Category Media release

The Refugee Action Collective Vic welcomes Iranian footballers Fatemeh Pasandideh and Atefeh Ramezanisadeh, who have been granted Australian citizenship after seeking asylum during the women’s Asian Cup in March.

Minister for Home Affairs, Tony Burke, was keen to be photographed with them at their citizenship ceremony on Wednesday. But he continues to ignore the case for giving protection to hundreds of Iranians who have fled to Australia from the same authoritarian regime.

The Refugee Council of Australia website indicates that almost 2000 Iranians applied for permanent protection between 7 September 2013 to 30 June 2025. Hundreds remain in limbo in the community on short-term bridging visas.

Another 183 Iranians are marooned in Indonesia, prevented by government policy from applying for asylum in Australia. Some 86 more are detained in Australia.

RAC Vic spokesperson David Glanz said, “Many of these people have fled for fear of their lives and risked everything on flimsy boats to try to reach safety in Australia.

“It’s great to see the two footballers welcomed by Tony Burke. But he continues to ignore the justified claims of other Iranian asylum-seekers, most of whom have endured horrific sacrifice to reach Australia or Indonesia.

“The minister is happy to pose for happy snaps with the footballers but his government has passed legislation designed to force Iran and other brutal regimes to take back refugees, and to make it easier to deport asylum-seekers.

“In March, it also imposed a six-month ban on Iranians arriving on temporary visas.

“Why do some asylum-seekers get red carpet treatment and others are left in hellish limbo? This double standard has to end.”

As Iranian asylum-seeker Fatemeh Lahmidi told the ABC, she has been in Australia for more than 13 years waiting for permanent protection.

“My family has been waiting for so many years, and it’s hard to understand why we are still living with so much uncertainty while others receive citizenship so quickly,” she said.

Glanz said RAC joined calls from other refugee organisations for the government to grant permanent protection for all asylum-seekers fleeing the Islamic Republic of Iran. “And our concern doesn’t stop there – we are for welcoming refugees fleeing the threat of torture and death, regardless of where they are from.”

For more information or interviews, call David Glanz on 0438 547 723.

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.

Cavalcade protest is safe, detention centres are not – Free the refugees

 “The Refugee Action Collective (RAC) was due to have a car cavalcade protest today at the Mantra hotel in Preston, calling for the release of refugees held there and across Australia, on public health and humanitarian grounds” said Chris Breen for the Refugee Action Collective

“However RAC was told by Preston police that our proposed protest ‘would breach stay at home directions and therefore be illegal’. Police said we faced fines of $1652 for every person who took part, plus heavier fines for RAC as the organising group. We have now rescheduled our protest for Good Friday at 2pm. If refugees remain under threat of Covid-19, we will support them by defying anti-protest laws safely.”

Breen continued “Our protest will be completely safe, it is the detention centres that are unsafe. Our cavalcade will have a maximum of two people per car (from the same household). No-one will get out of their cars. Our protest will be safer than going shopping, safer than travelling on public transport, safer than non-essential work that continues, and safer by an order of magnitude than being stuck in a sealed corridor in the Mantra.”

“Refugees in the Mantra hotel have come to Australia under the Medevac legislation and many have health conditions that make them vulnerable to Covid-19. Airline staff stay regularly at the Mantra in Preston. Serco guards come and go regularly and have been shown multiple times breaching social distancing regulations. A Serco guard in Brisbane tested positive for Covid-19. Activity areas in the Mantra do not have space for social distancing. Men sleep up to 3 to a room in the Mantra. It is only a matter of time before coronavirus devastates detention centres.”

“Over 1200 doctors have signed a letter calling for the release of refugees from detention. Over 38,000 people have signed a petition calling for the release of refugees from detention. ALP federal MPs Ged Kearney and Peter Khalil have called for the release of refugees in the Mantra, and income support for those in the community (speech from Ged Kearney sent to RAC for the cavalcade is attached)”

“The Refugee Action Collective calls on Premier Daniel Andrews to join those calls and not to use Covid-19 to shut down safe public protest. Daniel Andrews should use public health powers to release the refugees to safe accommodation in Victoria. The health of all Victorians would be compromised by a serious outbreak of Covid-19 in detention centres or alternative places of detention in Victoria.”

“RAC has rescheduled the cavalcade for Friday April 10 (Good Friday). We intend to have a safe public show of  solidarity with refugees, even if that means defying the banning of safe public protest. “

“Refugees themselves continue to protest. Refugees at Kangaroo Point in Brisbane will protest today at 5pm. There is a picture below of refugees at the Mantra protesting yesterday (3/4/20)” concluded Breen

For further comments call Chris Breen from the Refugee Action Collective on 0492 910 302