Campaign to close Villawood gains momentum

Ruth Ratcliffe, Sydney

One hundred and fifty Sydney residents have signed on to a "community pledge" to offer sanctuary in their homes to people detained in Villawood detention centre.

Rupen Savoulian, one of the campaign organisers, told Green Left Weekly: "People are outraged that more than 507 people, including 30 children, are detained in inhumane conditions in the middle of suburban Sydney. The community pledge means that they can tell Howard, 'We're not afraid of these people, we don't agree that they should be punished or scapegoated. We think they should be welcomed, and if you won't we will!'"

"My local area has one of the highest proportions of refugees in Australia, so the issues of closing Villawood, ending mandatory detention and abolishing temporary protection visas in favour of permanent protection are absolutely crucial", said Lisa Macdonald, the Socialist Alliance candidate for the federal seat of Reid, which borders the electorate in which the Villawood centre is located.

Macdonald has worked in the refugee-rights movement in western Sydney for many years and she believes that the issue extends beyond refugees and asylum seekers. "Only a minority of those detained in Villawood are asylum seekers. Most have overstayed their visas or had their visas cancelled for breaching their visa conditions, most commonly by working when their visas forbid that or by working more hours than specified in their visa. But it's not English backpackers who you'll find in there, it's overseas students or temporary workers from poor countries. They've been picked out and treated very inhumanely, without a chance to rectify a mistake or correct their status."

From Green Left Weekly, July 21, 2004.

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From GLW issue 590