Newtown rally: 'Close the camps!'

BY LISA MACDONALD

SYDNEY — "How many more lies do we have to endure until the refugees are free?", Free the Refugees Campaign's (FRC) Paul Benedek, the 300 people who rallied outside the Newtown Neighbourhood Centre on February 22. "No more!", they loudly replied.

The rally and march was called by the FRC just 10 days earlier.

The biggest cheer was for Reza Wakil, a refugee from Afghanistan who was detained for eight months in WA's Curtin detention centre. Wakil said that the new US-backed government in Afghanistan is little different from the Taliban regime. "Prime Minister John Howard's offer of cash for Afghans to go 'home' is disgraceful. Going back to death is not going home, we simply want a safe place to live", Wakil said.

Also warmly received was Richard Switzer, an activist who spent six weeks on the "Freedom Bus", which travelled to every detention centre in Australia. "They call people by number, not name" in the detention centres, Switzer reported. "At Port Hedland, we saw a child who cried for 10 minutes and asked. 'Why can't we be free, we are not criminals?'."

Other speakers included federal Labor MP for Sydney and Labor for Refugees representative Tanya Plibersek, Kaysar Trad from the Muslim Welfare Association, plus speakers from Amnesty International, Socialist Alliance and representatives from the Greens, the Australian Democrats and the Marrickville Close the Camps group.

Lauren Carroll-Harris, a member of the socialist youth organisation Resistance and a student at Newtown High School, got a huge response when she declared: "First there was the ALP's introduction of mandatory detention in 1994, then there was Hanson's racism, then the Liberals adopted Hanson's policies, and now we have lies and demonisation of refugees. It's time we put a stop to this racism."

The police refused permission for a march down King Street. When told of this, the crowd voted by an overwhelming majority to defy the cops and marched.

One of the most inspiring aspects of the rally was that patrons from the pubs and cafes cheered the march, indicating the broad and growing support for refugees' rights. As one passing motorist supportively called out, "Keep it up, we can do it!".

The FRC can be contacted on 0410 629 088. Join the email list at <free-the-refugees-campaign@yahoogroups.com>.

From Green Left Weekly, February 27, 2002.

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From GLW issue 482