Palm Sunday "Justice for Refugees Rally"
1:30pm, March 24
Melbourne Town Hall (cnr Swanston St and Collins Sts)
Speakers at Town Hall followed by march through the city, then more
speakers, music and other performers in Treasury Gardens.
Tens of thousands are expected, supporting refugees rights in the face
of constant attacks made on them, through Mandatory Detention, Temporary
Protection Visas, and the Pacific Solution of detention centres in small
Pacific island nations.
Web site: www.justiceforrefugees.org
Organisations involved:
Refugee Action Collective
Victorian Trades Hall Council
Victorian Council of Churches
Victorian Council of Social Services
Friends of the Earth
Justice For Asylum Seekers
Ethnic Communities' Council
Islamic Council of Victoria
Arabic Australia Council
Uniting Church
Australian Jewish Democratic Society
Victorian Union for Progressive Judaism
National Union of Students
Liberty Victoria
Amnesty International
Please contact Giada (details below) to volunteer to help on the day, to
get more information, or to get posters and leaflets for your local
shops, library, school, community groups, etc. Help is also needed in
the buildup to the event.
Giada Caluzzi(event organiser)
9659 3581
0408 538 916
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Politics of the event:
==============
End Mandatory Detention:
Asylum Seekers who arrive in Australia without valid visas face
mandatory detention. Mandatory detention means that men, women and
children are all locked up in detention centres until their claims for
asylum have been processed. This can take as long as four years, during
which time refugees must stay in detention even if they have completed
health and security checks and pose no threat to the community.
Australia is the only developed country in the world that has such a
harsh detention policy. Other developed countries, like Canada, have
laws that require that refugees be detained only after they have been
found to be a risk to the community. Ending the policy of mandatory
detention does not mean abandoning health and security checks. Reception
centres or open hostels can serve this purpose. We do not need to
imprison refugees in detention camps like that at Woomera.
Abolish Temporary Protection Visas:
Asylum seekers who arrive without valid visas, even once proven to
berefugees fleeing persecution, can never obtain full citizenship
rights.Instead, they are given Temporary Protection Visas (TPVs) which
last for a limited time and must be renewed. Holders of TPVs cannot
return to Australia if they leave the country, but at the same time,
they are not allowed family reunion rights which would enable them to
bring their loved ones here. This violates the 1951 Refugee Convention,
according to which "States shall not impose penalties...on refugees
who... are present in their territory without authorisation..." TPVs
result in great insecurity for refugees, making it difficult for them to
rebuild their lives and contribute to Australian society as citizens.
Let the Boats Land:
The turning away of boats by the Australian navy puts refugees at risk
of being returned to the country from which they have fled. Sending
refugees to detention centres in Pacific Island nations that have not
signed the Refugee Convention leaves refugees with uncertain futures,
and turns these islands into modern-day penal colonies. Refugees should
be allowed to land in Australia and be processed here. There are
millions of refugees in the world: Australia can take responsibility for
the tiny minority of those who end up on our shores. Poorer Pacific
nations should not bear the burden of Australia's refugee policy.
.
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