#4
Refugees on hunger strike
ADELAIDE — On September 14, asylum seekers from Sri Lanka, including some Tamils, being held in the Baxter Detention Centre began a protest on the third anniversary of their controversial arrival in Australia's migration zone with a plea to immigration minister Amanda Vanstone that their cases be reassessed.
All of them had to leave families and children behind when they fled Sri Lanka. They arrived on the Cook Islands on September 15, 2001. Just two days later, the islands were excised from Australia's migration zone, denying the men the legal right to seek asylum. They were finally allowed to lodge applications for protection visas in September 2002.
One of the Sri Lankan men has been on hunger strike since September 9. Since September 14, he has also refused water.
"These men are making a heartfelt plea to the Australian government to reopen their cases for asylum in light of the deteriorating security and human rights situation in Sri Lanka", said Mira Wroblewski of Rural Australians for Refugees. "It is inhumane to attempt to send them back there. Their time in detention has been prolonged by a year because of errors made by the department of immigration. It is time to show them some compassion."
John McGill
Young refugees speak out
SYDNEY — On September 14, young refugees and former Big Brother contestant Merlin Luck addressed students at an open-air forum at the University of UNSW organised by Amnesty International.
Two young women, one from Afghanistan, one from Iraq, both high school students, described fleeing their homes with their families as children in the late '90s. They described the stress of frequent moves, trying to find a country that would accept them, and where they could establish a life, the horror of the journey from Indonesia in overcrowded boats, and the mind-numbing boredom and social isolation of Australia's detention centres.
Luck condemned the Coalition government and encouraged activism against it: "If you know what's going on, how can you just go home at the end of the day and watch stupid TV sitcoms and lifestyle shows, and block the rest of the world out? Do something! Get involved!"
Shua Garfield
Shadowland exhibition opens
MELBOURNE — On September 16, 250 people attended an opening of the "Shadowland, this is my case" refugee photographic exhibition at the Footscray Community Arts Centre.
Addressing the opening was former Coalition prime minister Malcolm Fraser, refugee advocate Julian Burnside, QC, writer and historian Toni Birch and Iraqi temporary protection visa holder Aowham Al Dujayli.
The aim of the exhibition is to bring into the public eye the suffering and the courage of temporary protection visa holders in Australia.
Fraser said he hoped a change of politics in Australia could be possible even before the November US presidential elections, implying he wanted to see the present Coalition government defeated on October 9. His comment received a big cheer from the audience.
Toni Birch warned that the Labor Party offers no solution to the refugee crisis and encouraged people to attend the pre-election protests in Melbourne on October 1 and October 3.
The photographic exibition will be open until October 10.
Margarita Windisch
From Green Left Weekly, September 22, 2004.
Visit the Green Left Weekly home page.