By Lisa Macdonald SYDNEY — Seventeen Christian churches and organisations in Australia last week announced their intention to provide sanctuary for East Timorese refugees under threat of deportation by the federal Labor government. The newly formed Christian Sanctuary Network is taking a clear stand against the government's recommendation to the Refugee Review Tribunal to find that the 1300 East Timorese applicants are Portuguese citizens and as such cannot be given refugee status in Australia. In a statement released on November 5, the CSN says that its concern has been heightened by recent incidences in East Timor and decisions made by the federal government. "It is inconsistent with Australia's legal obligations and moral mission for refugees to bundle them off to another part of the world ... We do not propose to stand by and allow such persons to be removed from Australia and sent to East Timor, Indonesia or Portugal." The network has challenged the federal government, "in the name of freedom ... to reverse its policy against the East Timor refugee applicants". It says that "if all avenues of appeal are exhausted, our group faces a higher moral obligation to consider the offer of sanctuary to East Timorese resisting deportation". For more information about CSN, phone (02) 356 3888 or write to PO Box 522, Kings Cross NSW 2011.
East Timorese refugee sanctuary network formed
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