Showing posts with label Christmas Island reopening. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Christmas Island reopening. Show all posts
28.1.20
Letter: the Australian detention centre with four asylum seekers and a $26m price tag
 |
| The Guardian's Article |
Dear Editor,
Christmas
Island Detention Centre has been used to house refugees in prison like
conditions for many years. At the moment it is empty except for one
family of four. They are Sri Lankan refugees , a mother, father and two
small children .
The
family was happily settled in a Queensland town of Biloela but were
transported in a dawn raid in 2018 to a Melbourne Detention Centre and
following this in August of 2019 they were sent to Christmas Island.
The
detention centre on Christmas island had been closed but was re-opened
recently at a cost of $26 million to the Australian tax payer. At the
moment there are 109 staff members at the centre including 9 medical
workers and two officers of the Australian Border Force. All these
salaried staff members are funded by our Government and so indirectly by
ourselves to oversee the detention of this one family of four .
It
is not safe for this family to return to Sri Lanka . As Tamils they
would be likely to face torture, abductions or worse. It is clearly in
the best interests of the family to return to their home in Queensland.
The family were self supporting in their community with the father in
work in a job that was necessary to their struggling rural town. They
are the kind of people our country needs. They present no threat to our
security.
The
cruel and callous treatment of this family once again demonstrates the
lack of humanity and empathy at the heart of our governments asylum
policy.
It is time for some compassion in our treatment of asylum seekers and refugees.
We need to see a change in this shameful Government policy .
Bring this family home and save millions of dollars now being spent on their detention.
Marlene Griffin
See also The Guardian's
"The sole occupants of a million-dollar facility off the country’s
coast are two adults and two small children, who are paying the price
for its war on refugees"
18.12.19
Bello Nambucca RAR Newsletter 17th December 2019
Christmas Island
Roadside demonstration report
Our fundraising total for 2019
News from National RAR committee
Refugees in limbo
Our first market stall of 2020
Christmas Island
And finally…
Roadside demonstration report
Our
final roadside demonstration for 2019 took place last Thursday in Coffs
Harbour. As usual, the response from passing motorists was
overwhelmingly supportive, which should not surprise us, given that
survey after survey indicates that the majority of Australians want the
cruelty of offshore detention to end, and want the government to accept
the New Zealand offer to take refugees from Nauru and PNG. One of our
supporters asked the question: “I wonder if we will still be doing this
next December?” The only way we can achieve a “no” to that question is
to redouble our efforts in 2020 to bring this shameful chapter in our
history to an end. We hope therefore that more supporters will take part
in our campaigning next year.
Our first roadside demonstration of 2020 will take place on Waterfall Way in Bellingen on Thursday 16th January from 2.30 to 4.00 pm. You will find us opposite the entrance to the golf club, near to the Yellow Shed. Why not make a New Year’s resolution to join us?
Our fundraising total for 2019
At
the beginning of the year, we had a tentative target of $10,000 to
support the Asylum Seekers Centre in Sydney. As you will be aware, the
ASC supports hundreds of asylum seekers in Sydney as they wait,
seemingly indefinitely, to have their claims for protection to be
processed, whilst living very precariously in the community. The ASC
provides people with essential support, ranging from meals, English
lessons, legal advice, financial support, equipment for children
starting school, help in securing housing and employment, and much
besides. They are entirely dependent on donations to keep the service
going.
Throughout
the year, we have raised funds through a range of activities: musical
events, auctions, lunches, raffles, the sale of merchandise, and
individual donations. Every dollar that we have raised has been donated
to the ASC, apart from $160 sent to National RAR committee to cover our
insurance and to support their operation. This week, we have transferred
$3,000 to the ASC, making the total for the year an amazing $12,200.
That’s a great result, and we would like to thank everyone who has
supported our fundraising efforts in any way during 2019. The ASC’s
Jaclyn Dunn responded: “Thank you so much for your email! What fantastic
news. I am blown away by what Bellingen and Nambucca District RAR have
done this year. Surpassing your fundraising target by $2,200 is amazing.
These funds will help ASC provide vital services to many people. Many
thanks to you and everyone involved.”
Our
big challenge now is to come up with some new ideas to raise funds in
2020. If you have a bright idea to share, and you are prepared to roll
your sleeves up to make it happen, then please let Mike know by emailing
him at: mandm.griffin2@bigpond.com.
News from National RAR committee
The
RAR National Conference will take place in July 2020 in the Blue
Mountains, and the draft programme will be posted on the web site
shortly. There will be a strong focus on breakout sessions, together
with a number of keynote speakers. The last conference, held in Albury
in 2018, and attended by three members of our group, was hugely
successful and inspiring. Look out for the details of the 2020
conference on the National RAR web site.
Two
members of the National committee have had to step down for personal
reasons. This means there is an opportunity for two RAR members to step
up and join the National Committee for the rest of the year - up to the
July AGM. The committee meets via Zoom (on-line) twice a month on
Wednesday evenings (AEST) from 6.00 to 7.30 pm. Please contact Louise at
rar.australia@gmail.com if you would like to discuss this.
Refugees in limbo
A
world-first study tracking 1100 refugees over three years has found
that people who come to Australia seeking asylum are nearly two and a
half times more likely to think about killing themselves or to believe
that they would be “better off dead” than those with more secure visas.
People with insecure visa status are also two to four times more likely
than secure visa holders to have been tortured and imprisoned, and to
have witnessed friends, family and strangers being raped, assaulted and
killed. Those on insecure visas also faced more stress once they arrived
in Australia, which was exacerbated by their experiences in detention.
Nearly all were terrified of being sent home and most worried about
those they had left behind.
These
findings should surprise no one. Our government’s punitive asylum
policy is focused on making life as difficult and stressful as possible
for those seeking protection on our shores. That’s the key reason that
our current open letter to the Prime Minister, in which we argue for the
return of permanent protection visas, which the Abbott government
replaced with temporary visas in 2014. As we state in the letter, which
has so far attracted 500 signatures at our market stalls: “These
temporary visas, whether TPVs or SHEVs, leave refugees in a permanent
state of anxiety, when what they so urgently need is a sense of security
to enable them to rebuild their lives.”
Our first market stall of 2020
Please note that our first market stall of 2020 will be at the Bellingen market on Saturday 18th January from 9.00 am until 1.30 pm. We hope to see you there.
Christmas Island
The
politicians have isolated Priya, Nades and their QLD-born girls on
Christmas Island, 5,000km from their Biloela home. They are now facing
their second Christmas in detention.
Today,
please post a card with a message of hope and compassion to Priya &
Nades, c/- Phosphate Hill Immigration Detention Facility, Christmas
Island, 6798.
It
can take two months for ordinary mail to reach Christmas Island. To
help your card arrive in time, make sure you add a 50c Australia Post
Priority Label: bit.ly/prioritylabel
Thank
you to everyone who has offered to send gifts to Christmas Island.
Because of the limited capacity for mail on the twice weekly flights to
Christmas Island, a simple card is the best way to show your support
right now. Rest assured a ‘Christmas care package’ has already been sent
from Bilo.
And finally...
This
is our last newsletter for 2019. We will now take a break for a couple
of weeks. Our next newsletter will appear in your inbox on Tuesday 7th
January. A huge thank you to you all for your support and commitment
during the past year. Our work is not over, and we will need to return,
refreshed, in 2020 to keep up the fight for justice for refugees and
asylum seekers whose lives and wellbeing have been sacrificed on the
altar of political expediency for so many years.
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
23.10.19
Government spends $30 million to detain single family on Christmas Island
The extraordinary cost of housing a Tamil family from the central Queensland town of Biloela was outlined in Senate estimates hearings on Monday night, as officials defended the decision to fly the family on a chartered jet to the island.
The decision to detain the family came despite the fact there are 62,000 unlawful non-citizens living like them in the community."
Read the article
#bringthemhere #seekingasylumisnotillegal #sixyearstoolong
9.4.19
Newsletter for 9 April 2019 Rural Australians for Refugees Bellingen and Nambucca Districts
Valla Beach market report
Roadside demonstration: Thursday 18th April.
2.30 to 4.00 pm
Latest statistics from Senate estimates
Christmas Island detention centre: closed, re-opened,
closed again
Valla Beach market report
The Valla Beach markets were blessed with beautiful
weather and a new location along the “main drag”. The many volunteers engaged
with market goers in a friendly atmosphere with the extra frisson of the
upcoming Federal election.
Our next market will be at the Coffs Harbourside
market on Sunday 21st April
from 9.00 am until 1.30 pm. If you can help out for an
hour or two, then please let Mike know by emailing him at mandm.griffin2@bigpond.com.
Roadside demonstration: Thursday 18th April.
2.30 to 4.00 pm
Our next roadside demonstration will take place in
Coffs Harbour, by the Pacific Highway, opposite the Base hospital on Thursday
18th April. Please come and join us if you can, and
help us to maintain our campaign to end to our government’s cruel and inhumane
policy of offshore detention. More than 900 people remain on Manus and Nauru,
and many of them have been languishing there for up to six years. It is surely
time to bring them here!
Latest statistics from Senate estimates
At a Senate Estimates meeting last week, the following
statistics emerged:
- There are
915 refugees and asylum seekers remaining on Manus and Nauru
- Another
953 have been temporarily transferred to Australia for medical care or to
accompany a family member receiving medical treatment
- 508
refugees from Manus and Nauru have so far been resettled in the USA
- Offshore
detention is costing the taxpayer $1 billion a year
Christmas Island detention centre: closed, re-opened,
closed again
The Christmas Island detention centre was declared
re-opened by the Prime Minister in a highly publicised photo opportunity on the
island just weeks ago. This dramatic announcement came hard on the heels of the
passage of the “medevac” legislation, which gives doctors, rather than
bureaucrats, the prime responsibility for making decisions about the
appropriate medical treatment of refugees and asylum seekers on Manus and Nauru.
It appeared that the government’s plan was to circumvent the new legislation by
transferring sick people to Christmas Island in the first instance. The
government costed this move at $1.4 billion over four years – a staggering
amount of money to make a political point!
In last week’s budget, however, we learn that, having
so far committed $185 million for the re-opening of the detention centre,
including the recruitment of medical staff, guards and other personnel, the
government now plans to close the facility in July if it is re-elected next
month.
It is believed that, to date, of the 25 people transferred from Manus
and Nauru for medical treatment since the passing of the medevac legislation,
only one has been transferred to Christmas Island. All the other medical
evacuations have been to the mainland. It is difficult to make sense of this,
but it seems not unreasonable to conclude that this has been a very costly
exercise for no apparent or tangible humanitarian purpose.
Very serious concerns remain about the treatment and
care of families who have been transferred to Australia to allow a family
member to access medical treatment. Some are held in motels, or in hotels,
under guard and without access to the outside or to visitors. Dr Robert Burns,
a GP who has assessed a number of offshore-based refugees, had this to say
about the situation: “We are not going to heal these people if they are locked
away, if they don’t have some ability to self-determination. They are not a
threat to anyone, they are proven refugees. We are prolonging their agony at
the expense of taxpayers. We have to look at what we are achieving here.”
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
12.3.19
Newsletter for 12 March 2019 Rural Australians for Refugees Bellingen and Nambucca Districts
Roadside demonstration report
Bellingen Market: Saturday 16th March
Harmony festival. Coffs Harbour: Sunday 31st March
The Prime Minister visits Christmas Island.
Fundraising lunch on 31st March:
SOLD OUT!!
Roadside demonstration report
Sadly, we had to cancel last Thursday’s demonstration
due to the wet weather. However, in order to avoid disappointing our Bellingen
supporters, our next roadside demonstration will be in Bellingen, weather
permitting. We will be in our usual spot on Waterfall Way, adjacent to the
Yellow Shed, on Thursday 21st March
from 2.30 to 4.00 pm. Please join us if you can.
Bellingen Market: Saturday 16th March
Our next market stall will be at Bellingen market on
Saturday from 9.00 am until 1.30 pm. We will be talking to market-goers,
handing out leaflets and encouraging people to sign our open letter to Minister
Dutton. If you are able to help out for an hour or two, then please let Mike
know by emailing him at: mandm.griffin2@bigpond.com. The markets present a great
opportunity for supporters to get together for a chat and for us to get our
message across about the urgent need to end the cruel and completely
unnecessary policy of indefinite detention.
Harmony festival. Coffs Harbour: Sunday 31st March
The annual Harmony Festival will take place in the
Coffs Harbour Botanic Gardens on Sunday 31st March
from 9.00 am to 2.30 pm. The festival is a wonderful and colourful celebration
of multicultural Coffs Harbour. You will enjoy singing and dancing, beautiful
costumes, and enticing food from around the world. From past experience, it
will be a truly joyful experience not to be missed. Please put the date in your
diary so that you can look forward to enjoying the occasion.
The Prime Minister visits Christmas Island.
Last week, with great fanfare, the Prime Minister,
together with an entourage of reporters and people in uniform, toured the empty
Christmas Island detention centre – a visit which is reported to have cost
Australian taxpayers some $60,000. The government is planning to spend $1.4 billion
in the next four years to run this prison, and is currently recruiting medical
staff to deal with the transfer of sick people from Manus and Nauru.
By
transferring people to Christmas Island, the government expects to be able to
avoid the intervention of lawyers, who have been successful in defending the
rights of refugees to remain in Australia once brought here for treatment.
The terrible reality of this policy means that
refugees transferred to Christmas Island will either remain there indefinitely
or will be obliged to return to Manus or Nauru. But our PM outrageously asserts
that these people, who have the right to our protection, are “gaming the
system” and that if they remain imprisoned on Christmas Island indefinitely,
then that will be “their own choice.”
Jane Favero, of the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, had
this to say: “If people are still going to be on Christmas Island in four
years, that would be ten years of deprivation of liberty and freedom for people
who have asserted their right to seek asylum in Australia. It’s unfathomable to
think that this would happen, but I don’t underestimate what the current
government could do.”
Part of the enormous $300 million-plus a year budget
includes the cost of hiring 72 clinical staff, the purpose of which is to prevent
at all costs the transfer of sick people to mainland Australia.
A huge amount
of money to pursue a purely political objective.
Fundraising lunch on 31st March:
SOLD OUT!!
Amazingly, the
36 places available for the upcoming fundraiser at Margie and Georgie’s house
in Mylestom have all been snapped up! However, we are very keen to receive
items for the auction. If you have an item that you think will sell for at
least $20, then could you please let M and G know by emailing them at: gsmh@fastmail.fm.
Collection can be arranged if necessary. It is important for us to have the
details of all the items for the auction so that we can produce a catalogue a
couple of days before the event. Our hope is to have at least 30 items to put
under the hammer. We already have some exciting items lined up, so watch this
space!
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
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