Newsletter for 13 February 2018 Rural Australians for Refugees Bellingen and Nambucca Districts

_{Next Roadside Demo - Big Banana Coffs February 22nd 2:30pm}

_{Next Market - Coffs Harbourside Sun 18th February}

_{Fundraiser film, Hope Road, showing 4th March}

_{Support Services International} 

_{Judicial intervention to protect child on Nauru}

_{Roadside demonstration report}

_{We held a very successful roadside demonstration in Toormina last Thursday, with overwhelming support from passing motorists. It must surely be the case that a majority of Australians now understand that the cruelty and futility of offshore detention must be brought to an end. The present policy, however, given the Labor opposition’s support for  the status quo, can only be changed through pressure from the Australian public, and our actions are a part of that. A big thank you to all who came along to join the demo. Our next demo will be in Coffs Harbour, in front of the Big Banana on Thursday 22nd February from 2.30 until 4.00 pm. Please come and join us if you can.}

_{Next market stall: Coffs Harbour. Sunday 18th February}

_{A reminder that our next market stall is this coming Sunday 18th February at the Coffs Harbourside market, from 9.00 am until 1.30 pm. The market has now returned to its original site close to the jetty and we are looking forward to our first stall at the recently upgraded venue. We are looking for people to lend a hand between 9.00 am and 1.30 pm, so if you can spare an hour or two, then please let Mike know by emailing him at: mandm.griffin2@bigpond.com. We have our new open letter to Bill Shorten for people to sign, new leaflets to hand out and lots of merchandise to sell on behalf of the Asylum Seekers Centre.}

_{Hope Road : screening in Bellingen on Sunday 4th March at 2.00 pm}

_{A further reminder that we will be screening Hope Road at the Bellingen Memorial Hall on Sunday 4th March, and we do hope that lots of you will come along to see the film, to meet with fellow supporters of refugees and to help us raise much-needed funds for the Asylum Seekers Centre in Newtown. You will find a poster advertising the film attached to this newsletter. It would be greatly appreciated if you could print it and display it in your workplace, your local community centre, a local shop, or anywhere that might attract people’s attention. Please put the date in your diary.}

_{Support Services International: an invitation}

_{A number of our supporters have asked about the work of Support Services International, the not-for-profit organisation which has responsibility for helping refugees to settle in Coffs Harbour. One of our longstanding supporters, Michael Blockey, who organises a U3A course in Nambucca Heads, has arranged for Vigeeta Chauhan, who works for SSI, to give a talk to his Philosophers’ Cafe group  at their next session on Monday 19th February.  The group meets in the small hall of the Nambucca Community and Arts Centre, which is located on Ridge Street in Nambucca Heads, between the post office and the library. Michael will give an introductory talk on the journeys of asylum seekers fro their country of origin to Australia, and Vigeeta will then talk about the practical work of SSI in Coffs Harbour. The session starts at 10.00 am and finishes at midday.  A warm welcome is extended to all RAR members. There is a minimal charge to cover the cost of refreshments and the hall hire.}

_{Judge intervenes to protect child refugee on Nauru}

_{In yet another sorry example of our government’s cruel policy and its complete indifference to people’s suffering, it took the intervention of a judge to insist that a young girl be brought to Australia for treatment for her extreme mental health condition. The child, not yet a teenager, had been held on Nauru since arriving by boat in 2013, and had made multiple attempts on her life. Our government, in the face of detailed evidence to the contrary, continued to maintain the lie that the child could be safely treated as an outpatient at the Nauru hospital. The judge disagreed, stating: “The evidence indicates that the applicant’s psychiatric condition is very serious, that she poses an extreme suicide risk, and that her condition is such that she should be immediately admitted into a specialist child mental health facility for assessment and treatment.” It is deeply shameful that , firstly, the child’s serious mental health condition is a direct result of our government’s policy to punish and break people, and secondly that our government then should seek to deny the child access to appropriate care.}

_{As a result of the intervention by George Newhouse, principal solicitor with the National Justice Project, the child is now receiving treatment in Australia.}

_{How did we get to this?}

_{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}

Hope Road Poster

attachment

double click on poster to enlarge

      

Newsletter for 6 February 2018 Rural Australians for Refugees Bellingen and Nambucca Districts

_{Next Market - Coffs Harbourside Sun 18th February}

_{Lunch with RAR president}

_{Fundraiser film showing 4th March}

_{Next Roadside Demo - Toormina Thursday February 8th 2:30pm}

_{New DVD available to share}

_{We are insured!} 

_{Disgraceful government actions exposed}

_{Valla Beach market report}

_{What can we say? On the day that our national president was scheduled to join us at the market, Mike duly arrived to set up at 6.45 am and within five minutes the heavens opened and he got a thorough soaking! The market organisers then understandably decided to call the whole thing off, as very few stallholders had turned up. Apologies to anyone who arrived expecting to see us and to meet our president. Our next market stall will be at the Coffs Harbourside market  on Sunday 18th February from 9.00 am until 1.30 pm. You will find us back by the jetty, now that the refurbishment of the park has been completed. Let’s hope that the sun shines! If you can help out for an hour or two, please let Mike know by email at: mandm.griffin2@bigpond.com.}

_{Lunch with our national president}

_{We were delighted to welcome our national president, Marie Sellstrom  to meet local RAR supporters at the weekend. Ten of our members joined us on the back deck for lunch on Sunday and we had a most productive and enjoyable time. Lots of ideas to share and experiences to relate, which will no doubt influence our future planning both at local and national level. Marie had travelled from Mansfield in Victoria, meeting groups in various locations on the way, before leaving us to travel to Ballina for a meeting with several groups who were coming together for the occasion. We were all full of admiration for her dedication and commitment to the refugee cause.}

_{Reminder about the fundraiser filming of Hope Road}

_{Please don’t forget that on Sunday  4th March at 2.00 pm we will be showing the film Hope Road at the Bellingen Memorial Hall.  This is a fundraising event, and all profits will be donated to the Asylum Seekers Centre in Newtown. It’s a film of inspiration and hope which tells the story of a Sudanese refugee and the ambitious project he undertook to build a village school in his home town in South Sudan. Please come and join us, and bring your family and friends.}

_{Roadside demonstration: Thursday 8th February from 2.30 to 4.00 pm}

_{Our next roadside demonstration is this Thursday, 8th February in Toormina. You will find us at our usual location on Hogbin Drive, just down from the fire station and almost opposite what used to be the Sawtell nursery.  We have lots of banners and placards to share, but we really do need a few more helping hands to hold them up! Please try to join us if you can, as these demonstrations are important in bringing the issue of our government’s dreadful treatment of asylum seekers and refugees to the public’s attention.}

_{A new DVD available to share}

_{We have recently purchased a copy of an outstandingly good DVD, entitled Freedom Stories. The documentary film takes a considered and poignant approach to the lives and achievements of former “boat people” who now call Australia home. The stories are about people who arrived from the Middle East around 2001, some of them just children. It’s an excellent and moving documentary. If you would like to borrow it to view it at home, then let Mike know so that we can arrange a handover. You might want to watch it with a group of friends. The copy we have purchased is licensed for public viewing, so if anybody out there would like to organise a showing in your local hall or school, that would be great. First come, first served! Email Mike at : mandm.griffin2@bigpond.com.}

_{We are now insured}

_{From time to time, supporters have expressed some concern about our lack of third party insurance, particularly for our roadside demonstrations and market stalls. We are pleased to let you know that, as of 1st February, we are now covered through a policy taken out by the national RAR committee on behalf of all RAR groups, something that we have been urging for some time. It will cost us just $60 per annum and will cover us for all the events that we organise, from markets and demonstrations, to auctions and other fundraising events. Rock climbing and bungee jumping are not covered!}

_{Minister Morrison’s callous actions exposed}

_{Revelations from supposedly secret (filing) cabinet documents describe just how far our government is prepared to go to prevent legitimate refugees from settling in Australia. The documents reveal that Morrison, who was the immigration minister at the time, attempted to lean on the security services to delay the final security clearances of 700 refugees in order to prevent them from receiving permanent visas. At the time, the government was rushing through legislation to replace permanent protection visas, to which these refugees would have been entitled, with temporary visas, thereby throwing hundreds of people into a state of limbo. The Refugee Advice and Casework Service explains how this action by the minister impacted on an individual client. “Mehdi (not his real name) was one of those people. he fled Afghanistan to escape the Taliban and in 2013 was assessed in Australia and found to be a refugee. Scott Morrison’s cruel instructions to delay the finalisation of his visa meant that he missed out on being granted permanent protection. It has torn his family apart. Mehdi’s wife and 3 young children are still living as refugees in Pakistan – their safety was the very reason he fled Afghanistan. His youngest child has never met him, and under current Australian law, they will never be able to live together here.”}

_{We must keep up our campaigning to bring this cruelty and inhumanity to an 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 >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}