Politicians grilled about refugee policy
CANBERRA — A jam-packed forum on June 22 of 220 people organised by the Refugee Action Committee grilled politicians and activists on their policy and actions towards refugees.
ACT MLA Kerrie Tucker outlined the Greens' policy, including ending mandatory detention, the abolition of temporary protection visas and an end to deportations.
Carmen Lawrence, ALP president and a member of Labor for Refugees said that Labor's refugee policy was not a finished policy. The ALP, she said, wants children out of detention, the abolition of the "Pacific Solution" and the reduction of temporary protection visas to two years. In discussion an ex-ALP voter asked Lawrence why he should vote for Labor when it wants a coast guard to keep asylum seekers out.
James Vassilopoulos from the Socialist Alliance described the Baxter detention centre as Australia's Abu Ghraib prison. He argued that a solution to the refugee crisis must be viewed in the context of the global division between rich and poor countries. He claimed that the only real way to free the refugees was through people power.
The Democrats' Andrew Bartlett and Gary Humphries from the Liberal Party also spoke. Humphries was attacked with questions throughout the meeting, including: "Isn't the Liberal Party breaking international law by keeping children in detention?"
Andrew Hall
Sisalem to be reunited with cat
Aladdin Sisalem's sole companion during his 10 months alone in detention on Manus Island — a white-and-ginger cat called Honey — will arrive in Melbourne in mid-July.
Refugee supporters, triumphant to learn of Sisalem's release on May 28, were appalled to hear that the International Organisation for Migration, which runs the Australian-funded detention centre, allegedly refused to let Sisalem take the cat with him to Australia, claiming that it was not within its charter to assist in the welfare of detainees' pets.
One refugee advocate offered to cover the cost of the airfare, and the Royal Humane Society in Melbourne offered to desex the cat on its arrival in Australia. The World Society for the Protection of Animals in the US also offered its help.
Honey will spend up to three months in isolation in a Melbourne quarantine centre before being reunited with Sisalem.
Sarah Stephen
Weekend of refugee protests
PERTH — Refugee rights activists spent 12 chilly hours at an overnight vigil outside the Perth Immigration Detention Centre on June 18-19.
The vigil, organised by the Refugee Rights Action Network, aimed to highlight the plight of those detained without charge or trial under Australia's harsh immigration laws. Activists made their presence known to the detainees with a drumming and chanting workshop. Several phone calls were received from detainees inside, who expressed their gratitude at not being forgotten.
Participants included members of the Greens, Amnesty International, the Socialist Alliance, NOWAR and former detainees at the facility.
On June 20, more than 300 people marched in Fremantle to mark World Refugee Day. The rally condemned the Coalition government for its refugee policy and called for the closure of the onshore detention centres, an end to the "Pacific Solution" and permanent protection for all temporary protection visa holders.
A public meeting at the Fremantle Town Hall after the march was joined by still more supporters of refugees, and was followed by a community fair celebrating the diversity of Perth's refugee community. The day was initiated by the WA Refugee Alliance.
Peter Wilkie & Julie Sprigg
'Vote Howard off the island!'
BRISBANE — "Vote John Howard off the island and welcome the asylum seekers!", Socialist Alliance Senate candidate and Aboriginal community leader Sam Watson told a crowd of around 500 people at the World Refugee Day rally on June 19, to loud applause.
Margaret Reynolds, president of the United Nations Association of Australia, also won strong support when she denounced the government's policy of mandatory detention of asylum seekers. Reynolds chaired the rally in King George Square, which was sponsored by a number of pro-refugee organisations, including the Refugee Action Committee.
Speakers at the rally included Dr Sev Ozdowski, commissioner of the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission and Shannon Fentiman, president of the Queensland University of Technology Student Guild. A phone message from a refugee in the Nauru detention centre was relayed by Hassan Ghulam, president of the Hazara Ethnic Society of Afghanistan.
A group of religious and spiritual leaders from various faiths read out a joint statement on refugees to the rally: "With deep concern for asylum seekers and refugees, but also for the moral fibre of our nation, we ask our elected leaders to reconsider the issues regarding refugees and asylum seekers ... We implore them to employ compassion, welfare and humanitarianism in their considerations when they reflect on such grave matters as mandatory detention of asylum seekers or temporary protection visas."
Jim McIlroy
From Green Left Weekly, June 30, 2004.
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