The statement below was issued by asylum seekers on Nauru following their protest on the afternoon of October 29. Republished from the Refugee Action Coalition Sydney.
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ASYLUM SEEKERS IN NAURU
TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN
We heard several times from different authorities that the sending of us [to Nauru] is an argument of giving lessons to those who have intention of coming to Australia through the sea by people smugglers.
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An Iranian man became the fourth asylum seeker to attempt suicide in Australia’s detention camp on Nauru on October 24. He was cut down from hanging himself by guards and other refugees. Other acts of self-harm have also broken out on the island. On October 25, one detainee told Green Left Weekly that another man who injured himself with a razor did not get any medical care. The wave of self-harm and hunger strikes has hit the detention camp after only a month of the Labor government’s return to a “Pacific solution” for refugees. -
Refugees held in indefinite detention on Nauru shared the following letter on their Facebook page on October 26. They addressed it to human rights commissioners, communities of oppressed people and “world independent news channels”. It has been published with minimal edits. *** -
Refugees held in the Nauru detention camp have authored several letters detailing the conditions and despair they are now experiencing in the detention camp, where hunger strikes, self-harm, and disease and ill-health have erupted in just a few weeks. Three letters are republished below with minimal edits. *** October 22: Nauru refugee camp today at 10am in charge of all interviews held with representatives. -
About 200 people rallied in Melbourne for refugee rights on October 21. The Refugee Action Collective Victoria called the protest. Michelle O'Neill from the Textiles, Clothing and Footwear Union of Australia told the rally: “In reality, we are condemning asylum seekers to languish for indefinite periods of time. The effect of this on many asylum seekers will be extraordinarily severe psychological harm.
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More than 100 people attended an October 17 talk by Professor Damien Kingsbury of Deakin University titled “Why are the Tamils fleeing Sri Lanka?”. The meeting was organised by the Brigidine Asylum Seekers Project. Kingsbury outlined the history of Sri Lanka. He said that British colonialism created a centralised administration of the previously separate Tamil and Sinhalese areas of the island. After independence in 1948, Sinhalese politicians established a “majoritarian” political system that discriminated against the Tamil minority in terms of language, employment and education. -
The Refugee Action Collective Sydney released the statement below on October 19. * * * Another 38 asylum seekers, Iranian and Afghan, arrived in Nauru this morning (Friday 19 October) taking the number of asylum seekers, in the increasingly crowded detention centre to around 330. But asylum seekers on Nauru continue to protest. A united protest of all detainees was held on October 17, demanding that processing of refugee claims start immediately and that the Australian government stop sending asylum seekers to Nauru.
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The Australian government is set to give notorious private security firm G4S the contract to run the refugee detention camp on Papua New Guinea’s Manus Island. G4S has been dumped from previous contracts — including running Australia's refugee detention centre network — for medical negligence and incompetence. Reports from Christmas Island suggest many families, teenagers, women and children will be among the first to be sent to the island in coming weeks, where the army is finishing a “tent city” similar to that built on Nauru. -
More than 200 refugees held in a "tent city" on Nauru held a protest on October 14, saying they were horrified with the lack of health care, hygiene and entertainment at the camp. They said that "no immigration officials, no human rights organization" have arrived to hear their claims for asylum, sparking fear and doubt about how long they will be held on Nauru. The statement below was released by the Sydney Refugee Action Coalition on October 15. *** -
The Daily Telegraph slammed those so-called asylum seekers once more on October 11 in a hard hitting front page expose by Gemma Jones entitled “Sell house and sail away to better lives”. Jones wrote: “Sri Lanka's navy revealed that most of the 2279 people arrested leaving on 52 boats this year from 24 locations were 'economic migrants' looking for a better life in Australia.”
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More than 3300 asylum seekers have arrived in Australia by boat since the August 13 “expert panel report” on refugees. The Australian government has made no moves to hear the asylum claims of those sent to Nauru or held in mainland detention. The decision to stop processing refugee claims from people arriving by boat was part of Labor’s government return to the “Pacific solution” under a so-called “no advantage” system. It has already created an alarming backlog and distress for many. -
About 200 people rallied at Melbourne’s Maribyrnong Detention Centre on September 22, against deporting refugees to danger and mandatory detention. Dayan Anthony, a Tamil refugee, was deported to Sri Lanka in July against his will from Maribyrnong. Antony's Lawyer Sanmati Verma said: “Each and every professional and all community members in contact with Dayan Anthony attested that he was a torture survivor. And yet he was put on a plane and yet he was sent back to Sri Lanka.