BY SARAH PEART
MELBOURNE — The November 24 Rock Against Racism was no ordinary free concert. Held outside the Maribyrnong refugee detention centre, it became a solidarity statement that sent a loud and clear message to the refugees inside the centre that they are not alone.
More than 500 supporters gathered and, as the bands rocked on, they placed banners and signs reading "Free the refugees" and "Close the detention camps" on the surrounding fences. Some people brought gifts for the refugees which were collected in a big gift box. Many different activist stalls provided information about the refugee rights campaign.
After Moondriven, Mach Pelican and Brown Hornet had played, concert-goers walked over to the detention centre to have a closer look at the recently built prison walls, chanting: "Open the borders, close the camps, free the refugees!"
"Although we couldn't see the refugees, they certainly would have heard us", concert organiser and Democratic Socialist Party member Arun Pradhan told Green Left Weekly. "That would have given them courage and strength."
Before the Dave Graney Band and Snout finished off the day, Jorge Jorquera, the Socialist Alliance candidate for the seat of Gellibrand in the recent federal election, spoke to the crowd
"Refugees don't leave their families and country because they want to, they leave because they have to in order to escape starvation and death", he argued. "And they don't want our tears — handkerchiefs aren't enough. They want our solidarity on the streets, just like today."
Organisers pledged to that this wouldn't be the last rock against racism. Pradhan told the crowd "We will organise actions, rallies, stunts, protests and rock concerts until these prison camps are closed and refugees are treated as human beings."
From Green Left Weekly, November 28, 2001.
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