffs Harbour drew many positive responses from motorists.
 |
| Six years too long. |
27.11.19
Bello Nambucca RAR Newsletter 26th November 2019
Roadside demonstration: Thursday 28th November by the Big Banana
Our next market stall: Valla Beach, Saturday 7th December
B, B and B: directions to 39, Rogers Drive
Coin collection bonanza
Craig Foster speaks out for Medevac
Roadside demonstration: Thursday 28th November by the Big Banana
A reminder that our next roadside demonstration is on Thursday 28th November from 2.30 until 4.00 pm by the Big Banana in Coffs Harbour.
Please consider joining us if you can. These demonstrations make a
significant impact, and are a great way of promoting our message of
compassion and justice for refugees.
Our next market stall: Valla Beach, Saturday 7th December
A reminder that our final market stall of the year will be at the Valla Beach market on Saturday 7th December from 9.00 am until 1.00 pm. As
usual, we’ll be engaging with market-goers, handing out leaflets,
asking people to sign our open letter to the Prime Minister, and selling
merchandise to raise funds for the Asylum Seekers Centre. If you can
help out for an hour or two, then please let Mike know by emailing him
at: mandm.griffin2@bigpond.com.
B, B and B: directions to 39, Rogers Drive
A final call for our fundraiser and social on Sunday 1st
December, commencing at 11.30 am. The details of the event can be found
in any of the newsletters of the past four weeks, which are on our
blog.
Directions:
Turn
off Giinagay way onto Valla Beach Road. Proceed for 450 metres, and
take the turning on the left into Kuta Avenue, just before the water
tower. Proceed along Kuta Avenue for 450 metres, and Rogers Drive is the
third turning on the left. Proceed down the hill, and you will find
number 39 almost at the end of the road on your left. There is plenty of
parking on the driveway, and some off-street parking on both sides of
Rogers Drive.
Coin collection bonanza
A
few weeks ago, one of our supporters generously donated a coin
collection to us, in the hope that it might be of some value. Following
some research, and contacts with dealers in Sydney and elsewhere, we
catalogued those coins in the collection which we thought would have
some value. The work paid off, and a visit to a coin dealer in Lismore
resulted in a receipt for $1,809, which will be donated to the Asylum
Seekers Centre, together with the funds that we expect to raise at our
social on 1st
December. How good is that? Almost all the coins were silver Australian
florins, shillings and sixpences, with a high, and therefore valuable,
silver content. A huge thank you to our very generous donor, who wishes
to remain anonymous.
If
anyone is interested, we still have just over 100 silver coins from New
Zealand and Great Britain which we would like to dispose of. If you
have an interest in these coins, or know somebody who might want to
purchase them, then please let Mike know by emailing him at: mandm.griffin2@bigpond.com.
Craig Foster speaks out for Medevac
Former
Socceroos’ captain and sports broadcaster Craig Foster has spoken out
passionately about the need to retain the current Medevac legislation,
declaring that people in offshore detention are now “long past any
threshold of torment a human should suffer.” He has visited Port Moresby
recently and has seen at first hand the suffering of the asylum seekers
and refugees. He commented: “The physical and psychological torment
from almost seven years of detention is difficult for most of us to
truly understand. I implore anyone involved to uphold the basic right of
humans to access adequate care. In relation to the Medevac legislation,
he had this to say: “I invite all MPs to come with me to meet those
directly affected by our decisions- there are real people at the end of
each clause, flesh and blood resting on every vote.”
The Medevac repeal Bill is finally due to be considered by the Senate tomorrow, Wednesday 27th November. As
you will know from earlier newsletters, the vote of Senator Jacqui
Lambie is absolutely crucial. Her vote is likely to determine whether
the legislation stays in place, or is repealed. Could you therefore
please make one final push to urge her NOT to support the government’s
attempts to repeal the legislation. Remind her that the law is working
well. It is about duty of care and providing support for people for whom
Australia has responsibility. It is saving lives.
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20.11.19
Bello Nambucca RAR Newsletter 19th November 2019
Not the roadside demonstration report
Bellingen market report
Have you signed up yet for B, B and B on Sunday 1st December?
Behrouz Boochani is finally free
Not the roadside demonstration report
Unfortunately,
due to the smoke haze in Coffs Harbour on Thursday, we had to cancel
our planned demonstration by the Big Banana. We did contact everyone who
we thought might be planning to attend, and do sincerely apologise if
anyone was inconvenienced.
Our next demonstration will be at the same location – by the Pacific Highway beneath the Big Banana - on Thursday 28th November from 2.30 until 4.00 pm. We do hope that you will consider coming to join us if you can.
Bellingen market report
We
had an excellent time at the Bellingen market on Saturday, with eleven
supporters turning up at different times to lend a hand. We were in a
really good spot, with lots of market-goers passing our stall, enabling
us to collect more than 200 signatures on our open letter, engage in
many fruitful conversations, and collect a number of generous donations
for the Asylum Seekers Centre in Newtown. A big thank you to our team of
supporters and to Kaz and the market crew for allocating us a site at
such a busy junction.
Our next stall will be at the Valla Beach market on Saturday 7th December from 9.00 am until 1.00 pm. If you can help out for an hour or two, then please let Mike know by emailing him at: mandm.griffin2@bigpond.com.
Have you signed up yet for B, B and B on Sunday 1st December?
Our
final fundraiser of the year is now less than two weeks away, and we
would be so pleased if you would indicate soon that you are planning to
attend. You can revisit the full details in the newsletters for the past
three weeks, which you can access by clicking on the link to our blog
at the end of this newsletter. Briefly, for the benefit of our new
supporters who signed up at the Bellingen market, the plan is to gather
at 39, Rogers Drive, Valla Beach at 11.30 am on 1st
December. We’ll have a gentle walk through the Jagun nature reserve and
along the beach, before returning to the house for lunch at about 12.30
pm. Drinks will be provided, and you are asked to bring a plate to
share if you can, and to donate $20 towards our $10,000 target for the
Asylum Seekers Centre. Please let Mike know soon if you are planning to
attend, which we hope you will. Email: mandm.griffin2@bigpond.com. If you don’t feel like the Bush and Beach parts, just arrive at 12.30 pm or earlier for lunch.
Directions will be provided in next week’s newsletter.
Behrouz Boochani is finally free
So
many people at the Bellingen market were overjoyed to learn that
Behrouz Boochani had arrived in New Zealand from PNG on Thursday, after
spending more than six years in offshore detention. Many of you will
have read his award-winning book: “No Friend but the Mountains”, in
which he depicts his experiences of his flight from Iran and his life in
detention. He was able to obtain travel documents to leave PNG to give a
presentation to the Christchurch writers’ festival later this month,
and was warmly welcomed with a civic reception in Christchurch. He has a
temporary one-month visa, but, unsurprisingly, he has vowed never to
return to PNG. A New Zealand government MP Golriz Ghahraman, who, like
Behrouz Boochani is a Kurdish refugee from Iran, had this to say: “I’m
just so proud that New Zealand gets to stand as the counterpoint to the
kind of politics that has led to Australia’s prison camps being in
operation for so long. We’ve got a man like this, a human being, trapped
for six years, and we get to be the country that stands for inclusion
and for human rights and for freedom.” Asked if she had a message for
the Australian government, Ghahraman said: “Close the camps…they amount
to torture. It’s time the Australian government acts like a good
international citizen.”
The
contrast between the actions of the New Zealand government and the
cruel and punitive policy of the Australian government could not be
starker.
Labor
senator Kristina Keneally, the party’s immigration spokesperson, issued
a statement welcoming Behrouz Boochani’s freedom, but he was, rightly,
having none of it, describing her statement as “shameful,” and reminding
her that it was a Labor government that had exiled him and many others
to Manus, and that her party has supported the Coalition’s offshore
detention policy ever since. He told her: “If you are honest, do
something for others who are suffering in PNG and Nauru. In my view,
anyone who supports the policy is a criminal and a terrorist.”
Let
us hope that Behrouz will finally be able to rebuild his life in New
Zealand or the USA, where he has been accepted for resettlement. He has
so much to offer, as undoubtedly have so many other people who we have
left in limbo on Nauru and in PNG for purely political purposes.
It includes articles from many sources and letters to politicians and newspapers.
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16.11.19
Bello Nambucca RAR Newsletter 12th November 2019
Roadside demonstration: Thursday 14th November, by the Big Banana
Next market stall: Bellingen, 16th November, 9.00 am to 1.30 pm
Bush, Beach and Bash event: Sunday 1st December from 11.30 am
Bomana prison, Port Moresby. A living hell.
Why the Medevac legislation must stay
Roadside demonstration: Thursday 14th November, by the Big Banana
Our next roadside demonstration will be in Coffs Harbour on Thursday 14th November, from 2.30 to 4.00 pm.
You will find us in front of the Big Banana, next to the Pacific
Highway. Please join us if you can to support our campaign to end
offshore detention and to demand a compassionate response to the
refugees and asylum seekers on Nauru and in PNG whose lives have been on
hold for more than six years. Their suffering is unimaginable, and we
must continue to fight for their resettlement in Australia, New Zealand
or other safe countries willing to accept them.
Next market stall: Bellingen, 16th November, 9.00 am to 1.30 pm
Our next market stall will be at Bellingen Market on Saturday 16th
November from 9.00 am until 1.30 pm. We have been allocated Site C13,
which is next to the bridge leading to Section A, so we are guaranteed
lots of traffic. Access to Section C is via the Park Street entrance. As
usual, we’ll be handing out information leaflets, engaging with
market-goers, collecting signatures on our open letter to the PM, and
selling merchandise to raise much-needed funds for the Asylum Seekers
Centre. If you can lend a hand for an hour or two, then please let Mike
know by emailing him at: mandm.griffin2@bigpond.com. If you are planning to visit the market, then do please drop by to sign the open letter.
The forecast is for a warm and sunny day. Let’s hope that the smoke has cleared by then!
Bush, Beach and Bash event: Sunday 1st December from 11.30 am
 |
| Behrouz Boochani is free, in New Zealand. |
Don’t forget that our final fundraising and social event is planned for Sunday 1st
December at 39, Rogers Drive Valla Beach. (see newsletters from two
weeks ago and last week). The plan is to take a walk through the Jagun
Nature Reserve and along the beach before returning for lunch at around
12.30 pm. If you don’t wish to join the walk, then please simply arrive
for lunch at around 12.30 or earlier, armed with a plate to share.
Drinks will be provided. We are asking for a donation of $20 to help us
reach our target of $10,000 for the Asylum Seekers Centre. We do hope
that many of you will want to come along. To help us plan the occasion,
please let Mike know SOON that you intend to join us. Please email him
at: mandm.griffin2@bigpond.com.
Bomana prison, Port Moresby. A living hell.
Seven
representatives of the Catholic community in Australia visited PNG last
week to gain a better understanding of conditions for asylum seekers
and refugees in PNG. One of the delegates described the situation at the
Bomana prison as highly alarming. Carolina Gottardo, Co-convenor of the
Catholic Alliance for People Seeking Asylum (CAPSA), stated: “We were
told that many men indefinitely detained in Bomana were experiencing
conditions equivalent to torture – including not getting basic food and
losing weight, being unable to contact family members and having no
access to medication, legal advice or visitors. These men need to be out
of Bomana as a matter of urgency. They should be allowed to resume
their lives, have access to safety, to appropriate healthcare and to
complementary pathways.”
Fr
Giorgio Licini, the Secretary of the Catholic Bishops Conference in
PNG, is more blunt when describing the situation for asylum seekers and
refugees in PNG: “Telling these exhausted people to start a life in PNG,
forcing them to start a life in PNG, well, you will kill them. They
will come out, they will roam around- no jobs, no food, no security-
thugs will attack them. They will be in a very, very dramatic situation.
If Australia intends to kill that way 200 people, well, you will take
an historic responsibility.”
Meanwhile,
in a Senate Estimates hearing, the head of Operations Sovereign
Borders, Craig Furini, tells us that he is unfamiliar with the
conditions inside Bomana prison, (“We have no visibility of what goes on
inside”), but under questioning from Senator Nick McKim, admits that he
has not taken any steps to familiarise himself with the conditions,
notwithstanding the fact that the Australian government has spent $22
million building the place, and funds the entire operation. When
questioned further about whether any Operations Sovereign Border staff
of the Australian Federal Police were assisting with the operation of
the Bomana prison, Furini opted to take the question on notice. Visitors
to Bomana prison last week noted burly guards with Australian accents
and SERCO uniforms!
Why the Medevac legislation must stay
Senators
returned to Canberra this week, but the government’s repeal bill
relating to the medevac legislation does not appear on the week’s agenda
papers, which would indicate that the Senate leader, Matthias Cormann,
has not yet succeeded in persuading Senator Jacqui Lambie to get behind
the government’s obsession with repealing the legislation. Her vote is
crucial to the future of this legislation, which by all accounts is
working well, is doing exactly what it was planned to do, and has saved
lives.
Our
national RAR committee, together with other groups, organised vigils in
several national cities at the weekend to demand that the legislation
remains in place. The Chair of the Australian Churches Refugee
Taskforce, Rob Floyd, had this to say: “The government policy changes
and long-term detention of refugees and people seeking asylum has caused
the very critical and current medical and health needs that the Medevac
legislation is addressing. We welcome the fact that the medical
evacuation program is saving lives and reducing misery and we thank the
members of Parliament who continue to support this important
humanitarian initiative of the last Parliament. Refugees and people
seeking asylum have a human face. The Medevac transfer program has saved
lives.”
Please contact Senator Jacqui Lambie this week, and urge her NOT to support the government’s move to repeal the legislation.
It includes articles from many sources and letters to politicians and newspapers.
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8.11.19
News from RACS Rally and Appeal
|
|
|
2pm this Saturday 9 November, Sydney Town Hall
Speakers include:
George Newhouse (National Justice Project lawyer)
Dulce Munoz (Mums for Refugees)
David Shoebridge (NSW Greens MP)
Ali Satar (Justice for Refugees)
Invite your friends on Facebook www.facebook.com/events/
- Bring them here from PNG and Nauru
- Permanent not temporary visas
- Let Priya & Nades stay
The
Coalition government will attempt to repeal the Medevac Bill when
parliament resumes on 11 November. They need just one more vote in the
Senate. The Medevac process, passed in February against the opposition
of Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Peter Dutton, has allowed 130
refugees and asylum seekers so far to access urgently needed medical
care in Australia.
After six years of brutalisation and mental torture, those who have been on Manus and Nauru all face desperate medical problems. Join us to demand parliament keep the Medevac Bill, and that all the refugees and asylum seekers in PNG or Nauru are brought to Australia.
After six years of brutalisation and mental torture, those who have been on Manus and Nauru all face desperate medical problems. Join us to demand parliament keep the Medevac Bill, and that all the refugees and asylum seekers in PNG or Nauru are brought to Australia.
Help fund funeral costs for Manus refugee Mirwais
Afghan refugee Sayed Mirwais Rohani's mental health was broken by five years of detention on Manus Island.
Mirwais had a medical degree from a Chinese university which is recognised by Australia. He completed his degree in English and spoke six languages.
Mirwais jumped to his death from a Brisbane hotel on 15 October. Peter Dutton and the Australian government bear responsibility for his death. Despite legal representations, the Australian government has refused to help meet the costs of returning his body to Afghanistan for burial.
Donate to the crowdfunding appeal here
7.11.19
Bello Nambucca RAR Newsletter 5th November 2019
Roadside demonstration report
Next market stall: Saturday 16th November, Bellingen market
Bush, Beach and Bash: Sunday 1st December, from 11.30 am
Accommodation needed for asylum seeker family
Do you have an unwanted acoustic guitar?
Australians in Canada supporting our refugees
Roadside demonstration report
We
had a great turnout for last Thursday’s roadside demonstration in
Bellingen, and the response from passing motorists was overwhelmingly
positive and enthusiastic. We wondered how our elected representatives
would react if they were to observe such positive support for ending the
cruel policy of indefinite offshore detention!
Our next demonstration will be on Thursday 14th November in Coffs Harbour, next to the Big Banana, from 2.30 to 4.00 pm. Please join us if you can.
Next market stall: Saturday 16th November, Bellingen market
Our next market stall will be at the Bellingen Community Market on Saturday 16th
November from 9.00 am until 1.30 pm. We have been allocated site C13,
which is accessed via the Park Street entrance. We expect to have a busy
morning handing out information leaflets, asking people to sign our
open letter to the Prime Minister and selling merchandise to raise funds
for the Asylum Seekers Centre. Please drop by to sign the letter if you
are at the market. If you can help out for an hour or two at our stall,
then please let Mike know by emailing him at: mandm.griffin2@bigpond.com.
Bush, Beach and Bash: Sunday 1st December, from 11.30 am
Hopefully
you will have read about our next fundraiser in last week’s newsletter.
Our plan is for a social get-together and fundraiser to help us reach
our $10,000 2019 target for the Asylum Seekers Centre. Please arrive at
39, Rogers Drive, Valla Beach at 11.30 am, armed with a plate to share.
If you don’t feel up to the Bush and Beach elements, or if it rains,
then just turn up at 12.30 pm or earlier for lunch. We are asking for a
$20 donation. Drinks will be provided, and there will be a raffle. It
will be a great opportunity for a social get-together before things get
too busy as Christmas approaches. Please put the date in your diary, and
let Mike know if you are planning to come, as we hope you will. Please
email Mike at: mandm.griffin2@bigpond.com.
Accommodation needed for asylum seeker family
We
wrote some months ago about a family, comprising a mother and her three
young children, who were living in a one-bedroom cabin on the property
of one of our supporters. They are still there, and still desperately
looking for a unit in Coffs Harbour. A group of our supporters are
contributing to a fund to pay the rental on a property when one becomes
available, but so far, the family have had no luck in securing a rental
unit. If you, or anyone you know, has any contacts who may be able to
help in the search for a rental unit on the east side of the highway in
Coffs Harbour, then please contact Margaret on 0414 592 519. Their
current accommodation is just not suitable for a family of four.
Do you have an unwanted acoustic guitar?
The
eldest child of the asylum seeker family referred to above is learning
the guitar at his Bellingen primary school, and is showing a lot of
talent, but he needs to practice at home. If you have an unwanted
acoustic guitar at home that you are prepared to donate to Kelvin, that
would make him very happy. In the meantime, he is collecting recyclable
bottles to help him save up to purchase one, so he is clearly keen and
willing! Please contact Margaret on 0414 592 519 if you can help.
Australians in Canada supporting our refugees
A
group of Australians living in Canada have established a group named
Ads-Up (Australian Diaspora Steps Up), to help bring refugees from Manus
and Nauru to Canada under the country’s sponsorship scheme. They were
driven to action following the recent election in Australia which saw a
huge spike in acts of self-harm and attempted suicides. Last week the
first refugee sponsored by the group arrived at Toronto airport after
almost seven years on Manus, and a second man will arrive next week.
Meanwhile, another group, which we wrote about and raised some funds for
at our market stall in Coffs Harbour a couple of months ago, has now
raised approximately $330,000 in sponsorship funding and is about to
submit its first batch of 17 applications. It’s shameful that our
government is unwilling to take action to rescue these refugees from
their terrible situation in offshore detention, but it is inspiring to
learn about people with open hearts in other parts of the world who are
prepared to intervene and to offer refugees a new life. As the Iranian
refugee who arrived in Canada last week said on his arrival: “Before
this, I had no future.”
It includes articles from many sources and letters to politicians and newspapers.
This newsletter is sent to >670 recipients
Our Face book is at https://www.facebook.com/
(579 likes)
Twitter Account @RARBellingenNam
The National RAR web site is at www.
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