Newsletter for 10 October 2017 Rural Australians for Refugees Bellingen and Nambucca Districts

_{Next Roadside Demo - Bellingen Thursday October 26th 2:30pm}

_{Next Market Stall -Coffs Harbourside 22nd October}

_{Manus detainees to be sent to Nauru}

_{Good news from RACS}

_{Upcoming roadside demonstrations.}

_{We had to call off last week’s roadside demonstration in Coffs Harbour last Thursday owing to the wet weather. Our remaining demos for 2017 are as follows:}

_{Thursday 26th October :  Waterfall Way, Bellingen}

_{Thursday 9th November : Coffs Harbour , opposite the Base hospital}

_{Thursday 23rd November : Hogbin Drive, Toormina}

_{Thursday 7th December : Coffs Harbour, Big Banana}

_{We’ll then take a break until Thursday 11th January 2018.}

_{All the demonstrations start at 2.30 pm and end at 4.00 pm. Please make a note in your diary to come and join us.}

_{Our next Market stall: Coffs Harbourside market: Sunday 22nd October}

_{Our next market stall will be this coming Sunday at the popular Coffs Harbourside market, located at its temporary home adjacent to the Park Beach surf club, near the mouth of Coffs Creek. We have our new petition to sign, leaflets to hand out and our asylum seeker merchandise to sell. If you can help out on the stall between 9.00 am and 1.30 pm, we would love to see you. Please let Mike know by emailing him at :mandm.griffin2@bigpond.com. It’s a great opportunity to chat with other RAR supporters and to engage with market goers about the government’s cruel asylum policies.}

_{The government wants to transfer Manus detainees to Nauru}

_{The 700 men on Manus island who have been assessed as genuine refugees have been told in recent days that they can opt to transfer to Nauru, rather than to the Lorengau “transit” centre, as the deadline for the closure of the detention centre approaches. The refugees have consistently pleaded that the Lorengau facilities are unsafe for them. There have been many attacks on the refugees by the locals, who resent their presence on the island. But transferring these men from one island prison to another is no solution.  Detention Advocacy Manager Natasha Blucher explains: “Dragging these men from one dangerous camp to another is not a solution. There is no space to accommodate these men on Nauru except in mouldy tents.The government needs to listen to what has been said by lawyers, the UN, and international organisations for years. They must bring every single person on Manus and Nauru to Australia immediately. People who have been found to be refugees should safely await their protection and resettlement outcomes in Australia.”}

_{Please consider contacting the Prime Minister to demand that the refugees on Manus and Nauru are brought to Australia. You can do so by telephone: 02 9327 3988 (Malcolm Turnbull’s office) or 02 6277 7700(Malcolm Turnbull’s Parliament House office) ; by email at: https://www.pm.gov.au/contact-your-pm.  ; or you can write to him at:}

_{The Hon Malcolm Turnbull.}

_{Prime Minister}

_{Parliament House}

_{Canberra  ACT 2600}

_{Some good news from RACS}

_{Last week the Refugee Advice and Casework  Service,  which we have supported financially in the past, announced the appointment of two eminent legal figures as patrons of the organisation. They are Professor Gillian Triggs, who as the Australian Human Rights Commissioner worked tirelessly  to report objectively and fearlessly on the government’s treatment of refugees and asylum seekers, and the former High Court judge Michael Kirby, who has a distinguished record in defending the vulnerable in our communities.  At a fundraising event last week, Mr Kirby took aim at both the major parties’ roles in creating the response to irregular boat arrivals and said that 2015 marked a time when “we, a good nation, turned our back on many refugees and outsourced their handling. It’s a story from Kafka, and it makes your blood go cold”. Professor Triggs commented: “How did we do this to people who came to ask us for protection and support?”}

_{We are delighted that two  major heavyweights have joined the campaign to put an end to the government’s shameful asylum policies.}

_{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}

More than 64,000 people overstaying visas in Australia -the Age 19 July 2017

More than 64,000 people overstaying visas in Australia

• Tom McIlroy CONTACT VIA EMAIL 
  

More than 64,000 people are in Australia illegally after overstaying work and tourist visas, with the federal government estimating as many as 12,000 have been here for more than 20 years.

New figures from the Department of Immigration and Border Protection show temporary visitor visas are the mostly likely to be abused in Australia, while Malaysian nationals made up the largest group of unlawful non-citizens in the country last financial year

More than 64,000 people are believed to have over stayed visas in Australia 

There were nearly 10,000 Malaysians recorded as having overstayed visas in 2016-17, along with about 6500 Chinese nationals and 5170 from the United States.

Countries outside the top 15 most likely to overstay represented nearly 18,000 in the category. About 3700 UK nationals overstayed, ahead of 2780 Indonesians and 2730 Indians.S

A Senate committee has heard as of June 30 there was an estimated 64,600 visa overstayers in the country and of the 12,966 located last financial year, more than 1750 were found to be working without the required authorisation.

About 5000 people are believed to have overstayed for three months or less, more than 11,000 have overstayed between two and five years and 6600 between 15 and 20 years.

A further 12,080 are believed to have stayed illegally for 20 years or longer. along with 9690 students visa holders. Bridging and migrant visas made up fewer than 700 of overstays.

Officials could not say how much was spent in attempts to locate visa overstayers in the community, but a total of $72.4 million was spent on compliance activities.

Nick Xenophon Team senator Stirling Griff used Senate estimates hearings to press officials for data about visa breaches.

Senator Griff said the department's focus for apprehension was on high-risk individuals and enable organisations, including rogue labour hire businesses.

"Given that almost 20,000 illegal overstayers have been in Australia for more than 15 years, it makes a mockery of the border protection focus on so called boat people and their lack of Australian placement," he said.

"Most of these almost 65,000 would have travelled to Australia by air and the overwhelming majority have settled into Australian life, with little – if any – regard for our laws and responsibilities.

"The department stated that it was a fair estimate that 20,000 were also working illegally. That's at least 20,000 illegal overstayers taking Australian jobs."

Senator Griff said better checks were needed to prevent temporary visitor and tourist visa recipients from overstaying in Australia.

"These are the easiest to abuse, as there is little checking up of tourists. Given that more than 47,000 overstayers came here on tourist visas and well over half originated from Asian countries, there is a good argument for a greater degree of scrutiny," he said.

The department says it generally does not detain people found to have overstayed visas if they work with officials to resolve their cases.

A resolution service gives people living or working unlawfully in Australia the chance to engage with officials to resolve their immigration status.