At 8.30am tomorrow (Friday) morning, refugee activists will again stress that ‘No one is illegal’ at the site of the now infamous Liberal billboard in West Perth.
“Abbott’s dishonest and offensive billboard was taken down after it was corrected by graffiti artists. However, it now features Michael Keenan and Darryl Moore, who happily posed with Tony Abbott on Monday morning”, said Mark Goudkamp from the Refugee Action Coalition who confronted Tony Abbott on at his press conference.
“Along with Abbott, shadow Minister for Justice, Customs and Border Protection Michael Keenan has been utterly unrepentant about the Liberals’ use of the word ‘illegal’, despite being widely criticised, including by the Press Council, for doing so”, added Goudkamp.
After this peak-hour action, the protesters will join other activists from around the country outside the East Perth train station at 10am to board buses to Northam, where a series of protest actions will occur over the Anzac weekend. The main two main public events outside Northam’s Yongah Hill detention centre are a candlelight vigil starting at 6pm on Friday 26th April with Amnesty International, and a protest with activists and ex-detainee speakers at 1pm on Saturday 27th.
“Incidences of self-harm in detention, like those yesterday at MITA in Melbourne remain all too common. By going to Northam, we aim to give hope to those locked up inside that there are many people in Australia who support their right to freedom.
“Disgracefully, Serco has banned all visits to detainees from today for four days, even before the convergence has commenced”, said Victoria Iverson-Martin from the Refugee Rights Action Network who regularly visits Hazara, Iranian and Tamil detainees at the centre.
“Like previous refugee convergences, Northam is about sending a message to the Australian public that the bipartisan support for mandatory detention, offshore processing, and the indefinite detention of the ASIO negative refugees has to end.
“And in light of the 7.30 Report’s revelations of the abduction and torture of a Tamil migrant who went back to visit his family in Sri Lanka, the government’s screening out of Tamil asylum seekers must be halted immediately. Unfortunately, a more humane approach to asylum seekers and refugees is unlikely to come from our current political leaders”, said Ian Rintoul of RAC.
For comment or information, contact: Mark Goudkamp 0422078376, Victoria Martin-Iverson 0410589064 or Ian Rintoul 0417275713
Also visit http://rran.org/ for updates.
The Amnesty vigil event on Friday is here: https://www.facebook.com/
