BY KATHY NEWNAM
& PETER ROBSON
NEWCASTLE In one of the largest refugee rights meetings to be held in Newcastle, nearly 200 people packed the Town Hall on August 31 to hear immigration minister Philip Ruddock's lies destroyed.
Anne Coombs, from Rural Australians for Refugees (RAR), explained that the elevated number of refugees arriving in Australia by boat was a direct result of changes in policy that made it harder for refugees to enter Australia by other means.
Zachary Steel, a clinical psychologist who has worked with refugees in detention, almost brought the meeting to tears when he recalled an incident at the Woomera detention centre, following the Easter breakout, when all detainees were gathered together and tear-gassed.
Referring to guards employed by Australasian Correctional Management, Steel said: "When you place people in a situation where they are told that their main responsibility is to ensure that people do not escape, then abuse occurs. As psychologists we know this."
He went on to explain that placing people on temporary protection visas meant that they would never recover from the psychological trauma that they suffered. "For post-traumatic stress, it is a necessary condition for recovery that people are placed within a safe situation, but TPVs mean that people will never be in a stable situation and never feel safe."
Chris Dodds, NSW president of the Australian Council of Social Services, condemned the lack of access that people on TPVs had to social programs that were designed to help refugees.
Riz Wakil, an Afghan TPV holder, was the final speaker at the meeting. He explained that the government's policy made him unsure as to whether living in Australia was better than life in Afghanistan. "We now have a well-dressed, white, clean-shaven version of the Taliban", he said, referring to the current Afghan government.
"There is a sense of powerlessness in people if they don't come together and take a stand", said Coombs.
"It's incumbent on all of us not to get too down", said meeting chairperson Anne McLaughlin. "We have to fight back any way we can."
"We have to remember the experience of the Vietnam Moratoriums", said Coombs. "And we have to do the same thing now.
"The mood is changing", she added, noting the experience of many RAR groups, where the initial response from communities was disinterest or even hostility. "People would initially cross the road to avoid the campaign stalls."
She reported that many people in country towns were now willing to discuss the issue and be persuaded by the facts. "What we have to do is get out there on the streets with flyers, information. We need to get the confidence to talk to people about these facts."
The meeting was organised by Newcastle Action for Refugee Rights and received wide endorsement from political parties and community groups throughout Newcastle. The next project of NARR is to organise protests to coincide with the anniversary of the SIEV-X disaster, in which 353 refugees drowned attempting to reach Australia. To get involved call Kathy on 0412 388 869.
From Green Left Weekly, September 11, 2002.
Visit the Green Left Weekly home page.