Thirty refugee rights activists rallied outside Commonwealth offices in Sydney, to coincide with the June 17 presentation of a 65,000 strong petition to the Federal Parliament in Canberra, calling for the immediate closure of Manus Island and Nauru detention centres.
The petition is here and can still be signed.
Nicole Judge, Manus Island detention centre whistleblower, and Ian Rintoul of the Refugee Action Coalition (RAC) spoke at the rally.
The petition was organised by GetUp! And RAC and endorsed by an impressive array of groups – the Refugee Action Coalition, Doctors for Refugees, ChilOut, the Australian Catholic Social Justice Council, the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, Unions for Refugees, National Tertiary Education Union, the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils, the Justice, Ecology and Development Office (JEDO) of the Catholic Archdiocese of Perth, Queenscliff Rural Australians for Refugees, Uniting Church in Australia Synod of NSW/ACT, Catholic Social Services Australia Catholic Social Justice Commission, Archdiocese of Canberra & Goulburn, and the Welcome Group.
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