BY SUSAN PRICE
& STUART MARTIN
More than 200 people rallied outside the Maribyrnong Detention Centre in Melbourne on August 26 in support of refugees' rights. The facility is run on behalf of the Australian government by Australian Corrections Management, which also runs several private prisons in Victoria.
Under the watchful eyes (and surveillance cameras) of large numbers of police, and a contingent of riot police on horses, supporters of refugees' rights protested, held a barbecue and played soccer outside the perimeter fence of the facility. The protest was supported by members of the Somali, Turkish, Kurdish, Kosovar and Iraqi communities.
The refugees held in the detention centre were not allowed outdoors during the protest, however many had written stories of their plight which were read to the rally by Amnesty International members. Hundreds of balloons with hand-written messages to the refugees attached were released over the fence by protesters.
When protesters rattled the fence chanting, "Free the refugees; free them all", the mounted police dangerously barged in front, forcing the crowd back from the fence.
In Canberra, 170 people turned out on August 29 to welcome Iraqi and Afghan asylum seekers to Canberra and to show support for the right of refugees to live in the community rather than be interned in concentration camps. The meeting was called by the recently formed Refugee Action Committee.
Speakers outlined the suffering that refugees suffer at the hands of the racist and nationalist policies of the federal government, with the support of the ALP.
Marion Le, from the Independent Council for Refugee Advocacy, pointed out that asylum seekers were being portrayed by both the government and the media as criminals. The situation was the same now as it was in 1994, when the Labor government introduced concentration camps for asylum seekers.
Participants at the meeting learned that those interned in the concentration camps have no right of judicial process. Six asylum seekers were jailed without trial in October 1999 on the unproven accusation that they had instigated a riot. Approximately 100 asylum seekers were in jails across Australia in 1999, none of whom had been tried by a court.
The meeting ended with a plea from Ifti Haider from the Al-Haadi Welfare Association that the refugees need to be found decent jobs and housing because of the deliberate policies of the federal government to provide as little assistance as possible.