SYDNEY — The capitalist media has consistently demonstrated its bias on the issue of asylum seekers. While the federal government and right-wing commentators are given regular coverage, it's rare for the stories of asylum seekers to be told. It is even rarer for asylum seekers to be able to tell their stories in their own words.

At 9pm on September 15, Actively Radical TV, Sydney's radical broadcaster, will feature interviews with several refugees from Afghanistan. Riz Wakil, an activist with the Free the Refugees Campaign group who has just finished a whirlwind speaking tour of the east coast, will be a featured guest.

Wakil is a member of the oppressed Hazara minority in Afghanistan. After travelling through Pakistan and Indonesia, he arrived in Australia by boat in November 1999. Wakil was incarcerated in the Curtin detention centre for nine months. He is now living in Australia on a temporary protection visa, which is due to expire next year.

Wakil comes from a family of political activists and was a known opponent of the Taliban regime. Since arriving in Australia, he has been active in the fight to free the refugees.

Actively Radical TV broadcasts every Sunday night, 9-11pm. To watch channel 31, tune a spare channel on your TV to SBS (UHF channel 28) then keep tuning up the UHF band.

From Green Left Weekly, September 11, 2002.
Visit the Green Left Weekly home page. 

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