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Socialist Alliance has called for a protest against the expulsion of 14
Kurdish refugees from Melville Island by the Australia government. This
expulsion sets a dark precedent that supporters of refugee rights must
stand-up against. Socialist Alliance has called the demonstration for
Wednesday November 19 at 12.30. Details follow:
Protest Vanstone's first act of Terrorism
Socialist Alliance has called for a protest against Immigration Minister
Vanstone's decision to return 14 Kurdish asylum seekers to Indonesia, in
breach of Australia's obligations under the UN Refugee Convention. The
protest will take place at the
Melbourne Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs
(cnr. Spring & Londsdale Sts, City) on
THIS Wednesday November 19 at 12.30pm.
"Vanstone's decision to turn-back 14 Kurds seeking refuge in Australia
is nothing short of terrorism," Socialist Alliance spokesperson Graham
Matthews said. "The crude expulsion of the Kurdish refugees is intended
to intimidate and frighten asylum seekers into not exercising their
right to claim asylum in Australia. It is an act of terrorism against
refugees, designed to demoralise desperate people fleeing oppression
from exercising their legal rights to claim asylum."
"We have been treated to a macabre spectacle where Vanstone tried to
maintain the fiction tat the Kurds had not claimed asylum in Australia.
The fact was that they were brutally expelled from Australian territory,
their legitimate claims to stay simply brushed-aside."
"The Liberal government's actions in sending the 14 Kurds back to
Indonesia - a country which is not a signatory to the 1951 Refugee
Convention, is not only illegal, it is also immoral," Matthews
continued. "The expulsion of people in desperate need without a second
thought is a heartless, inhuman act. It should be condemned by all those
who value human rights."
The Socialist Alliance will organise a demonstration and speak-out
against the federal government's heartless expulsion. Speakers will
include representatives of the Kurdish community in Australia and the
Australian Greens.
For more information or interviews, call Graham Matthews 0403 802 944.
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