Rally in defence of refugees

December 1, 1999
Issue 

Rally in defence of refugees

By Douglas Hawthorne

SYDNEY — Evening shoppers in Parramatta's Church Street Mall on November 25 were greeted by a rally of 40 people protesting against the new anti-refugee law.

Organised by Resistance, the Democratic Socialist Party and the Worker-Communist Party of Iraq, the rally condemned Labor and the Coalition for passing the legislation.

Resistance member Lucy Honey slammed their adoption of Pauline Hanson's racist anti-refugee agenda. "Two years ago One Nation was warning of floods of invading 'boat people' that had to be stopped. Liberal and Labor have now granted her wish."

Bronwyn Powell spoke of how hard it is for those in most poor countries to apply legally for refugee status in Australia. Doing so was particularly dangerous in countries ruled by authoritarian regimes like Iraq and Afghanistan, she said.

David Lam, from Action in Solidarity with Indonesia and East Timor, told the crowd of the inhumane treatment dished out to East Timorese refugees by Australian governments over the past 24 years. "These new Liberal and Labor policies are simply a continuation of their previous inhumane approach", Lam said.

The participants then marched on the offices of federal Liberal MP Ross Cameron. Another protest has been announced for December 9.

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