NOVEMBER 3 – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Over 35 refugee, humanitarian and community groups are backing the protest this Sunday November 7 in opposition to the mandatory detention of asylum seekers.
The rally, which will begin at the State Library at 2pm and march to Federation Square will be addressed by a range of speakers including Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young.
The event has been called by the Refugee Advocacy Network (RAN), the coalition of organisations that organised the 3,000 strong march on World Refugee Day (June 20) earlier this year. The Network is supported by a wide range of organisations including Amnesty International, The Greens, Labor for Refugees, the Refugee Action Collective, Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, and many more (see full list of supporting groups below).
RAN spokesperson Sue Bolton said today: “We are calling on all supporters of refugee rights to take to the streets this weekend. It is time that those who oppose the bipartisan consensus of scapegoating refugees raise their voices and demand a fundamental change in the way this country treats people who come here seeking asylum.”
“The crisis in Australia’s detention system is increasingly acute” said Bolton. “Protests, hunger strikes and incidents of self-harm are on the rise. More and more people are coming to realise that the system of mandatory detention is inherently unjust, is punishing the innocent, and must be gotten rid of. And yet the government’s latest policy announcement proposes to end the crisis by setting up yet more detention centres – with an additional 1900 beds – which will further entrench the mandatory detention regime that should instead be abolished.”
A full list of speakers and a running sheet for the protest will be available on Friday.
For further comment contact
Sue Bolton: 0413 377 978
Stephen Bain: 0400 561 624
Refugee Advocacy Network
www.refugeeadvocacynetwork.org
LIST OF ORGANISATIONS BACKING NOVEMBER 7 REFUGEE PROTEST
Asylum Seeker Resource Centre
Australian Education Union (Vic)
Australian Services Union
Australian Tamil Congress
Australia West Papua Association
Ballarat Circle of Friends
Brigidine Asylum Seekers’ Project
Edmund Rice Asylum Seeker Project
Free Tamil Eelam
Geelong Trades Hall
Geelong Refugee Action and Information Network (GRAIN)
Humanitarian Crisis Hub
Islamic Council of Victoria
Jewish Labour Bund Inc
Justice and International Mission, Uniting Church
Labor for Refugees
Latrobe University SRC
Melbourne Unitarian Church
National Union of Students
NTEU (Vic)
Queenscliff Rural Australians for Refugees
Refugee Action Collective (Vic)
Researchers for Asylum Seekers
RISE
Socialist Alliance
Socialist Alternative
Solidarity
Surf Coast Rural Australians for Refugees
The Greens (Vic)
The Spirit of Eureka
the Tamil Coordinating Committee
The Union of Australian Women (Vic)
Victorian Council of Churches
Victorian Immigrant and Refugee Women’s Coalition