Chris Slee reviews Vannessa Hearman’s new book, The Good Sea: The Journey of the ‘Tasi Diak’ and the Politics of Refugee Protection in Australia, which tracks Australia’s treatment of refugees and the development of the solidarity movement with Timor-Leste.
The Victorian Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission’s eight-year investigation into the United Firefighters Union (UFU) and its secretary has found no corruption. However, as Chris Slee reports, there are calls to remove the long-standing UFU secretary.
A Refugee Action Collective forum discussed how to push back against politicians and the media’s scapegoating of refugees for the cost-of-living and housing crises. Chris Slee reports.
Tamils and supporters rallied outside the State Library of Victoria to demand justice for the people who were murdered by the Sri Lankan army and buried in mass graves at the town of Chemmani in northern Sri Lanka. Chris Slee reports.
London-based academic Penny Green, who visited Rohingya refugees forced to flee Myanmar to the Cox’s Bazaar camps in Bangladesh, and Rohingya refugee Mohammed Zuhar addressed a Refugee Action Collective forum. Chris Slee reports.
A Refugee Action Collective forum heard that refugees sent to Nauru by the Australian government are suffering physical and mental health problems. Chris Slee reports.
Barat Ali Batoor, a Hazara refugee from Afghanistan, said he hoped a Labor government would be better than its predecessor, but it is imposing a “brutal regime”. Chris Slee reports.
The recent discovery of a mass grave in Sri Lanka has ignited a wave of protests by Tamils demanding an investigation, accompanied by calls for the government to fulfil its pledge to improve the treatment of Tamils. Chris Slee reports.
Menaha Kandasamy, general secretary of the Ceylon Workers Red Flag Union says tea and rubber plantation workers face new challenges in Sri Lanka. Chris Slee reports.
Kon Karapanagiotidis, CEO of the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, told a refugee rights forum that a sanctuary network, involving churches and unions, is being built. Chris Slee reports.
Four speakers addressed a public forum organised by Australian Advocacy for Good Governance in Sri Lanka. Chris Slee reports.
More than 200 Venezuelan migrants deported from the United States to El Salvador are being held under harsh conditions in the country’s Terrorism Confinement Centre. Meanwhile, the US is threatening further economic sanctions against Venezuela, reports Chris Slee.
