Newsletter for 8 January 2019 Rural Australians for Refugees Bellingen and Nambucca Districts

A happy New Year to you all

Roadside demonstration: Thursday 10^th January in Bellingen. 2.30 to 4.00 pm

Next market stall: Saturday 19^th January at Bellingen market

Market dates for 2019

Adelaide welcomes asylum seekers

A happy New Year to you all.

Let us hope that 2019 brings some hope for the 1200 refugees and asylum seekers who remain trapped on Manus and Nauru. Sadly, as the Federal election looms, it is more likely that the pain and suffering will continue, given that the Coalition continues to insist that it alone will be tough on “border protection” and the Labor party will continue to assert that it can be relied upon to be equally committed to the punitive agenda of (indefinite) offshore detention, combined with the refusal to allow any asylum seekers who arrived by boat to be resettled in Australia. As we have stated on many occasions before, our campaign to end the cruel policy of offshore detention and the demonization of asylum seekers will continue until this shameful policy is brought to an end. We hope that many of you will turn out to support the cause at our roadside demonstrations and markets throughout the year. And, in anticipation of our campaign continuing into the future, Santa delivered us a new roof for our market stall gazebo!

Roadside demonstration: Thursday 10^th January in Bellingen. 2.30 to 4.00 pm

A reminder that our first roadside demonstration of 2019 will take place this Thursday on Waterfall Way in Bellingen.You will find us opposite the entrance to the golf club, adjacent to the Yellow Shed. Please come and join us if you can, and let’s show people that we are as committed as ever to ending the cruelty of offshore detention. If you are not able to attend this demonstration, then please note that we hold them fortnightly from 2.30 to 4.00 pm at four different venues. The venues for January and February are as follows:

Thursday 10^th January: Waterfall Way, Bellingen

Thursday 24^th January: Hogbin Drive, Toormina

Thursday 7^th February: Big Banana, Coffs Harbour

Thursday 21^st February: Pacific Highway, opposite the Base hospital, Coffs Harbour

Next market stall: Saturday 19^th January at Bellingen market

Our first market stall of 2019 will be at the Bellingen market on Saturday 19^th January from 9.00 am until 1.30 pm. As usual, we’ll be handing out leaflets, encouraging people to sign our new open letter, chatting to market-goers and selling our merchandise on behalf of the Asylum Seekers Centre. If you can join us to help on the stall for an hour or two, then please let Mike know by emailing him at: mandm.griffin2@bigpond.com. Or just drop by to say hello and sign the letter.

Market dates for 2019

Saturday 19^th January: Bellingen

Saturday 2^nd February: Valla Beach

Sunday 24^th February: Coffs Harbour

Saturday 16^th March: Bellingen

Saturday 6^th April: Valla Beach

Sunday 21^st April: Coffs Harbour

Saturday 18^th May: Bellingen

Saturday 1^st June: Valla Beach

Sunday 23^rd June: Coffs Harbour

Saturday 20^th July: Bellingen

Saturday 3^rd August: Valla Beach

Sunday 25^th August: Coffs Harbour

Saturday 21^st September: Bellingen

Saturday 5^th October: Valla Beach

Saturday 16^th November: Bellingen

Saturday 7^th December: Valla Beach

Adelaide welcomes asylum seekers

Whilst our government redoubles its efforts to demonise refugees and asylum seekers, many Australians continue to welcome them with open arms, in the true Australian tradition of friendship and compassion. Every year, Adelaide Hills resident, Catherine Russell opens her doors to host new arrivals for a favourite Australian tradition, a barbecue. Catherine explains: “This is to make them feel welcome, make new friends and make them feel comfortable living in the Adelaide community.” The asylum seeker families were both grateful and enthusiastic in their responses to the hospitality provided by Catherine and her friends. Typical responses were: “When we left Nauru and came to Australia we were so excited, because we are safe now, my family are happy, my children are happy.”…”We want to be good people for Australia, we want to be useful.”…”We don’t want extra things. We just want to live.”

It is surely time for our politicians to start listening to the people of Australia, the majority of whom have made it clear that they want offshore detention and the cruelty towards asylum seekers and refugees to end.

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

Newsletter for 14 August 2018 Rural Australians for Refugees Bellingen and Nambucca Districts

_{Roadside demonstration report}

_{Fusion Festival : Tuesday 28th August, 11.00 am to 2.00 pm}

_{A good news story!}

_{Behrouz Boochani’s book has arrived!}

_{Roadside demonstration report}

_{Another excellent roadside demonstration at the Big Banana last Thursday, with eight enthusiastic supporters waving appreciatively to all the motorists who sounded their horns, gave us the thumbs up or shouted their encouragement. We reserved our heartiest waves and smiles for the tiny minority of motorists who seemed only to have the energy to wave with a single digit!}

_{Our next demonstration will be on Thursday 23}^rd _{August from 2.30 to 4.00 pm by the Pacific Highway in Coffs Harbour, opposite the Base hospital. Please come and join us if you can.}

_{Fusion Festival : Tuesday 28}^th_{August, 11.00 am to 2.00 pm}

_{The Fusion Festival is coming to the Coffs Harbour campus of Southern Cross University on Tuesday 28}^th _{August. It will be a wonderful celebration of the diversity of our community through cultural exchange and social connection. You can look forward to a colourful and lively scene of dancing, cooking and much more. We will have our RAR stall at the event, so if you would like to help for a while, then please contact Mike at:mandm.griffin2@bigpond.com. Or just come along to soak up the atmosphere.}

_{A good news story!}

_{Last week a corporate event with a difference took place in Sydney. The event was organized by Michael Combs, who established CareerSeekers in 2016 to help well-qualified asylum seekers get a foot in the door of career advancement in Australia. His motivation can be summed up by this comment: “I was just sick of every second Uber and taxi driver having a degree from their own country but being unable to get any work in Australia.” Last year, his organization placed 168 asylum seekers in corporate jobs. This year the target is to place 450 asylum seekers in professional occupations. A number of major corporations are on board, with twelve-week internships typically extended into full time employment. Hats off to Michael Combs!}

_{You can read the full story on our Facebook page.}

_{Behrouz Boochani’s book has arrived!}

_{Behrouz Boochani, who has been imprisoned on Manus for more than five years, has, against all the odds, published his book “ No Friend but the Mountains.” It is the story of life in a wholly oppressive system which is designed to punish, humiliate and break the spirits of those subjected to indefinite detention. In the foreword to the book, Richard Flanagan does not mince his words.} 

_{“Reading this book is difficult for any Australian. We pride ourselves on decency, kindness, generosity and a fair go. None of these qualities are evident in Boochani’s account of squalor, beatings, suicide and murder.} 

_{I was painfully reminded in his descriptions of the Australian officials’ behaviour on Manus and my father’s descriptions of the Japanese commanders’ behaviour in the POW camps where he and fellow Australians suffered so much.}

_{What has become of us when it is we who commit such crimes?”}

_{Minister Dutton should read Behrouz Boochani’s book.}

_{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}

Newsletter for 28 November 2017 Rural Australians for Refugees Bellingen and Nambucca Districts

_{Next Roadside Demo - Big Banana Coffs Thursday December 7th 2:30pm}

_{Next Market Stall - Valla Beach 2nd December}

_{RAR annual get together Sunday 3rd December}

_{Congratulations to Violet Roumeliotis}

_Nauru

_{Bennelong - Trumble plays the race card}

_{Manus Island tragedy continues}

_{Roadside demonstration report}

_{Another really successful demonstration in Toormina last week, with eleven supporters turning up to remind the public about the plight of our asylum seekers in offshore detention centres. A big thank you to all involved. The response from motorists was overwhelmingly positive, as always.}

_{Our final roadside demonstration for 2017 will be on Thursday 7th December}

 _{next to the Big Banana in Coffs Harbour, from 2.30 until 4.00 pm. Let’s make the last one a big one, so please put the date in your diary!}

_{Our next market: Saturday  2nd December at Valla Beach}

_{A reminder that our final market stall for the year is this Saturday at Valla Beach market from 9.00 am until 1.30 pm. A great opportunity for people to buy our asylum seeker T shirts, bags and tea towels for Christmas! We’ll be handing out leaflets, engaging with market-goers and collecting signatures on our petition, as usual. If you can help out for an hour or two (no previous experience required), then please email Mike at:mandm.griffin2@bigpond.com to let him know.}

_{Meeting and lunch: Sunday 3rd December, starting at 10.30 am}

_{A final reminder that  our end of year meeting and lunch will be held at 39, Rogers Drive, Valla Beach next Sunday. We can still squeeze a few more people in, so if you would like to attend, then please let Mike know bySaturday at the latest by emailing him at: mandm.griffin2@bigpond.com.  There are two options for parking, either in Rogers Drive or the Robert Louden car park, which is just 80 metres from the house. In Rogers Drive, you can park in the driveway at number 39,  on the nature strip at the end of the drive, or the hard standing parking area opposite the house. Please don’t drive onto Mike’s newly-laid lawn!}

_{Directions to Rogers Drive: Turn off the recently-named Giinagay Way into Valla Beach road. Proceed for 500 metres and, just before the water tower, take a left turn into Kuta Avenue. Proceed along Kuta Avenue for 450 metres, and  Rogers Drive is the third turning on the left. Proceed down Rogers Drive and you will find number 39 almost at the bottom of the hill on the left.}

_{Directions to the Robert Louden car park.  Proceed along Valla Beach Road as above, but continue past Kuta Avenue  and take the next left into Henderson Street. Proceed down Henderson Street into Cockburn Street and at the bottom of the hill you will arrive in the car park. Take the path by the side of the house next to the car park, cross over a small footbridge and you will emerge into Rogers Drive. Number 39 is just a few metres up on the right.}

_{We look forward to seeing you there.}

_{Congratulations to Violet Roumeliotis}

_{Last week, Violet Roumeliotis, the child of immigrant parents who came to Australia with nothing, was awarded the Telstra Australian Business Woman of the Year for 2017.  She is the CEO of the not-for-profit organisation Settlement Services International, and under her leadership, the organisation aims to give voice to vulnerable Australians and raise awareness of the economic value of migration.Through its employment and enterprise efforts, 1185 people have gained work in the past 18 months.}

_{Warehousing people on Nauru to cost   a million dollars a day}

_{The latest government estimates show that Canstruct, the building company and Liberal party donor now engaged to run services for refugees and asylum seekers on Nauru, will be paid $385 million over the next twelve months to continue the indefinite detention of the people who fled violence  and persecution in their home countries to seek a place of safety in Australia. It is clear that our government has every intention of continuing its policy of punishing innocent people, at great expense, for political ends. We must keep up our fight to bring this cruel and inhumane policy to an end.}

_{Turnbull plays the race card in Bennelong}

_{Unsurprisingly, but disgracefully, our Prime minister, just like John Howard before him, sought to gain some electoral advantage at the weekend in the Bennelong byelection by playing  the race card in an attempt to scare the voters. In Sydney he stated: “ Kristina Keneally wants us to bring all of those asylum seekers from Manus to Australia........When the boats start again, if Labor were ever to get back into government, how many of those asylum seekers is she going to bring to Bennelong?” It’s surely a sad indictment of the state of our nation when our political leaders think it appropriate to encourage voters to fear that the arrival of small number of people from Nauru and Manus  will change the world as we know it.}

_{The Manus tragedy continues}

_{The tragedy of lies, propaganda, and punishment continues on Manus, as the detainees are forcibly moved into new detention centres in the township of Lorengau. The evidence from phone footage and from witnesses makes it clear the the detainees offered no violence, and that they were mistreated by the police who removed them from the now-closed centre. We have been repeatedly told by Minister Dutton that all three relocation centres were ready for occupation, whilst conceding that perhaps the BBQ areas were not yet complete in one centre. It took the stark reality of Tim Costello standing in front of the building site which is the third centre to force a partial back down. By now we are all used to the blatant untruths from the minister, and to his regular vilification of all those who seek  to get to the truth and to hold the government to account for its brutal offshore detention regime. Following hard on the heels of the appeal from Doctors for Refugees, from former Australians of the Year, from the Australian Medical Association, we now have this week a group of some of Australia’s most senior clinicians offering to conduct free health assessments of the men held on Manus to ensure that they are not being deprived of their human rights. In their open letter, the eighteen clinicians say: “ We believe that the humanitarian issues take precedence over politics. This is a matter beyond immigration and border control but one that affects the health of people and others’ perceptions of our great nation.” The letter goes on to say: “All politicians regardless of their political party should respect the human right to health and themselves be advocate of “health for all” without discrimination.”}

_{We congratulate these clinicians for standing up for the detainees on Manus.}

_{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 >500 recipients}

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

_{(482 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}