Refugee Embassy Closes Down
submitted by Dave McKay
The Refugee Embassy which has been based at Woomera since Easter of
this year, has announced that it is closing down.
Ross Parry and Dave McKay started the bus-based "embassy" as an
attempt to provide better communication and moral support between
asylum seekers imprisoned at Woomera and members of the general
public.
They announced their intentions to visit detainees on a regular
basis, as well as putting fellow Australians in contact with
detainees for the purpose of writing to and telephoning them.
An indefinite ban (by the Department of Immigration) on the two men
visiting detainees has restricted them in their efforts, but did not
stop them from arranging visits for many other people, and from
campaigning for better conditions inside the detention centre.
Eventually, with help from his wife, Cherry, who was allowed to visit
detainees, Dave produced a book of profiles about specific residents
of the desert concentration camp, called "The Worst of Woomera".
Sales of the book are now approaching 50,000. It has been a powerful
tool in introducing the general public to the human face of asylum
seekers.
"We knew from the start that we could not stay on here indefinitely,"
Ross Parry said today. "And we have been trying to encourage others
to come and take over what we have started."
The Embassy's efforts to assist detainees were seriously hampered
when an opponent of the embassy turned up in town and was granted
free access to detainees, some of whom she convinced that the Refugee
Embassy was out to get them or their relatives killed.
"This woman has been here for more than two months now," complained
Dave Mckay, "and she has done little if anything to help the
detainees. Her main contribution has been to undermine our efforts.
Detainees are being torn in two, and we cannot function under this
kind of opposition."
Both McKay and Parry say that fresh faces could be the answer to both
of their problems. If someone else were to set up in Woomera, they
might be able to get permission to visit, and they might be able to
shake the stigma which the agitator has generated with regard to the
Refugee Embassy.
It is understood that the woman herself has now been banned from
visiting detainees, because of the distress that her presence has
generated amongst asylum seekers there.
Both Ross Parry and Dave McKay will continue to maintain contact with
detainees by mail and post from the East Coast, and they will
continue to produce "The Freedom Banner", a newspaper consisting of
contributions from the detainees themselves. (It is composed and
printed outside the prison, and then posted in to the detainees for
distribution.)
In addition, Ross and Dave will continue to promote and distribute
copies of "The Worst of Woomera" to people around Australia. Copies
may be ordered singly, or in bulk (up to 880 copies at one time),
from the email address, <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> or via Box A678, Sydney
South 1235. There is no set price on the 32-page A4 sized books,
which have been produced for less than fifty cents each. People are
asked to contribute as little or as much as they feel they can
afford.
"Even if you cannot afford to pay fifty cents, do not let it stop you
from ordering copies to distribute in your neighbourhood, at work, or
at school," they said.
Dave McKay 0422-142-702
Ross Parry 0407-238805
--
"All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good people to
remain silent and do nothing."
.
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