Rural Australians for Refugees Bellingen and Nambucca Districts

This blog has been set up to further the cause of compassion for Asylum Seekers. We will post letters that have been sent to politicians, building up the pressure to provide compassionate support to all refugees in Australia and anywhere where people have been sent by the Australian Government. Send your letter and any reply to our email address and we will post it on the site. Any other information of use will also be posted. For Facebook page click on "contact us" tab below.

19.8.16

RAR Conference 3 and 4 September 2016 second newsletter

For more detail click on http://www.ruralaustraliansforrefugees.org.au

National RAR Conference ... in Bendigo ... come and join us ...
3 & 4 September 2016

The First Newsletter ... in case you missed it ...

Regional Australian refugee advocates are invited
to be a part of a great weekend
in Bendigo
Saturday 3rd and Sunday 4th September 2016
Rural Australians for Refugees National RAR Conference
One Voice, One Vision
Book for the Full Conference
or
Book for each session separately
And don’t miss the Conference Dinner on Saturday night
Registration: https://www.trybooking.com/Booking/BookingEventSummary.aspx?eid=200883 Full Conference Details: www.ruralaustraliansforrefugees.org.au

Email rar.australia@gmail.com

Rural Australians for Refugees National Conference 2016
Saturday Morning Session
Cost $30 – Morning Tea included
One Voice, One Vision
For Rural Australians for Refugees Delegates and interested members of the public
8.30am – 12.30pm Saturday 3rd Sept 2016
St Andrews Church Hall, Myers Street, Bendigo
Join us for an exciting morning’s program
Meet ...

 Chris Cummins
 Founders of Rural Australians for Refugees
– Anne, Helen and Susan
Participate ...

 Facilitated Sessions
1. The power of one message - Media & Refugee Advocacy
Facilitator – Anthony Radford
2. Think National, Working Local - RAR groups
Facilitators - Helen Musk and Marie Bonne
3. The Ripple Effect - Growing the National RAR Network
Facilitators – Terry White & Bonnie Carter
Enjoy ... Morning‐tea break
Thrill to the sound of ... Gorgeous Voices
Meet ... the new Rural Australians for Refugees Admin Team
And discover ... Where to from Here for Rural Australians for Refugees

Registrations: https://www.trybooking.com/Booking/BookingEventSummary.aspx?eid=200883

Saturday Afternoon Session
Cost $30 - Afternoon Tea included
Special Afternoon Session open to the Public
Changing Attitudes
Ideas that Work
2pm - 5pm, Saturday 3rd Sept 2016
St Andrews Church Hall, Myers Street, Bendigo
Listen to the beautiful voice of Fay White
Be inspired by John & Margaret Millington’s Successful Settlement of Karen Refugees
Discover how to
Break the Secrecy
with Walkley Award Winning Journalists

Ben Doherty
Anthony Radford
Meet
Julian Burnside QC AO, Patron of RAR
And Participate in the Campaign Launch of
The Welcome Scroll
Introduced by Asher Hirsch, Refugee Council of Australia,
with the Mayors of Bendigo and Mount Alexander Shire, Rod Fyffe & Christine Henderson

Nick Olle

Registrations: https://www.trybooking.com/Booking/BookingEventSummary.aspx?eid=200883

Sunday Morning Session
Cost $30 - Morning Tea and Lunch included
Rural Australians for Refugees National Conference 2016
Words That Work
9am – 1pm Sunday 4th Sept 2016
St Andrews Church Hall, Myers Street, Bendigo
Two Special Sunday Workshops
Come for one Workshop or come for both
9am
1. Amnesty Workshop - Changing the Conversation
2. ASRC Workshop - Refuge from our Rhetoric
10.40: Morning‐tea break 11am
1. ASRC Workshop - Refuge from our Rhetoric
2. Amnesty Workshop - Changing the Conversation
The Workshops are presented as part of the RAR National Conference 2016 Registrations: https://www.trybooking.com/Booking/BookingEventSummary.aspx?eid=200883

Conference tickets $75 - A limited number of discounted tickets are available.
 We are only able to offer a very limited number of discounted tickets.
 Email your application for a discount to Bendigo RAR at rarbendigo@gmail.com
Saturday night Dinner at the Shamrock Hotel tickets $40
Morning or afternoon sessions can be booked separately for $30 each. There is no lunch included with Saturday's half-day sessions. Entry is at the start of each session.
Donations towards the conference running costs will be gratefully accepted.
Donate through the registration process or through a bank transfer.
More details available as you book. Tax invoices will be available on request by emailing us a copy of the transaction.

Conference Venue
St Andrews Uniting Church Hall 26 Myers Street
rear entry 96 Mollison Street Bendigo, Victoria 3550
Speakers:
Sessions & Workshops will offer an opportunity to:

 learn to use language & the media effectively to advocate
 help transform public perception of refugees & people seeking asylum
 join a national voice
 network with like-minded people
 & help launch a national campaign
Full conference program details available from RAR Australia's webpage:
http://www.ruralaustraliansforrefugees.org.au/event/bendigo-national-rar-conference/
Registrations:
https://www.trybooking.com/Booking/BookingEventSummary.aspx?eid=200883 Email: rar.australia@gmail.com

16.8.16

Newsletter for 16 August 2016 Rural Australians for Refugees Bellingen and Nambucca Districts

Big Banana roadside demonstration report

Popup demonstration: Thursday 25 August Nambucca Plaza

Chasing Asylum - Movie - Sawtell screening

Next Market Stall - 28th August Coffs

Film Review - Book Review

Report from the Big Banana roadside demonstration

A big thank you to the nine supporters who braved a chilly afternoon to take part in our roadside demonstration in Coffs Harbour last week. We calculated that about 1,000 vehicles travelling north had a good sighting of our banners and placards. As usual, almost all the responses from passing motorists were supportive of our key messages about ending offshore detention.

Our next roadside demonstration will be in Nambucca Heads at the side of the highway near the Plaza shopping centre on Thursday 25th August from 3.00 pm until 4.30 pm. If you can join us, even for part of the time, then please email Robin at: robinhesketh@hotmail.com.

Report on the impromptu photo shot in Nambucca Heads

Yesterday, at short notice, more than 30 supporters turned up for a photo opportunity with all our banners and placards in Nambucca Heads, in support of the GetUp campaign to close offshore detention centres. A great turnout, and our message could not be more clear. It is time to bring an end to the shameful, brutal and indefinite detention of asylum seekers on Nauru and Manus Island. The government’s response to the publication of the 2,000 incident files from Nauru has been shockingly dismissive. We therefore have to keep up the public pressure on both the government and the opposition to end the misery and the torture of these innocent people.

Chasing Asylum: Sawtell Cinema: Monday 22nd August at 6.30 pm

The showing of this important film (see last week’s newsletter) will definitely go ahead, since enough tickets have now been sold to make the showing viable. If you haven’t yet booked your tickets, you can still do so at: https://www.tugg.com/events/137115, or purchase your ticket on the night. The cinema managers have kindly agreed to us having a RAR stall in the foyer. We hope to see you there.

Next Market Stall: Sunday 28th August: Coffs Harbour

Our next market stall will be at the Coffs Harbourside market on Sunday 28th August. If you can help for an hour or so between 9.00 am and 1.00 pm, then please email Mike at : mand.griffin2@bigpond.com. It would be great to see some new faces. The task is not onerous and interacting with the public at these events, and especially in the current climate, is really important. ...and almost always enjoyable! Why not give it a go?

Film Review: CHASING ASYLUM – a documentary film by Eva Orner and Robert Connolly

Only recently released, CHASING ASYLUM is an excellent documentary film of Australia’s refugee policies since World War 2 when we made welcome thousands of displaced Europeans to our shores, followed by the successful settlement of 70000 refugees from Indochina.

The film mainly documents the hardline taken by the Australian Government starting with John Howard and perpetuated by every Prime Minister and Opposition since.

By cleverly stringing together footage of the most important events until now, this extremely moving production by the renowned film makers Eva Orner and Robert Connolly, paints a shocking picture of Australia’s inhumane and barbaric treatment of traumatised and demonised people fleeing persecution and then being incarcerated for their “crime” of seeking asylum.

This is a must-see film for all compassionate Australians.

It is showing at Sawtell Cinema until Wed. 17 August.

Judy Cooney

Book Review: NO MAN IS AN ISLAND by Adele Dumont (Hachette Australia)

No Man is an Island is a searing account by a young teacher of her two years spent teaching English to mainly Hazara men from Afghanistan, asylum seekers on Christmas Island and Curtin Detention Centre near Derby in the Kimberley.

Termed “clients”, many of these men have been incarcerated for up to three years, waiting, many without hope, to be “processed” as genuine refugees after surviving often horrendous trips from Indonesia in leaky boats.

All are anxious to be granted the mythical visa which allows them to stay here, if not rejected; all are traumatised and missing their families.

Adele Dumont, their English teacher, quite young and naïve on initial arrival to these centres finds herself immersed in learning about the rich culture and traditions of their homeland as well as the history of persecution for centuries of the Hazaras by other ethnic groups in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

But they are avid students. Many have skills and qualifications and are highly motivated which would make them ideal settlers here.

Though exhausting, frustrating and often soul destroying, the author finds the work immensely rewarding and writes a hard-to-put-down story anyone with compassion would benefit from reading.

Judy Cooney

Impromptu photo shot in Nambucca

Our blog is at http://bellorar.blogspot.com.au and includes articles from many sources and letters to politicians and newspapers

check out the index of subjects on the blog

Sievx memorial photos http://bellorar.blogspot.com.au/2016/05/update-on-sieve-memorial-canberra-april.html

The newsletter is sent to 414 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

9.8.16

Newsletter for 9 August 2016 Rural Australians for Refugees Bellingen and Nambucca Districts

Valla Beach Market Report

Popup demonstration: Thursday 11 August Coffs

Chasing Asylum - Movie - Sawtell screening

Nauru Report

Valla Beach Market Report

A big thank you to our volunteers who turned out to help with our market on Saturday. The weather was kind, the crowds arrived, and we had a very successful morning, with more than 100 people signing our petition and a number of new supporters signing up for our weekly newsletter. As always, lots of positive interactions with visitors to the market, and very strong support for our efforts to keep the issue of asylum seekers in the public eye.

Our next market stall will be at the Coffs Harbourside market on Sunday 28^th August. Why not put the date in your diary and come and join us for an hour?

Pop-up Demonstration: Thursday 11^th August at the Big Banana, Coffs Harbour 3.00pm to 4.30 pm

A reminder that our next roadside demonstration is this Thursday, 11^th August outside the Big Banana in Coffs Harbour from 3.00 pm until 4.30 pm. We urgently need supporters to join us for this demo. If you can help, then please email Robin at : robinhesketh@hotmail.com. We have lots of placards and banners, but of course you may prefer to bring your own. It would be great if some of our Coffs Harbour supporters could join us.

Chasing Asylum: the film the government doesn’t want you to see

This important film will be shown at Sawtell Cinema, First Avenue, Sawtell on Monday 22^nd August, from 6.30 to 8.00 pm.

The film exposes the real impact of Australia’s detention policies and explores how “The Lucky Country” became a country where leaders choose detention over compassion and governments deprive the desperate of their basic human rights. Chasing Asylum explores the mental, physical and fiscal consequences of Australia’s decision to lock away families in unsanitary conditions hidden from media scrutiny, destroying their lives under the pretext of saving them. Please come and join us at the Sawtell cinema to watch this important film. Book your tickets NOW online at: https://www.tugg.com/events/137115. Let’s have a great RAR turnout to show that we care.

If you are not able to attend on 22^nd August, then you can see the film on other days, starting on 14^th August. Check the Sawtell cinema website for details.

Yet another report condemns Nauru detention centre

A recent investigation by Amnesty and Human Rights Watch confirms yet again what we already know about the brutality of offshore detention. This latest investigation shines a light on the atrocious treatment of men, women and children – including routine neglect and at times the denial of medical care by the main health services company hired by the Australian government. Anna Neislat, Amnesty’s most senior investigator, reveals that the Australian government has “designed a system of deliberate abuse” to deter people seeking safety who arrive by boat. Many suffer from serious mental health problems which are inadequately treated and exacerbated by the appalling conditions in which they are forced to live. Anxiety, self-harm and suicide attempts are frequent, with children as young as nine speaking openly about wanting to end their lives.

As one of the refugees described the situation to investigators: “People here don’t have a real life. We are just surviving. We are dead souls in living bodies. We are just husks. We don’t have any hope or motivation.”

Will we have to wait for a Four Corners investigation with graphic video footage, before the government is finally spurred into action? And will those responsible then queue up to tell us that they are deeply shocked, and that they had no idea that this abuse was taking place?

Valla Beach Markets RAR Stall.

Our blog is at http://bellorar.blogspot.com.au and includes articles from many sources and letters to politicians and newspapers

check out the index of subjects on the blog

Sievx memorial photos http://bellorar.blogspot.com.au/2016/05/update-on-sieve-memorial-canberra-april.html

The newsletter is sent to 414 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

3.8.16

Newsletter for 2 August 2016 Rural Australians for Refugees Bellingen and Nambucca Districts

Next market stall will be at Valla Beach 6th August - this Saturday.

Popup demonstration: Thursday 11 August Coffs

Chasing Asylum - Movie - Sawtell screening

Ferrovial

Valla Beach Market: Saturday 6th August

A reminder that our next market at Valla Beach is just a few days away. We will be collecting signatures for our new petition, which has been circulated to other RAR groups across NSW and Victoria, and we’ll be selling our merchandise, handing out leaflets and engaging with the public. These markets are a great opportunity for us to continue to remind people about the inhumanity and cruelty of current government asylum policy. If you can join us for an hour or two at the market, then please email Mike at : mandm.griffin2@bigpond.com to let him know of your availability. If you are passing by, don’t forget to drop in to sign the petition.

All the profits from the sale of merchandise will be donated to the Asylum Seekers Centre, based in Newtown. (see last week’s newsletter).

Pop-up Roadside Demonstrations

A big thank you to all the people who turned out for our roadside demonstration in Urunga last week. The indefatigable Sue Kitson, who sewed the new banner, dropped by on her crutches, following a recent fall, to wish us well! The demo was a great success, with lots of positive responses from passing motorists.

We have further demonstrations planned for August and September as follows:

Thursday 11th August: Outside the Big Banana, Coffs Harbour. 3.00 pm to 4.30 pm

Thursday 25th August: On the Pacific Highway adjacent to the Nambucca Plaza, Nambucca Heads. 3.00 pm to 4.30 pm.

Thursday 8th September : On the Pacific Highway, opposite the Base Hospital, Coffs Harbour. 3.00 pm to 4.30 pm.

Thursday 22nd September: Waterfall Way, outside the library in the centre of Bellingen. 3.00 pm to 4.30 pm.

We have demonstrated in all these venues before, and we believe that they are all safe places both for motorists and demonstrators.

If you can help with the first of these demos at the Big Banana, then please email Robin at : robinhesketh@hotmail.com to let him know that you will be joining us. We have plenty of placards and banners, or you can of course bring your own.

Chasing Asylum

The movie "Chasing Asylum" is to be screened at the Sawtell cinema on August 14th at 6.30pm. Tickets are on sale now.

Ferrovial risk prosecution for ‘crimes against humanity'

Spanish infrastructure corporation Ferrovial took over the management of Australia’s Offshore detention centres on Manus and Nauru in May of this year. Since then Ferrovial has been warned by professors at Stanford Law School that its directors and employees risk prosecution for crimes against humanity under international law for supplying these services.

Stanford Law School reported “We have raised our concerns with Ferrovial in a private communication to their officers and directors detailing our findings. We have yet to hear back.”

The report advises Ferrovial to immediately cease all operations at the two camps, and urges its financiers and shareholders to withdraw their support for the Spanish company if it refused to do so.

Ferrovial has said it will not bid for a new contract after the current one expires in February 2017.

Currently, people who arrive in Australia by boat without a visa seeking asylum are sent to either Nauru or Manus Island, where most are held in indefinite, arbitrary detention. They are told they will “not, under any circumstances, be settling in Australia”, but there are no other viable resettlement options for them.

At present, there are 843 men held on Manus Island, and 466 people, including 50 children, in the Nauru detention centre. Most have been held on the islands for nearly three years.

An Australian Senate inquiry found that a “culture of abuse” exists in offshore detention, and former staff have condemned the camps. A traumatologist described conditions on Nauru and Manus as the “worst atrocity” he had ever seen, while the former chief psychiatrist on the islands said the camps were “inherently toxic” and akin to torture. Rape and physical abuse is widespread.

These findings pose obvious questions for the future operation of Offshore Detention . If companies seeking to take on the management of the centres risk prosecution for crimes against humanity how will the government find companies to run the centres in future years ?

Hopefully this ruling will call into question the continued operation of offshore detention centres which have attracted widespread and consistent criticism in recent years. It’s time to put an end to this cruel and unlawful policy.

Marlene Griffin

Our blog is at http://bellorar.blogspot.com.au and includes articles from many sources and letters to politicians and newspapers

check out the index of subjects on the blog

Sievx memorial photos http://bellorar.blogspot.com.au/2016/05/update-on-sieve-memorial-canberra-april.html

The newsletter is sent to 414 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

Newsletter for 2 August 2016 Rural Australians for Refugees Bellingen and Nambucca Districts

Next market stall will be at Valla Beach 6th August - this Saturday.

Popup demonstration: Thursday 11 August Coffs

Chasing Asylum - Movie - Sawtell screening

Ferrovial

Valla Beach Market: Saturday 6th August

All the profits from the sale of merchandise will be donated to the Asylum Seekers Centre, based in Newtown. (see last week’s newsletter).

Pop-up Roadside Demonstrations

We have further demonstrations planned for August and September as follows:

Thursday 11th August: Outside the Big Banana, Coffs Harbour. 3.00 pm to 4.30 pm

Thursday 25th August: On the Pacific Highway adjacent to the Nambucca Plaza, Nambucca Heads. 3.00 pm to 4.30 pm.

Thursday 8th September : On the Pacific Highway, opposite the Base Hospital, Coffs Harbour. 3.00 pm to 4.30 pm.

Thursday 22nd September: Waterfall Way, outside the library in the centre of Bellingen. 3.00 pm to 4.30 pm.

We have demonstrated in all these venues before, and we believe that they are all safe places both for motorists and demonstrators.

Chasing Asylum

The movie "Chasing Asylum" is to be screened at the Sawtell cinema on August 14th at 6.30pm. Tickets are on sale now.

Ferrovial risk prosecution for ‘crimes against humanity'

Asylum seekers at the Manus Island detention centre

Stanford Law School reported “We have raised our concerns with Ferrovial in a private communication to their officers and directors detailing our findings. We have yet to hear back.”

The report advises Ferrovial to immediately cease all operations at the two camps, and urges its financiers and shareholders to withdraw their support for the Spanish company if it refused to do so.

Ferrovial has said it will not bid for a new contract after the current one expires in February 2017.

At present, there are 843 men held on Manus Island, and 466 people, including 50 children, in the Nauru detention centre. Most have been held on the islands for nearly three years.

Marlene Griffin

Our blog is at http://bellorar.blogspot.com.au and includes articles from many sources and letters to politicians and newspapers

check out the index of subjects on the blog

Sievx memorial photos http://bellorar.blogspot.com.au/2016/05/update-on-sieve-memorial-canberra-april.html

The newsletter is sent to 414 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

Rural Australians for Refugees Bellingen and Nambucca Districts

Pages

Index

19.8.16

RAR Conference 3 and 4 September 2016 second newsletter

16.8.16

Newsletter for 16 August 2016 Rural Australians for Refugees Bellingen and Nambucca Districts

9.8.16

Newsletter for 9 August 2016 Rural Australians for Refugees Bellingen and Nambucca Districts

3.8.16

Newsletter for 2 August 2016 Rural Australians for Refugees Bellingen and Nambucca Districts

Newsletter for 2 August 2016 Rural Australians for Refugees Bellingen and Nambucca Districts

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