Campaigning for refugees in our small towns.

Our street stall in Bellingen yesterday. We had a really successful event. 

Lots of interesting conversations, 150 signatures on our letter to Morrison, $120 from sales of M’s gift cards, and $150 in donations. Well worth the effort!

Letter to Senator Keneally re Afghan Refugee Crisis

Sent: Monday, November 1, 2021
To: 'Keneally, Kristina (Senator)' <Senator.Keneally@aph.gov.au>
Subject: RE: Afghan refugees

 

For the attention of Nav, Office of Senator Keneally.

 

Thank you for your response to my recent email. I am encouraged by the first paragraph in your response. Family reunion is an important priority in UNHCR’s work, and it is a matter of record that the Coalition government has deliberately given a low priority to this group of refugees. I hope that the Labor opposition will exert maximum pressure on the government to prioritise  family reunion for Afghan refugees living in Australia.

Your assertion that the  Afghan refugee crisis can be resolved through the existing humanitarian programme is  deeply dispiriting. The Coalition government has already reduced the number of places by 5,000 in recent times. The fact that there are currently some 5,000 unused places in the programme is entirely a result of the COVID pandemic, which has prevented refugees who had already been approved by UNHCR for resettlement in Australia, and who had been accepted by our government, from travelling here. You must be well aware of this.  What the government has proposed, and what the Labor opposition is clearly supporting, is that these people, who were expecting to be resettled in Australia, will now be knocked back in order to accommodate refugees from Afghanistan.

I asked the question, in an earlier email: “Does the Labor party support a one-off allocation of 20,000 humanitarian visas for Afghan refugees?”

The answer, quite clearly, is a resounding: “ No!”

That’s very depressing.

M.G.