More than 300 asylum seekers on Nauru staged another protest Sunday
(21 October) afternoon calling for refugee processing to begin
immediately and for closure of the Nauru detention centre (see
statement below).
The protest on Nauru was timed to coincide with a protest in Melbourne
calling for an end to offshore processing. During the protest, the
asylum seekers called the UN to draw attention to their situation.
The asylum seekers are very worried about moves to intimidate
different groups inside the detention centre. Australian immigration
officials are holding separate meetings with asylum seekers of
different nationalities.
One of the Iranian asylum seekers has been subjected to intense
surveillance and seems to have a guard or Nauru police permanently
watching him. “They even follow me to the toilet,” he told the Refugee
Action Coalition.
“There is an urgent need for independent human rights observers to be
stationed on Nauru. The Australian government is using its ‘no
advantage’ offshore processing policy to create intolerable condition
on Nauru,” said Ian Rintoul, spokesperson for the Refugee Action
Coalition.
“The government is also deliberately stalling refugee processing both
in Nauru and Australian detention centre. There are thousands of
people now in Australian detention centres, that the government knows
it cannot send to Nauru or Manus Island, yet they have been left in
limbo.
“The uncertainty is a form of mental torture. It is precisely this
uncertainty that makes detention centres ‘factories of mental
illness’. The government should begin processing refuge claims, here
and on Nauru, immediately.”
For more information contact Ian Rintoul mob 0417 275 713
Statement from Nauru, Sunday 21 October:
Asylum seekers Nauru
To whom it may concern
The government of Australia and human rights [supporters]
There is a big difference between criminal and asylum seekers, but the
Australian does not take care of the difference between asylums
seekers of Nauru camp, Darwin and Curtain [sic] camp, are treated
differently.
As a human being in this critical condition, we are not being given
the fair treatment , which affect us physically and mentally. This
bitter reality torture us 24 hours means all days. In our home land we
were in a danger of being tortured physically, but here we are facing
mental tortured which are effecting us mentally.
All these sorrowful information have been provided to world through
telephone, mails and email but [we] haven’t been given any response.
Today we all got together to declare that we will continue our
protests until getting our rights. The following are our demands:
1) The most important appeal is that if Australian Government should
have attention to our cases and take us back to Australia.
2) We request the Australia Government to visits us and see us in bad
condition of our lives.
3) stop sending asylum seeker to the Hell.
4) We accept Australia as a democratic country, where people are being
treated equally and as a human being, we expect the same treatment.
At last we want to thanks people who help us …