National RAR update. November 2022
8th November 2022
Hello to all RAR Members and Supporters – welcome to the latest RAR update.
Permanent visas for all refugees: 29 November Canberra Convergence
The Canberra Convergence on 29 November (start of the final parliamentary sitting for the year) at 11am will support Permanent visas for all refugees: Let’s make sure no one is left behind.
This is an important opportunity for RAR members to rally with others
from across the refugee rights movement for this aim, at a moment when
refugees and people seeking asylum want to press the new government to
move more quickly and further towards meeting their needs.
RAR
National Committee has endorsed the Convergence. We urge members to
look at how they can take part, especially those which are nearer to
Canberra, but also those who might have people who might want to go to
the Canberra region at that time. (We are also raising how longer lead
times will allow us to increase our participation further.)
Canberra
RAC instigated the Convergence, bringing together in an organising
group a range of community groups of refugee and people seeking asylum
(people with lived experience) and refugee rights action groups,
including RAR. Here is the Convergence statement from the organising
group:
“Labor
was elected committed to granting permanent visas for all those
refugees currently on TPVs and SHEVs. A number of other policy positions
in its policy platform suggest Labor might adopt a rights-based
approach to refugees and people seeking asylum. The granting of
permanent visas to the Nadesalingam family and their return to Biloela
gave great hope that the new Labor Government would act quickly on their
commitments to refugees and people seeking asylum. However, five
months after the election, more than 19,000 refugees on Temporary
Protection Visas and Safe Haven Enterprise Visas, and thousands more on
bridging or expired visas, are deeply disappointed that the election
commitment has not been honoured.”
PLAN TO BE THERE – we hope that representatives from your group will support refugee communities at the Canberra Convergence on 29 November. Further
details to be provided shortly, including what will happen on the day,
travel support from major cities, etc. A Facebook event will be created
shortly to provide more details as planning progresses.
Please email mail@refugeeaction.org if you have any queries, and/or if your group will also endorse the Convergence. This will mean your group will be listed as a supporting group on social media and in media releases. Thanks to RAC Canberra for assisting with co-ordination and logistical support. You can find more details about the event here:
https://www.facebook.com/events/1517811141978265?ref=newsfeed
RAR Conference: opening session report
The RAR Conference Report is almost done. It will be loaded onto the website by the end of the month.
In the meantime, here is some detail about the opening session:
Panel session:
Tamara Domicelj (Jesuit Refugee Service Country Director) led a
conversation with Craig Foster, Angela Fredericks, Muzafar Ali and Julie
Macken.
Tamara opened the conversation with her reflection on how we need to move forward and make changes as a nation. Craig
spoke strongly about the need for united messaging, for the sector to
work together cohesively. We need to bring in more people, people who
have the opportunity to speak to the broader Australian community. We
have a political campaign here, we need to be highly organised and on
message, for the next 2 – 5 -10 years. Anti-racism and justice for
First Nations peoples is integrally linked to our campaign for refugee
rights and justice.
Muzafar
spoke about the dire situation of refugees in Indonesia and how we need
to be taking action to bring these to safety in Australia.
Angela
opened by paying tribute to Nades and Priya for telling their story.
The #HomeToBilo campaign focussed on shared values – fairness, a
hard-working family – that others could relate to, to build
connections. We need to lead with kindness, to convert the
‘convertibles’. We also need to have compassion for one another, and
for ourselves.
Julie
explained how hope ‘went out the door’ for her years ago, when, as a
journalist, she saw Australians turning their backs on horrific story
after horrific story about how we treat people seeking asylum. Instead,
we need to talk about endurance and capacity for love. Her PhD research
has led her to believe that until we accept the reality of our
colonisation of this country, the violence, the taking away of children
and land, we are condemned to treat vulnerable people the way we treat
refugees. She concluded by saying “we keep on going, showing
endurance. We think it is for others, but we are doing it for
ourselves, as it is a means to retain our own humanity.”
Julie is part of a group calling for a Royal Commission into Immigration Detention.
RAR supporters helping to save Afghan lives
RAR
supporters around Australia, with the guidance of our Afghan
subcommittee, continue to do amazing things in helping vulnerable people
flee Afghanistan.
This is the story of Naqui Gulzari, who, thanks to the support of RAR members in Albury, is now safely in Paris with his family.
Naqui
Gulzari was a high-profile judge in Kabul. Just before the Taliban took
over Kabul, Naqui sentenced a Taliban man to 20 years imprisonment for
raping an 11-year-old girl. The accused, as he was led out of court,
vowed to kill Naqui, and he was released soon afterwards, placing Naqui
and his family in danger. Fortunately, RAR members assisted the family
to escape to Islamabad. Just a week later, they were granted a
humanitarian visa by the French government, and they are now all safe
and well in Paris.
Naqui
has sent a lengthy and heartwarming message to his RAR friends, in
which he expresses gratitude for their help in securing his freedom, and
for all the other good work that RAR members are contributing to in
poor Afghan communities. He concludes with these comments: “I am one of
the strong and stubborn friends of RAR. I am grateful to this
compassionate organization. I wish I could participate in humanitarian
and human rights activities as one of the honorary members of this
organization. Anyway, I wish RAR more and more success.”
Work+Stay program appeal
The Work+Stay program (www.workandstay.com.au )
is a social enterprise set up by Settlement Services International. It
is a recruitment service focused specifically on regional jobs. As
part of their service, they offer 'settling -in support' for new
arrivals. This consists of 4 weeks of face-to-face and telephone
contact, to make sure the new arrival knows about the area they have
moved to. Key functions:
- Community Welcome and Community orientation
- Monitoring Newcomer wellbeing + integration and reporting back to the Settlement Team.
- Being a touch point in the event of an Emergency in those first 4 weeks
Work+Stay
will pay a small fee for this service. They are keen to see if RAR
group members would be interested in doing this work. The new
arrivals are not necessarily refugees or migrants, so groups could do
this as a fund-raising activity. Please contact Merenia Marin at mmarin@ssi.org.au if you are interested and would like to find out more.
Merenia
will send Louise a fortnightly list of currently active jobs and she
will circulate these to interested groups. Please let Louise know if
you're interested, through rar.australia@gmail.com .
Federal budget, October 2022
Several
refugee organisations, including the Refugee Council of Australia and
the ASRC, have responded to the federal government’s recent budget in
relation to its impact on refugees and asylum seekers. The ASRC’s media
release describes the budget as one of “failed expectations,”
Kon
Karaparagiotidis, ASRC CEO, said: “this budget is a tale of two
Australias. One where there is hope of recovery and a better future with
billions rightly being spent to help people in need. And another where
more than half a billion is being spent to harm people who turned to us
for help, safety and protection. It’s time to right the wrongs of the
past decade, not continue the status quo of unfairness by denying
refugees and people seeking asylum access to mainstream social support
and a safety net.”
You can read the ASRC’s full response at: https://asrc.org.au/2022/10/26/asrc-budget-response/ It’s well worth a read.
Watandar, My Countryman
Following the success of the film The Staging Post, which
many RAR groups were able to show to audiences around Australia, Jolyon
Hoff and Muzafar Ali have been working on a new documentary which
traces Afghan roots in Australia through the cameleers in Central
Australia. The result is Watandar My Countryman, which will be released in February/March 2023. Like The Staging Post,
this new film is sure to be a powerful tool to help connect Australians
and refugees, and promote a positive multicultural Australia.
We
would encourage all supporters to consider organising a showing of the
film when it is released next year. Further details will be provided
nearer the time.
You can watch a trailer of the film here: https://vimeo.com/729465556 . It’s fine to share this trailer in newsletters, but please do not post to social media.
RAR Afghan subcommittee
The
subcommittee’s October Meeting thanked all the RAR members who have so
generously supported our request for financial support for the Afghan
families who have had to move to Pakistan and Iran because they were in
extreme danger in Afghanistan.
it is time to start telling the government that we want positive change.
The subcommittee also sent the following motion to the RAR National Committee:
That
Rural Australians for Refugees formally express extreme disappointment
in the failure of the Labor Federal Government to show compassionate
leadership in Australia’s treatment of asylum seekers and refugees, as
evidenced by:
1.
An increase of $150 million in the $632 million funding allocated in
the 2022-23 Budget to maintain Australia’s cruel off-shore detention
regime - that is, $6,000,000 per detainee.
2.
No additional places announced for the Refugee and Humanitarian
Program, despite Labor’s commitment to increasing the program.
3.
No public announcement of any timeline to action the Albanese
Government’s 2022 election promise to end Temporary Protection Visas
(TPVs) and Safe Have Enterprise Visas (SHEVs) by providing permanent
resettlement to those who sought asylum including those who arrived by
sea before January 2014 and children born to these families.
National Committee endorsed the motion and supports these Subcommittee asks:
- Members to write, stating the points listed above, to (see https://www.aph.gov.au/Senators_and_Members/Guidelines_for_Contacting_Senators_and_Members for the addresses):
- the Prime Minister Anthony Albanese
- the Minister for Home Affairs, the Hon Clare O Neil, and
- the Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs, the Hon Andrew Giles, and
- your local member.
- Invite your local member to a meeting and raise these issues with them. Please let us know if you get a response.
Positive stories about people with lived experience
We
need your help to build a collection of new stories to show the
economic, social and cultural contributions of refugees in rural and
regional communities. We know you have a wealth of positive stories from your community!
Please send stories or suggestions for stories to Marie Sellstrom or Bern Fraser at
rar.australia@gmail.com. This will help RAR reframe the narrative about refugees in the Media, and support RAR advocacy with politicians and Councils.
Letter-writing suggestions
The
most recent letter-writing kit from the ARAN letter-writing group is on
work rights for people seeking asylum. The kit is available at: https://aran.net.au/resources/letter-writing/.
Another
letter-writing campaign is currently being mounted by the Cairns RAR
group, calling for support for the Wilkie’s Ending Indefinite and
Arbitrary Immigration Detention Bill 2022 bill. You can obtain a copy of
the draft letter by contacting Cairns for Refugees at: cairnsforrefugees@gmail.com.
. Great Lakes Rural Australians for Refugees
HUMAN RIGHTS DAY EVENT,
Saturday, December 3 at 2 pm
How can we resolve our critical need for skilled workers whilst maintaining human rights?
An opportunity to discuss this challenging question at 2 pm on Saturday, December 3, 2022. A free event to be held in the Catholic Parish Hall, Lake Street Forster, NSW 2428.
GLRAR
will celebrate International Human Rights Day by hosting a panel headed
by Arif Hussein, eminent Australian and Senior Solicitor, Sydney; Jamil Amad, Manager of the Social Work Department, Manning Referral Hospital; and Ed Trotter, Community Support, Taree.
Arif
Hussein spent 5 years working with refugees and asylum seekers both in
Australia and on Manus Island. Jamil Amad is an experienced Social
Worker who supports newly settled migrants who work in the Manning
Valley, especially at the Wingham Meatworks. Ed Trotter spent time in
Nauru working for the Salvation Army and supporting new residents in the
area.
The
Panel will share insights and stories, and answer questions about how
the Great Lakes and Manning area is advantaged by skilled workers who
are given work visas which provide them with a new start in Australia.
Everyone is welcome and afternoon tea will be provided following the
Panel and Q&A.
The 2022 theme of “All Human All Equal” Human Rights Day focuses on the
significance of human rights. It remembers the 1948 United Nations
General Assembly proclamation of the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights.
