23 September 2015

Stand up for refugees rally

| RAC
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rally for refugees

On 11 October people around the country will be rallying to oppose the horrors of detention on Manus Island and Nauru, the physical and sexual abuse of men, women and children that has occurred there, the silencing of doctors and other workers from speaking out about this abuse, and the shameful bipartisan support for cruelty towards refugees that has plagued Australia for over a decade.

Regardless of the lie our politicians tell us that stopping boats saves lives, without providing an alternative passage for asylum seekers to arrive in Australia safely the only options left available to them are to take a dangerous boat journey or to return to the countries they fled fearing persecution.

There IS a much better alternative. It is a safer alternative for those seeking refuge. It is a much more humane alternative and it is a vastly cheaper one. We know it is a feasible alternative because Australia used many elements of it in dealing with the Indochinese refugee upsurge in the 1970s and 1980s. Under that system Australia would eventually resettle well over 100,000 Indochinese refugees, the vast majority being processed in other countries such as Malaysia to which they had fled. They were then flown from there to Australia. There was no universal and mandatory detention of asylum seekers in Australia whatever their method of arrival.

Join community, church, political, student and union groups calling for justice for asylum seekers and refugees and for a tolerant and generous Australia.

When: Sunday 11 October 2015
Time: 1pm
Where: Garema Place
More info: https://www.facebook.com/events/1039152039462449/

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