Press Release – The Refugee Action Collective

A protest at the Sydney office of the Immigration Department, on Monday will demand that the two boats of Tamil asylum seekers stranded in Indonesia be brought to Australia. “Kevin Rudd says government policy is ‘tough but humane’ on asylum seekers. The …

12.30pm Monday 2 November

SPEAKERS:
Sylvia Hale (NSW Greens MP)
Adrian Francis, Tamil Youth Organisation.
Ian Rintoul (Refugee Action Coalition)

Support Asylum Seekers, No to Indonesian Solution

12.30pm Monday 2 November

Immigration Department
26 Lee Street (Railway Square end of Central Station Tunnel)
Sydney NSW
A protest at the Sydney office of the Immigration Department, on Monday will demand that the two boats of Tamil asylum seekers stranded in Indonesia be brought to Australia.

“Kevin Rudd says government policy is ‘tough but humane’ on asylum seekers. The reality is that government policy is inconsistent, cruel and hypocritical. Rather than a principled stand for the rights of asylum seekers, Kevin Rudd is resorting to the policies of Howard’s Pacific Solution that left asylum seekers in limbo on Nauru,” said Ian Rintoul, spokesperson for the Refugee Action Coalition.

“The revelations that some of the asylum seekers on the Oceanic Viking have been in Indonesia for years, documented as UNHCR refugees highlights the inhumanity of the Australian government’s attempts to force Indonesia to warehouse asylum seekers.

Similarly, Kevin Rudd attacks the Opposition as the party of ‘children behind razor wire’, but he quite willing to proclaim an Indonesian solution that will force asylum seekers behind razor wire in another country,” said Ian Rintoul.

The rally will feature a phone link with the 250 Tamil asylum seekers in Merak, Indonesia. This boat has more than 20 people with relatives in Australia.

The rally will also raise the plight of Iranian asylum seekers on Christmas Island – calling on the Rudd government not stop any attempts to deport to Iran.

Rally to welcome refugees: Say no to Rudd’s Indonesian Solution!
Let them land, let them stay!

ENDS

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