Since the Australian government's refusal last year to allow asylum seekers rescued by the Norwegian freighter Tampa to land in Australia, a significant protest movement in support of refugees' rights has developed across Australia. The movement has been fuelled by Prime Minister John Howard and his ministers "children overboard" lies that helped his government get re-elected in November.
Many Australians have now realised that the federal Coalition government (and the Labor opposition) is prepared to risk the lives of hundreds of vulnerable people for electoral gain. It has dawned on many that Canberra is scapegoating and demonising refugees fleeing persecution to whip up xenophobia and racism in Australia. This is the real meaning of its Hansonite code words like "being tough" and "firm" to protect "our way of life" against the "flood" of asylum seekers from the Third World.
The movement in support of refugees' rights has made big advances since Tampa. New organisations have been formed across the country, from cities to rural and regional areas. There are now campaign collectives in all major cities around Australia, regularly organising public meetings and protest rallies.
Children out of Detention, or ChilOut, was formed in Sydney after an ABC Four Corners report last August on the plight of six-year-old Shayan Bedraie, who was suffering post-traumatic stress disorder in Villawood detention centre. There are now similar groups in the Blue Mountains, the NSW north coast and as far away as London.
ChilOut organised a "suits against detention" rally, attracting 800 people, in Sydney on March 7. Its monthly information nights continue to attract between 100 and 200 people.
Rural Australians for Refugees (RAR) was launched in a number of NSW towns late last year with huge public meetings — 400 in Bowral and 700 in Armidale. This trend has continued, as RAR members have taken to the streets and shopping centres of their local towns to hand out leaflets and discuss the issues. A recent public meeting in the NSW town of Cootamundra attracted 50 people and a Lismore meeting drew 200. Groups have recently been launched in Orange, Goulburn and Warragul. RAR has now spread to Victoria as well, and has contacts in most other states.
The growth of the RAR network is a refreshing reminder that progressive-minded and humanitarian people are as likely to live in small towns as they are in the cities.
RAR issued the call for the rally in Canberra at the opening of Parliament on February 12, mobilising hundreds of people for the 4000-strong protest. This was the largest mobilisation to date in support of refugees' rights. It marked a significant step in the development of the mass protest movement.
Recently, there have been a series of very successful suburban rallies in Sydney, including a protest of 200 in Newtown organised by Free the Refugees Campaign, and 500 in the Blue Mountains.
Public meetings and discussions on the refugee issue have mushroomed and continue to draw significant crowds. "People's inquiries" into the government's treatment of refugees have been held across the country.
Buses full of refugees' rights campaigners have twice made the trip to Woomera. One bus travelled around Australia to visit all the immigration detention centres. There have been regular visits to, and protests at, city-based detention centres in Sydney and Melbourne.
The Labor Party clearly feels it is no longer safe to totally agree with the federal government every step of the way. Labor for Refugees, formed after the federal election, is working to change Labor's policies from within.
But a real shift in policy will take continued and unrelenting mass pressure from a movement which maintains its political independence from the anti-refugee political parties.
An independent movement with clear political goals and demands has the potential to make real progress, drawing thousands of supporters into a wave of protest which can, and must, force a shift in what the government feels it can get away with, and what the Labor opposition puts forward as the alternative.
The refugees' rights movement is strengthened by its unity, by the willingness and enthusiasm of such a diversity of groups to work together. There are many opportunities to maintain and escalate pressure on the government. An approaching date which offers a natural focus for the next national mobilisation in defence of refugees is May Day.
From Green Left Weekly, March 20, 2002.
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