On World Refugee Day, fight for refugee rights
Refugees and their supporters will rally in Melbourne tomorrow (Saturday) on World Refugee Day.
The rally starts at 2pm at the State Library and is organised by the Refugee Action Collective (RAC).
SPEAKERS
- Rathy Barthlote, Tamil refugee and activist with Refugee Women Action for Visa Equality
- Mai Saif, Palestinian community organiser
- Sanmati Verma, Human Rights Law Centre
- Ahmed Abdelrehim, Eritrean refugee
- Greg Kiernan, Asylum Art project
- Music by Lachlan Denton, The Ocean Party
RAC spokesperson David Glanz said, “Labor has passed multiple draconian laws to make it easier to deport asylum-seekers or to prevent visitors from war zones like Iran.
“This simply makes it easier for Pauline Hanson and Angus Taylor to roll out their hardline anti-refugee and anti-migrant agendas.
“Meanwhile, refugees trapped in Australia’s system of mandatory and offshore detention are rotting on Nauru and in PNG and Indonesia.
“There are still too many refugees who live among us but are barred from permanent visas, the right to work or university study or sometimes even Medicare.
“So this rally is calling for justice, for permanent visas for all those asylum-seekers caught up in Australia’s barbaric border controls, and the scrapping of Labor’s deportation and visa ban laws.”
For more information, call David Glanz on 0438 547 723.