PORT PHILLIP TO BE DECLARED A 'REFUGEE WELCOME ZONE' For World Refugee Day, Thursday June 20, the City of Port Phillip will add its voice to a number of local governments in declaring its municipality a 'refugee welcome zone'. The initiative is being promoted by the Refugee Council of Australia.
So far, the Cities of Melbourne, Darebin, Hume, Monash, Brimbank, Boroondara, Port Phillip, Port Adelaide-Enfield, Fremantle and Brisbane have committed in spirit "to welcoming refugees to their community, upholding the human rights of refugees, demonstrating compassion to refugees and enhancing cultural and religious diversity in our community". Port Phillip mayor, Darren Ray, said that last month the council had adopted a policy on asylum seekers. "There has been a long and proud history of refugee settlement in Port Phillip, especially since World War 11. Thousands of refugees from war-torn Europe landed at Station Pier and settled locally. This was part of the impetus behind the recent Tampa Tribute. Kathy Laster, a Jewish St Kilda resident whose vision and determination drove that event, was not a refugee from World War 11 but from the Hungarian uprising of 1956. "Kathy arrived as a young child but she knows andwe know, that we are all in the same boat, when war or calamity strikes. In the Middle East, Jews and Muslims are at loggerheads but here in Australia, and most especially this community, the Jewish community has been most vociferous in speaking up for the rights of refugees, many of whom are Muslim. They know what it is like to be a stranger in a strange land, or in a strange sea. "At the moment, unlike our counterparts in Moreland, Darebin and Dandenong, the City of Port Phillip is not directly involved in settling people on temporary protection visas. Some have joined our community thanks to amazing efforts of the Brigidine convent in Albert Park. They provide hospitality and practical assistance to refugees as well as advocating for their rights. Four refugees now live in their house on Beaconsfield Parade. Other refugees live in Office of Housing accommodation in places like Park Towers in South Melbourne," he said. Cr Ray said that, nevertheless, the local community had sought a public statement that asserts that the current treatment of asylum seekers, and particularly their mandatory detention, is unjust and inhumane, compounding the trauma that most individuals have experienced. "The City of Port Phillip is proud to stand side by side with asylum seekers. We are committed to engaging with local citizens and groups, including multicultural, interfaith, community health and support agencies, to determine how this community can support asylum seekers. Our first step is to reserve two places at the South Central Migrant Resource Centre for people on temporary protection visas who are therefore ineligible for government-funded English-language lessons," he said. Cr Ray said that a letter sent on July 30 last year from the council's multicultural advisory committee to the Minister for Immigration, Phillip Ruddick, protesting about the treatment of asylum seekers, remained unanswered. "Maybe he's been too busy drawing up plans to exclude bits and pieces Australia from the 'migration zone' but I know that many people would like an answer. Like reconciliation, this issue has cut to the core of what this nation should stand for but doesn't. Both issues are, in fact, related. "With the exception of indigenous Australians, we are all boat people (even if some of our forebears arrived by plane). Because our nation still has to make peace with indigenous Australians over the illegal occupation of their land two centuries ago, we feel our hold on this country is still fragile. We fear, irrationally, that another group of boat people could take it all away. If our society is to heal and grow, we need to resolve these issues sooner rather than later," he said. Deputy mayor, Liz Johnstone, will sign the 'Refugee Welcome Zone' declaration at a Refugee Council of Victoria media conference at 12 noon, Wednesday June 19, Chapel Off Chapel, 12 Little Chapel Street, Prahran, the day before World Refugee Day. Last year World Refugee Day was designated to be June 20 by the UN General Assembly to mark the 50th anniversary of the 1951 Refugee Convention. This year the theme is women refugees. The same night, June 19, the Refugee Council of Victoria will host an evening of music, entertainment and performance entitled "Welcome Stranger", at 7.30pm, also at Chapel Off Chapel. It includes a performance of refugee stories by some of Australia's most talented actors - Secret Life of Us stars Joel Edgerton, Deborah Mailman, and Alice Garner, John Wood (Blue Heelers), Annie Phelan (Something in the Air), Rachel Maza (Radiance) - and refugees living in our community including Fahim Fayyazi and Samira Mohamed. Their performances will be followed by music and entertainment by a variety of Melbourne musicians including Kavish Mazzella. Melbourne comedian Hung Le, a refugee from Vietnam in the mid-70s, will MC. Enquiries: After hours Carmel Shute Darren Ray Council Media Officer Mayor Tel: 9209 6163 Fax: 9525 4640 Tel: 9527 5364 (h) Mobile: 0412 569 356 Mobile: 0413 334 523 Council webpage: www.portphillip.vic.gov.au Carmel Shute Council Media Officer City of Port Phillip Ph: 03 9209 6163 Fax: 03 9525 4640 Mob: 0412 569 356 email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink