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In light of the Coronavirus crisis, the Palm Sunday organising committee has made the difficult but necessary decision to cancel the 2020 Palm Sunday Rally.<\/p>\n
This does not mean that we will stay silent on Australia\u2019s inhumane refugee regime. The conditions in the detention centres and in the hotels being used as Alternate Places of Detention place people in very high-risk environments. They are kept in crowded conditions with no possibility of practicing recommended social distancing<\/a> to protect themselves from the virus.<\/p>\n Hundreds of refugees and asylum seekers who were transferred from Manus and Nauru for medical treatment are still being held in closed detention; many without the medical treatment they need.\u00a0They now face an increased risk of infection. This is a public health issue<\/a> as much as a humanitarian issue.<\/p>\n The isolation and lack of freedom that many of us are feeling as a result of having to self-isolate or social distance should be harnessed to express solidarity with refugees who continue to experience indefinite isolation as they are used and abused for political gain by the Australian Government.<\/p>\n To mark this year\u2019s Palm Sunday, we are building an online large-scale expression of solidarity for all refugees who continue to experience the brutal effects of indefinite, mandatory detention. This is the #FreeTheRefugees campaign.<\/p>\n This Sunday 5 April take the following steps:<\/p>\n 1. Add our Facebook frame to your profile picture by logging into Facebook and visiting this link<\/a>. (This can be done in the lead up to the day to raise online awareness).<\/p>\n 2. Take a picture of yourself holding up a sign. We have produced signs you can print out here<\/a> with one of the following statements. But if you don’t have a printer just put a handwritten message on a piece of paper<\/p>\n a. Detention is an infection risk #freetherefugees 3. Post to your Facebook\/Instagram\/Twitter account making sure to use the hashtags listed above.<\/p>\n 4. Tell your friends and family to get involved, we want this to be BIG!<\/p>\n 5. Please display one of our signs or other pro-refugee material such as posters or banners outside your home to raise public awareness.<\/p>\n We will not let our Government\u2019s continued cruelty and ineptitude stop us from campaigning for a humane approach to refugees and people seeking asylum.<\/p>\n Over 35,000 people have signed the Human Rights for All petition<\/a>\u00a0calling for their release. The detention centres and hotels where refugees are imprisoned are breeding grounds for disease. The\u00a0Australasian Society for Infectious Diseases<\/a>\u00a0and other medical experts have also called for their release.<\/p>\n One guard at the Kangaroo Point facility in Brisbane\u00a0has already tested positive<\/a>\u00a0for coronavirus. NSW is\u00a0already planning to release some prisoners from jail.<\/a> This is an acknowledgement of the dangers and\u00a0needs to be extended to detention centres too.<\/p>\n Please sign the Human Rights for All petition here<\/a> and join our photo action on Sunday to demand the government #FreeTheRefugees.<\/strong><\/p>\nHow will it work?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\nb. Lack of freedom from coronavirus crisis? Imagine #7yearsnofreedom #freetherefugees
\nc. Coronavirus crisis got you feeling isolated? Imagine #7yearsisolated #freetherefugees
\nd. Medicare and Centrelink for all asylum seekers #FreetheRefugees #NoTemporaryVisas
\ne. War creates refugees, no to Trump\u2019s war threats #nomorewar #freetherefugees<\/p>\nMore background:<\/h3>\n
Detention is an infection risk<\/h3>\n
Asylum seekers miss out on Centrelink payments<\/h3>\n