BY PETER ROBSON
Only one year
ago yesterday, we too lost our brothers and sisters to the violence and
injustice that stalks humanity right across the globe, refugees' rights
activist Kathy Newnam told people gathered in Newcastle's Civic Park on
October 20. Newnam was attending one of 15 vigils and protests held around
Australia to mark the first anniversary of the sinking of the boat known
as SIEV-X.
After listening to speakers, the 250 protesters in Newcastle marched quietly down to the beach, where they threw 353 roses into the sea, one for each of the refugees that died in the boat sinking.
The largest gathering was in Melbourne, where Jody Betzien reports that more than 1000 people rallied on October 18. Zoe Kennedy from the Refugee Action Collective (RAC), began the protest by declaring that this was not just a commemoration, but a determined statement that this should never happen again.
Protesters around the country expressed anger that the Australian military knew the boat was in trouble, but failed by accident or design to save it. RAC activist Fleur Taylor referred to this, telling the crowd of growing evidence implicating the government and the Australian Federal Police in disrupting boats leaving Indonesia by illegal and dangerous means. A Senate inquiry which investigated the SIEV-X sinking incident will report on October 23.
Victorian Trades Hall Council secretary Leigh Hubbard told the crowd that the drowning was a shameful moment in Australian history. He condemned not only the Coalition government, but the Labor opposition as well, pointing out that 15 months after the Tampa incident, Labor did not have a comprehensive refugee policy. The ALP is behaving like a rabbit caught in the spotlight, paralysed about whether to do what is popular or what is right, he said.
The rally marched through the city to the Swanston Street bridge where flowers were laid to commemorate the lives lost.
Heidi Gill reports from Canberra that 250 people rallied on October 19 to remember the victims of the boat sinking and expose the truth about who was responsible. The rally followed a morning multi-faith memorial service.
Rally chair and Refugee Action Committee activist Phil Griffiths asked protesters to recreate the overcrowding on the boat by standing within a boundary that represented the actual dimensions of the 19 metre fishing boat. SIEV-X contained 420 people when it sank, half of whom were below the deck.
Keyser Trad from the Lebanese Muslim Association of NSW detailed the horrendous experiences recounted by survivors. He condemned the treatment of Muslim people by First World governments, and the religious vilification which accompanies it. The day will come, he said, when [politicians] will be made accountable for their actions.
Former diplomat Tony Kevin, whose questions about government inaction and complicity in the sinking, along with evidence he has provided to the Senate inquiry into the incident, has led to significant embarrassment for Prime Minister John Howard and immigration minister Philip Ruddock, said: This is not a political argument, this is an argument about facts and evidence.
In Wollongong, Grant Coleman reports that 200 people attended a candlelight vigil on October 18, following a 65-strong afternoon protest organised by Illawarra High School Students for Refugees.
Laura Ealing, an activist from The Illawarra Grammar School (TIGS), told the high-school rally: If we allow bad things to happen without even questioning them, the world will become a very frightening place. So let's get informed about the issues. Let's do something about the things we believe. Let's speak up and let's start thinking for ourselves.
The vigil, which was organised by the Illawarra Refugee Action Collective, was addressed by Margaret Reynolds, who is the president of the United Nations Association of Australia, Greens Senator Kerry Nettle and Simon Cunich of TIGS Social Action Group.
From Adelaide, Tim Laurie reports that around 150 people attended a rally organised by the Refugee Action Collective on October 19. Dr U Ne Oo, a Burmese refugee and RAC activist, condemned the use of political violence, whether by allowing refugees to drown, or the recent bombings in Bali.
A march to parliament house was led by a replica of the SIEV-X filled with flowers, accompanied by an effigy of John Howard detained by the socialist youth group Resistance in his own individual cage.
From Brisbane, Jason Cahill reports that 150 people gathered on October 20 to hear speakers, including Democrats leader Andrew Bartlett, former state multicultural affairs executive Uri Ghemal and Jim Souras from Labor for Refugees.
One-hundred-and-fifty people rallied in Perth on October 19, reports Alex Salmon. The rally was organised by the Refugee Rights Action Network and endorsed by a number of refugee-rights organisations.
The protest marched through the streets of Perth to Parliament House, with shrouded mock corpses representing those who drowned. Statements of condolence from detainees in detention centres around Australia were read to conclude the rally. A message from detainees in Baxter detention centre said: Do you remember last year the horrific tragedy for 353 lives when they drowned in Australian waters. Now we see a disaster with perhaps 200 innocent Australians killed a few days ago. They are all human lives filled with expectation to live in the world with happiness and having fun.
From Launceston, Kamala Emanuel and Sally Wiltshire report that 80 people braved gusty cold showers on October 19 to commemorate the 353 lives lost. After a welcome to country by Aboriginal elder June Swain, and an introduction by George Manifold, a minute's silence was observed in Princes Square. This was followed by a street march in which participants carried a symbolic replica of the SIEV-X behind a banner declaring October 19, 2001. 353 lives lost. Remember. Never again. Welcome refugees, while a bell tolled 353 times from the adjacent Chalmers tower.
In Civic Square, speakers described the circumstances under which the asylum seekers were forced by Indonesian police onto the overcrowded boat. Bob Benseman, who had made the wooden boat for the commemoration, compared the 19 metre SIEV-X, loaded with over 400 people when it left Indonesia, to his brother's 19 meter boat, licenced to carry 24 people.
In Hobart, 70 people gathered on parliament lawns on October 19, Alex Bainbridge reports. Father Brian Gore gave the main speech at the commemoration. He invited participants to imagine what it would be like to be drowning in the middle of the ocean. He said that such an experience could legitimately be described as terror although, he said, there is no war against that terror.
In Lismore, the Refugee Action Collective and Rural Australians for Refugees marked the anniversary with a film and discussion evening on October 17, attended by 50 people, Nick Fredman reports. Featured speakers were Dave McKay, Cherry McKay and Ross Parry from the Woomera Refugee Embassy, who also attended a speak-out in Bellingen on October 19. Northern NSW activists also met Ruddock with pro-refugee and anti-war banners at a function in Ballina on October 18, and held a speak-out and die-in in Lismore on October 19.
In Darwin, Ruth Ratcliffe reports, 70 people gathered in Raintree Park on October 19. Following a minute's silence for the victims of the Bali bombing, Joe Mulqueeny, a Communications, Electrical and Plumbing Union member and Refugee Action Network activist, commented: The deaths of innocent people seem to be the order of the bloody day at the moment. Mulqueeny went on to condemn the policies which led to the deaths of 353 people in the SIEV-X disaster.
One hundred people also gathered in Katherine.
Bronwyn Jennings reports that Geelong Rural Australians for Refugees organised two events around the SIEV-X anniversary. On October 18 a memorial was held. Wreaths were cast into the bay in memory of the 353 asylum seekers who died. A rally to commemorate the sinking was attended by 50 people on October 19. Blustery conditions at the Geelong waterfront did not deter refugee-rights campaigners and many passing motorists tooted their support. One protester commented that even though asylum seekers are locked up in the desert prison at Woomera, they still have it in their hearts to send condolences to the Australian people in the wake of the Bali tragedy.
From Green Left Weekly, October 23, 2002.
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