Thousands of people rallied in Melbourne on October 11 as part of a national day of action for refugee rights
The day before, doctors at the Royal Children's Hospital announced that they would refuse to let children in hospital be discharged into detention.
The ABC reported on October 11: "Doctors from Melbourne's Royal Children's Hospital (RCH) have called on the Federal Government to end the practice of keeping children in detention, saying they cannot effectively treat them.
"Almost 1,000 doctors, nurses and clinical support staff across the RCH have joined the call."
Christine Craik, national vice-president of the Australian Association of Social Workers told the rally: "Our members have been banned and told not to speak out, threatened with jail, but they continue to speak out.
"Social workers have been sacked, escorted off the island, faced social media bans, and lies. The prison on Nauru alone costs $37 million a month. Nauru and Cambodia can do no more and nor should they. It is time to bring all the asylum seekers to Australia. Enough is enough."
Mohammad Ali Baqiri, who was locked up Nauru spoke at the rally and asked: "Why all this secrecy? Why do the government need to keep secrets? Why spend so much money on torturing people in detention? We should be spending this on helping people."
Photo: Ali Bakhtiarvandi
Photo: Ali Bakhtiarvandi
Photo: Ali Bakhtiarvandi
Photo: Ali Bakhtiarvandi
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