'Refugees are welcome here!'

BY STUART MUNCKTON

CANBERRA — Chanting "Lock up Ruddock, free the refugees!", 30 people protested outside the National Press Club while immigration minister Philip Ruddock addressed journalists on the government-designated "Harmony Day", March 21.

One thousand school students "in traditional costume" were organised to surrounded Ruddock as he stood in the middle of a map of Australia on this farcical occasion.

The press club protest followed the federal government's patronising announcement that "three simple steps" could prevent racism and intolerance. Parliamentary secretary for reconciliation and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander affairs, Chris Gallus, patronisingly called on people to have a curry for dinner, say "hi" to an ethnic, and see a movie about Aborigines.

Phil Griffith from the Refugee Action Collective (RAC) accused Ruddock of being hypocritical for wearing an Amnesty International badge while abusing the human rights of asylum seekers in detention centres.

RAC activist and Resistance member Keara Courtney pointed out that the government's policy of denying public access to the refugee detention centres was a deliberate attempt to undercut public sympathy for the plight.

RAC is organising another demonstration against the government's inhumane detention of refugees in Canberra on June 3.

Also on March 21, protesters at a picket organised by the Refugee Rights Action Network in Perth highlighted the contradiction between the government's Harmony Day to celebrate cultural diversity and racial tolerance, and its anti-refugee policies which are intended to generate a climate of hostility and disharmony.

From GLW issue 442