Below are some Statements and Letters of Support for the Refugees on Hunger Strike.
If you would like to submit a Statement or Letter of Support, please email Trevor Grant at grant.trevor [at] hotmail.com and CC Liz Walsh on bettyblue11 [at] hotmail.com
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Statement in Support by Noam Chomsky
The true measure of the moral level of a society is how it treats the most vulnerable people. Few are as vulnerable as those who have fled to Australia in terror and are locked away without charge, their terrible fate veiled in secrecy. We may not be able to do much, beyond lamenting, about North Korean prisons. But we can do a great deal about severe human rights violations right within reach.
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Statement of support by PEN Melbourne
PEN Melbourne committee members wish to express their solidarity with, and support of the twenty-five refugees on hunger strike at the Broadmeadows’ detention centre, euphemistically named Melbourne Immigration Transit Accommodation. As one of 146 PEN International Centres we deal on a daily basis with the unjust persecution and imprisonment of writers worldwide. We have witnessed time and again the agony of indefinite long-term detention. All the hunger strikers have been found to be genuine refugees, but continue to be detained because of adverse ASIO findings. The detainees anguish is compounded by the fact that they have not been fully informed of what they have allegedly done to be denied their freedom. This is an extraordinary abuse of human rights. To be condemned to years of detention without knowing why is appalling. This Kafkaesque nightmare can, and should be resolved quickly, and resolved as a matter of urgency. It requires an act of humanity from our politicians and immigration department bureaucrats. They need to put themselves in the shoes of the 25 hunger strikers and the broader group of 56 men, women and children who have now been detained for periods of up to 4 years, compounding the years of trauma that initially impelled them to make the desperate journey to a new life. That this is happening in this city is an outrage.
Arnold Zable, President PEN Melbourne, on behalf of the committee.
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We must all stand with the political prisoners inside Australia’s concentration camps. The bravery of hunger strikers should inspire determined action to end mandatory detention, to demand all refugees be let into Australia for the protection they deserve.
Your courage fills my heart with pride, but also anger and bitterness at our failure to stop this inhumane system before you have had to take such a step.
Open the borders, open the gates. FREE ALL REFUGEES
Sandra Bloodworth
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This message is sent in solidarity with our fellow-humans currently residing in the Broadmeadows Detention Centre, MITA; particularly with those currently practicing a hunger strike as a means of protesting against their current situation.
My understanding is that those carrying out the hunger strike are currently indefinitely situated within this detention centre due to receiving negative security clearances (unbeknownst to them at this point in time, as far as I have understood it).
I write to share my distress at hearing of your anguish.
I write from a place of great compassion and in some feeling of helplessness, given that I currently reside in New Zealand and cannot join the vigil in Broadmeadows tonight to show my active support for you in arms with my other fellow-Melburnians (who, it is worth noting, also hail from all corners of the globe in varying circumstances).
I write so that, though it perhaps feels like the contrary given your present situation, that it is a temporary one. Things will shift in your favour – your mere existence is enough to warrant honour and respect and resultant compassionate treatment. This may not be shown to you from all (or even many or perhaps any) avenues from your respective positions right now, but it is my wish – and the ardent wish of many of my fellow-Australians, that you shall be shown a just and fair (even humane and compassionate) treatment in the very near future.
Please hold out for this.
I urge you to use the power of your collective hearts and imaginations to conjure the image of how you would like it to be for you and your friends and families and fellow inhabitants at MITA.
Most significantly at this point in time: I urge you to hold fast to your hope and the dynamic spirit that lies within – at the heart of each and every one of you and of us.
This is that which unites us more than any other. The united recognition of this is, I believe, what lies at the heart of your humane treatment in the near future.
I am, yours respectfully and united in heart and spirit
Poppy Tremayne.
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Federal Greens Candidate for Ballarat
The Ballarat Greens support your courageous pursuit of justice and a life free from inhumanity and cruelty. The Gillard government has put you in an untenable situation, and it must change its policy. Indefinite detention must end. We hope your right to fair process will be granted and will continue to support you.”
Steph Hodgins-May
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The Curtin Student Guild Executive wishes to send a message of support to the refugees who have recently been on hunger strike at Broadmeadows Detention Centre, MITA (Melbourne Immigration Transit Accommodation):
We support your struggle for humanity and are outraged that refugees are locked up without charge or trial for seeking a better life. The Australian government continues to lock up those who are recognised refugees with a well found fear of persecution in what can only be described as political imprisonment. We condemn the racist policy of indefinite, mandatory detention of refugees. Stay strong and know that you have support from outside the detention centres. We call on the government to end indefinite, mandatory detention and call for your immediate release into the community.
In solidarity,
Jess McLeod
PRESIDENT- Curtin Student Guild
Western Australia
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To the hunger strikers at MITA
As a life long member of the Australian Labor Party I feel deeply ashamed and out rightly angry that my Political Party has so badly and blatantly failed to uphold its own human rights values and social justice as well as human rights principles and policy in the way it is presently manifesting Australia’s asylum seekers and refugees policy. I am a member of a an issues group inside the ALP, called Labor for Refugees, and we are doing everything possible by calling for leadership with the Labor Government to fundamentally change the terrible conduct of the off-shore diversion and processing of asylum seekers, who come on boats to our shores. I am even more abhorred by the actions of my Party in Government to indefinitely and without charge hold a group of over 50 asylum seekers in jail. I can understand very well that in desperation after all this time you have collectively chosen the path of hunger striking with the consequence of dying for your cause and to draw the world’s attention of what is being perpetuated in this land Australia, which so many of us including myself as our new father land. I have been a member of the ALP for 42 years, but the time has come to seriously consider my resignation. Shame on our leaders and those who purport to govern us fairly and justly.
Henk van Leeuwen – Life Member ALP no. 1137 St Kilda branch
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Our thoughts are with you. This is an impoverished country that treats those that need refuge in this way. Legal theorist James Boyd White wrote that ‘Law should take as its most central question what kind of a community we should be’. These laws diminish us and this is not an Australia I am proud of. You are welcome as refugees and citizens.
Dr Jennifer Balint, Lecturer, University of Melbourne
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I want to add my voice to those who have sent messages of support to those in indefinite detention and to express my disgust at the way these women and men and children are being treated!
To be found to be refugees and then to be found guilty of being a security risk and denied the right to know what that decision has been based on or to challenge the decision is a huge denial of basic human rights!! It certainly makes me ashamed to be an Australian!!
If the decision of the minister is informed by the people having been involved in what has been labelled as anti government groups in their home country does that mean that we in Australia can sit in judgement of those opposed to current regimes? If Nelson Mandela had applied for asylum here prior to being voted in as President of South Africa would
he be still languishing in indefinite detention?
To those of you in detention please know that many many Australians
are with you and will welcome you when you join us in our community!!
Sincerely,
Helen Wirtz
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From Darwin Asylum Seeker Support and Advocacy Network (DASSAN):
We at the Darwin Asylum Seeker Support and Advocacy Network, like many Australians, are appalled at your ongoing detention. We have expressed our concerns to politicians, the media and wherever possible let members of the Australian public know of the gross injustice being perpetrated upon you.
We understand why you had to leave your country and risked your lives to come and start a new life in an unknown country with a different culture.
We know how much you sacrificed and how brave you’ve always had to be. We feel so appalled and horrified at what is being perpetrated on you in this so-called land of freedom and human rights. What has occurred to you and your families as a result of Australia’s spy agency and Immigration Department is nothing short of a national shame.
Although you can’t see us and we can’t see you, we are right there beside you, and we will stay there until you are released. May peace be with you all.
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To the hunger strikers at MITA,
My thoughts are with you every day. and night. I have some
understanding of your desperation, but please , we don’t want to lose
special people like you. To get through this week shows your strength.
You are wonderful people. Please stay with us. There are many
Australians in Ballarat whom you don’t know but I know them and they
too are thinking of you. and so are my friends in Charlton Vic..
Kath Morton
Ballarat ARA Circle of Friends
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To those on hunger strikes and to everyone at MITA,
Just know that there are many many of us out here in the community who deplore what our government is doing to people seeking asylum here. Like many others, I feel ashamed to be Australian when I think of this: it seems to fly in the face of everything I held as my country’s values: openness, generosity, a fair go, treating people with dignity and respect. Our own national song includes the words:
“For those who’ve come across the seas
We’ve boundless plains to share;
With courage let us all combine
To Advance Australia Fair. ”
I fear for this country’s heart and soul.
I support you in fighting for your own.
Pam Rycroft
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You are in our hearts when we sing this song. We stand in support of you and long to see you free and safe. http://tmcrw.bandcamp.com/track/song-for-selva
Les Thomas, These Machines Cut Razor Wire
thesemachines.org.au
I wish to express my solidarity with the hunger strikers. This is an extraordinary abuse of human rights.
To be condemned to years of detention without knowing why is despicable. This is something that can be resolved quickly – what is lacking is compassion and empathy, the ability to imagine what it is like to face indefinite detention, what it is like to be immersed in a Kafka nightmare, what it is like to wake up day after day, month after month, and year after year, to the realisation that there is no future. My heart goes out to all those caught in this terrifying predicament and will do all in my power to spread the word and help garner support. That this is happening in this city, and this country, is an outrage.
Arnold Zable, Author and human rights advocate
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Dear Friends,
Friends may seem a strange way to address you, those in detention whom I’ve never met. Although we’ve never met I consider you friends of a kind, comrades in struggle. Whilst I am not a migrant, I struggle for a better world, and your struggle is most clearly a part of that. The struggle for recognition of your humanity is an important one that has profound impacts for all of us fighting for social justice.
Each time I hear of the lives of those of you in detention I feel either sorrow or anger, and sometimes both. I’m sorry you have to suffer these experiences, these violations of your humanity. No one should experience the horrific experiences you experience in detention. The abuse of power of a country such as Australia to detain those already having suffered enough is disgusting. No one should be in detention.
Your struggle is an important one as you fight not just for yourselves, but all of those enduring the horrors of detention. Your strike is a visible reminder of the horrendous practice of detention. Together your message, “this has to stop”, is reaching the Australian community. As the strike continues the Government’s message to the public becomes more desperate as their thin veneer of providing safety for Australia falls away. This shameful practice will come to an end.
I too demand that the Australian Government release those in detention into the community. No one deserves this abhorrent treatment. All my support goes out to those of you hunger striking. All the power be with you.
In Solidarity
Amy McMurtrie
Melbourne
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Dear Mr. O’Connor,
I am writing to you to express my deep distress and dismay at your recent comments (as reported on ABC news) claiming that you ‘won’t bow to the pressure’ of the hunger strikers at MITA Broadmeadows.
This statement is heartless and cruel and obfuscate your own immense power over these poor, desperate, frustrated young men. They have waited patiently for years, enduring the numerous confusing messages from DIMA staff, jumping through multiple hoops in order to prove their legitimate refugee status. However the ASIO classification of them, with no information and no access to appeal or clarification is heartless and even undemocratic.
It invites legitimate comparisons with South Africa under Apartheid, and appears to be arbitrary and heartless, and motivated more by a cynical need to appropriate the policiies of your appalling predecessor under Howard’s government, Phillip Ruddock, than on any genuine concern for the safety and security of the Australian people.
I have had the privilege to have met many of the young men who are currently on hunger strike. They are intelligent, sensitive, generous and creative, who have shared what little they have with visitors. They have done drawings for adults, and taught children visiting the centre to draw, and also made jewellery for visitors. When visitors bring them food, they share it with other detainees and visitors. Up until this point, they have all demonstrated levels of patience, grace and resilience that are remarkable and exceptional, in light of what they have had to endure, not only in fleeing their homelands, being cut off from their families and friends, but also being placed in the mental torment of detention while their claims were being processed.
It is heartbreaking to consider the state these gracious, composed, intelligent young men must be in to be taking this action. From what I know, it is not being taken lightly, or as the type of manipulative adolescent stunt that your heartless comments, lead me to believe you think this must be.
It is even more heartbreaking to reflect on the many Australians of refugee origin who have contributed so much to our society, would be enduring the same appalling mental torture, if during the 1980s, you were in the position of power that you hold now twenty and thirty years ago. Many of these Australians may also have been classified as a ‘security threat’, and Australia would be a poorer society without them, as indeed we are and will be if political refugees are arbitrarily denied freedom according to the multifarious and obscure range of policies and procedures that your government imposes on them.
I cannot begin to imagine the conversations that you and your advisors and parliamentary colleagues must be having in order to appease your consciences about the current inhumane treatment of asylum seekers and refugees. However, despite whatever cynical imperatives you may believe justify your current inaction on this issue, and despite the information derived from mainstream media polling of marginal electorates, there are many many Australians feeling similar levels of exasperation and despair about this issue as I feel. Even if you do not personally feel responsible for the suffering endured by the hunger strikers, their friends in Australia and their families in Iran, Sri Lanka and Burma, there are many Australians who do hold you personally responsible. We will not forget what you and your government have done, and what you have failed to do in changing the policies of the previous coalition government.
You may choose to ignore the actions of these marginalised, incarcerated, desperate, suffering young men, but you will not be able to ignore the increasing levels of rage and grief of the many Australians who believe that the mandatory detention of asylum seekers is inhumane, and that the continued detention of these legitimately classified refugees is tantamount to keeping them as political prisoners. I hope that one day, our voices may reach your conscience, and you act with some level of humanity.
Margaret Mayhew
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Dear asylum seekers at MITA
My thoughts are with you. I do not want you to harm yourself but understand how terrible your situation is. I and my friends are trying to do all we can to have this terrible policies changed. I want you out here – in the community.
We know that you will be wonderful citizens for Australia!
Merle Hathaway
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To those who are hunger striking and to the many people you are fighting on behalf of: I’m so sorry that you’ve been treated so badly by our government that it has come to this. I support your struggle. Stay strong.
Emma McIntyre
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STATEMENT OF SUPPORT FROM THE REFUGEE RIGHTS ACTION NETWORK WA
To the 27 refugees currently on hunger strike at Broadmeadows detention centre, Melbourne – we support you unconditionally and are inspired by your courageous stand.
Our thoughts – and solidarity – are with you.
We condemn the utter depravity of the Australian government in continuing to lock up those fleeing from persecution, who have been found to be refugees under the government’s own processes, yet rejected without appeal by ASIO.
We support the calls made by numerous organisations and individuals, in Australia and internationally, for your immediate release.
The Refugee Rights Action Network (RRAN) WA
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For those of you I know, and those I don’t, I am thinking of you from Darwin and wishing I could be there to support you in person. I am so ashamed of my country and am doing what I can to spread the word about your situation.
Diana Brodie
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Raja is one of the hunger strikers.
We have told him that we want him to live with us, when he is released. Our message to them all.
Raja and friends,
I am not proud to be an Australian. Yet, Raja, you call me your Aussie Dad, thank you. I have been visiting all of you, for over a year and a half now, and look forward each week to your friendship. I bless the day, when you are all free, may it be soon. We support you and care for you all.
Rex Wade
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The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which was adopted by the UN General Assembly on 10 December 1948, and which Australia is a signatory to, states:
Article 9.
No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.
Article 14.
(1) Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution.
(2) This right may not be invoked in the case of prosecutions genuinely arising from non-political crimes or from acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations. (http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/index.shtml#a9)
By placing asylum seekers and refugees in detention, the Australian government is ignoring the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and abusing the rights of those individuals.
I do not want the Australian government to do this. It is shameful, cruel, short-sighted and immoral. Many Australians share my views, and do not support the government or the opposition in their views on asylum seekers.
David Feith
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I would like to endorse all those messages that have gone before me in offering support for all who are seeking asylum in Australia, and particularly at this time to those who are part of the hunger strike. I believe we should be offering sanctuary and inclusion to people seeking asylum, not detention and exclusion, and will hold that idea and do what I can to promote it until it becomes reality. I hope all of our messages provide some strands of hope for you all at this bad time.
Joan Beckwith
Melbourne
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Dear hunger strikers
Please don’t harm yourselves and risk your lives. We welcome you to Australia. It might take some time but we are lobbying our politicians to change these cruel detention laws.
Please don’t give up hope. Believe that you will have freedom one day. Keep your mind, body and spirit strong.
Lindel Greggery
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Dear friends and family,
I am writing to you, as there is a situation occurring in Melbourne at the moment, which has greatly affected me and left me feeling overwhelmingly disturbed and helpless.
A group of 27 asylum seekers who are currently detained in an immigration detention centre just outside of Melbourne, (Melbourne Immigration Transit Accommodation) have entered their 5th day of a dry hunger strike, that is, they have not taken food or water since the early hours of Monday morning (8th April 2013).
This particular group of asylum seekers have already been declared genuine refugees, but as a result of receiving adverse security assessments from ASIO (Australian Security Intelligence Organisation) have remained in detention for 3 or more years, regardless of the high court ruling which states that it is unlawful to detain refugees on the basis of adverse security assessments alone.
The refugees I speak of have not been given a valid reason for their adverse security assessments, nor are they given the right to appeal the courts final decision, and face the cruel reality of ongoing, indefinite detention.
The detrimental effects this has on the physical emotional and mental health of these people is indescribable, but remains evident in the multiple cases of suicide and self harm attempts recorded in this population, and now finally in the desperate act of hunger striking in an effort to either secure their freedom once and for all, or cut short their suffering by ending their own lives through the horrific process of starvation and dehydration.
I would like to think that regardless of our individual belief systems, we could all agree that these people and others like them deserve, as all human beings do, to live their lives with both freedom and dignity.
Close friends and myself have gotten to know some of these people over the past months, through the process of visiting the detention centre where they are held, and if I may speak on behalf of others I would say that we all strongly believe these people to be more than deserving of a place in our community.
The lives of these people are now quite literally in the hands of our Prime Minister, the Minister for Immigration, retired High Court Judge, Justice Margaret Stone and ASIO, and I am asking you all to support me in persuading the aforementioned individuals to rightfully grant these refugees their freedom.
If you wish to support this process, please copy and paste this email into a reply, sign your name at the bottom and send it back to me (holliewhyte@gmail.com).
When I have collected as many names as possible this letter will be sent to Prime Minister Julia Gillard, Leader of the Opposition Tony Abbott, Minister for Immigration Brendan O’Connor, retired High Court Judge Justice Margaret Stone and ASIO. Copies of the letter and names attached will also be provided to the group of refugees concerned and other members of the community who devote their time to this cause.
Please sign your full name and state your occupation and the town/ suburb and state in which you live.
Also, please, please, please forward this email on to your own friends and family so we can spread the word and get as many people on board as possible – the greater the number of people and the sooner we send this off, the better our chances are of making a real difference to the lives of our friends in detention.
Thank you for your time, energy and compassion,
Holly Whyte.
1. Holly Whyte, Student, East Melbourne, VIC
2. Lindsay Newman, Handyman, Maldon, VIC
3. Turi Grierson, Fitzroy North, VIC
4. Kumari Ellis, Registered Nurse, Mullumbimby, NSW
5. Eva Whyte, Student, Brisbane, QLD
6. Claudia M Gyr, Art Therapist, Mullumbimby, NSW
7. Bernadette Whyte, Maldon, VIC
8. Inara Kent, Marriage Celebrant, Whian Whian, NSW
9. Robyn Creighton, Old Bar, NSW
10. Sally Davison, Teacher, Mullumbimby, NSW
11. Venus Kondos, Photographer, Mullumbimby, NSW
12. Fiona Ryall, Teacher, Cornwall, UK
13. Michael Clarke, Social Worker, Blackheath, NSW
14. Becky Sandstedt, Planetary Server Anoka, Minnesota USA
15. Monika Ueltschi, Mullumbimby, NSW
16. Illumina Christos, Teacher, Byron Bay, NSW
17. Jason Kennedy, Tennis Coach, Northcote, VIC
18. Luca Romani, Actor, Northcote, VIC
19. Aiesha Grierson, Student, Northcote, VIC
20. Ingrid Camilleri, Student/Disability Support Worker, Carlton, VIC
21. Tjinta Matahari, Kinesiologist, East Brunswick, VIC
22. Beth Lawson, Kinesiologist, Pascoe Vale South, VIC
23. Jai Watson, Student, East Brunswick, VIC
24. Paddy Hocking, Teacher, Perth, WA
25. Alaa Obaidi, Remedial Therapist, Hoppers Crossing, VIC
26. Milad Alobaidi
27. Samer Hakim, Pharmacist, VIC
28. Anne Bell, Piano Teacher, Mt Dandenong, VIC
29. Saba Hakim, Doncaster East, VIC
30. Mazin Ali, Doncaster East, VIC
31. Zahra Ali, Doncaster East, VIC
32. Najlaa Albatat, Roxburgh Park, VIC
33. Bruce Hocking, Doctor, Camberwell, VIC
34. Cate Charles, Registered Nurse/Nurse Educator, VIC
35. Salah Rubaie, Applications Development Manager, Melbourne, VIC
36. Verity Keely, Teacher, Melbourne, VIC
37. Claudine Von Niederhausern, Mother/Shiatsu Practitioner, Mullumbimby NSW
38. Mandy Cox, Multicultural Services Coordinator, Communify, QLD
39. Thomas Armbruster, Retired, Florida, USA
40. Emma Herrera Vega, Traveller/House-wife, Canary Islands, Spain
41. Bijay KC, Student, Reservoir, VIC
42. Bidur Maat, Student, Reservoir, VIC
43. Sriyassa Kharel, Doctor, Reservoir, VIC
44. Abhishekh Dhungana, Marketing Executive, Reservoir, VIC
45. Alfonso Ribeiro, Berlin, Germany
46. Cate Page, Social Worker, QLD
47. Debasish Bhattacharyya, Community Radio Station Manager, Bishnupur, Bankura, India
48. Iris Detenhoff, Self employed, Publisher, Mullumbimby, NSW
Media Release by the Australian Tamil Congress: Concern grows for welfare of ASIO detained refugees on hunger-strike
The Australian Tamil Congress (ATC) is deeply concerned about the physical and mental well-being of the Tamil refugees currently on hunger-strike in Melbourne. Two men on hunger-strike were admitted to hospital yesterday, one with internal bleeding and another who is diabetic but is declining medical treatment.
“The act of indefinite detention is soul-crushing. It squeezes out any hope of a normal life and leads to severe mental health issues. It is utterly inhumane and many of these men, women and children who have already experienced trauma in their home countries do not deserve to be mentally tortured even further,” said Mr. Bala Vigneswaran of the ATC.
“It is time to question one’s conscience and make policies that are humane. We call on the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship and the Attorney General to act as matter of urgency to bring an amicable solution immediately for those on the hunger-strike and a just solution for all in indefinite detention. The ATC will be ready to provide any assistance to the Department and the genuine refugees so as to avoid any further deterioration in the physical and mental well-being of these people,” he added.
There are nearly 60 recognised refugees in Australia detained indefinitely following adverse security assessments by ASIO. Most of them are Tamils. There are four women and seven children among these long-term detainees. Two women have delivered children while in detention, and two women lost their husbands who were killed in the final stages of the war in the island of Sri Lanka. All their children, who are also in detention with them, are less than 10 years of age.
Media contact: Mr. Bala Vigneswaran, Australian Tamil Congress – 0404 404 777
You are in our hearts when we sing this song. We stand in support of you and long to see you free and safe. http://tmcrw.bandcamp.com/track/song-for-selva
STAY STRONG!
STAY ALIVE!
TELL YOUR STORY TO THE WORLD!
I completely agree with all the comments here and wonder how we can call ourselves a civilised country when this is allowed to happen here. I support the hunger strikers who have been given no reason why they are being held indefinitely and thus are unable to challenge these adverse reports by ASIO
What else can I add to all these wonderful statements except my heartfelt statement of support. It is so unfair and unjust that you have had to take this action. ASIO must be held accountable by government. Stay strong. There are thousands of Australians thinking of you.
What more is there to say?
Just a short message to agree with all that has been written here before me.
I would like you to know that I, and many more Australians like me, do not agree with this government’s inhumane and illegal, treatment of refugees. I can only wish you well and support your efforts by your hunger strike; I hope that this action can achieve your aims without doing great harm to yourselves.
My sincere bestt wishes to you all.
I fully support Jean’s comments. I too support your efforts to find a way out of the bad situation you find yourselves in. But please don’t harm yourselves. It shows how desperate you have all become, and how much the Australian government has tried to ignore you, while putting you in a situation from which you believe there is no escape. Best wishes for the freedom you need and deserve.
I would like to endorse all those messages that have gone before me in offering support for all who are seeking asylum in Australia, and particularly at this time to those who are part of the hunger strike. I believe we should be offering sanctuary and inclusion to people seeking asylum, not detention and exclusion, and will hold that idea and do what I can to promote it until it becomes reality. I hope all of our messages provide some strands of hope for you all at this bad time.
Joan Beckwith, Melbourne.
It is so sad that the hunger strikers have been driven by desperation to take this action. Of course our government should be providing compassionate consideration to applications for asylum – that is the policy of the ALP. Unfortunately politicians are now poll driven, and listen to the uninformed and misguided views of Australian voters – who can’t even differentiate between migrants and asylum seekers. The messages before mine are sympathetic and many Australians are ashamed and guilty about treatment of recent asylum seekers. We never believed this government could be so pragmatic and heartless. All that is left to us is a faint hope that things may improve very soon. Many of believe that you should be given immediate release to the community and that you will be excellent citizens Australia, we wish you well and hope that you can take food soon, and that you will live to become strong, healthy families in Australia. Our thoughts are with you at this time.
I add my heartfelt wishes and sympathy with you, hunger strikers. On behalf of the Blue Mountains Refugee Support Group I want to tell you that we admire your strength and courage. We hope to eventually welcome you into the Australian society. There are 500 of us and we are thinking of you.
I add my support to the hunger strikers. You may have never heard of Franz Kafka but he describes perfectly the ridiculous situation you are in. There are many people in Australian society who are outraged at the treatment inflicted upon you by our government.
And the ALP partisans who wilfully support Gillard and her racist attacks on these people I say you deserve her but these poor devils do not.
I hope you will be out in the community soon.
One day in the future people will look back and be amazed at how public opinion was manipulated by cynical politicians and Murdoch jounalists
I join with all those who have sent messages of support and encouragement to you, hunger strikers. Be strong in these difficult days. ASIO must be held accountable: many Australians want this and will work for change.
For decades, Australian governments have condemned regimes as despotic which detain people without trial and without recourse to law. Unjust and inhumane – that is the international description of such regimes. Now those ugly epithets describe us. Our democracy has been shown to be partial, and the victims of our inhumanity and injustice are left with nothing but their bodies with which to express their pain. There are decent people in Government, and in Opposition. If they do not speak up now, they are complicit in the unfolding tragedy.
My grateful thanks to those many, many people who actively support our refugees. To the hunger-strikers – may justice come quickly so that you may live whole-heartedly again.
I would like to join the thousands of Australians who feel frustrated, powerless and ashamed of our politicians. Not since wicked King John locked up people in The Tower of London and threw away the keys has such a dire situation as yours been allowed to exist anglophone so -called democratic countries. No other country detains refugees indefinitely. It is not right or just in any way at all that this is being done to you. I have written letters to my local member, to the minister, protested on the street visited some of the ASIO negative people in detention . . so far to no avail. It damages us to have this damage being done to you in our name. But you should know that we will never stop agitating to have this horrible and unjust political game played out at your expense. Whatever happens you should know that we will keep pursuing justice for you until we get it. Your freedom is our freedom. What happens to you today can happen to others tomorrow. What future Australian prime minister will have to say “SORRY” for this abuse?
Australia used to to be a fair and compassionate society. I hope soon we will be again. Stay strong. Our thoughts are with you.
I am utterly ashamed that you are being treated in this appalling way by a country I once thought valued principles of fairness and justice. There is no possible justification for indefinite detention nor ever for inflicting further trauma on already traumatized people. How low have our politicians sunk. They bring us all down by putting politics before humanity.
On behalf of the majority of Australians and my family and friends, please know that you are supported. It is a minority of frightened and ill-informed people that you confront. Take strength from the extent and depth of your support. We know that you will, through your courage, succeed. And in the process, demonstrate the justice of your demands and justice denied under Australian Law and UN Conventions.
Bruce Haigh
Retired Diplomat and former Member of the Refugee Review Tribunal
I cannot even begin to imagine what you and your families are going through. I send you this message to say that I support all of you and welcome you into the Australian community. I urge our government to reconsider and do the only human and right thing, to release you and your families and support you so you can start a new life here in Australia.
Thinking of you and sending you lots of love
Doris Dehm
TO THE BRAVE DESPERATE HUNGER STRIKERS AT MITA
I am ashamed of my country and particularly of the two major parties, the Labor Party which is in Government and the Coalition which is no better. However, the Labor Government is in power and is meant to be the Party that champions the helpless and the voiceless yet this is not the case when it comes to asylum seekers who have been turned into a highly politicised issue. It doesn’t matter how the Government is trying to justify its position, in leaving you to be stuck in limbo, possibly forever, in this detention centre, because there is no justification in allowing innocent people to languish in such hopelessness. I know you are so desperate that you are prepared to die, rather than live like this and I cannot judge you for that. All I can do is send you a message to say that I hope this crisis will be resolved urgently and that I and many others are doing our best to work towards your release.
Ms Nizza Siano
Secretary
Labor for Refugees (NSW)
Dear Hunger Strikers, I look forward to you becoming Australians. You have come from desperate situations and ASIO should recognise this in examining your actions.I am ashamed,as an ALP Life Member, of our government’s resonse to your needs
I’d like to add my voice to the many distinguished ones above. I too am ashamed of the ALPs indefinite detention policy. Imagine their outcry if 1 Australian was so treated in another country!
Dear Asylum seekers,
We at Refugee Action Network Newcastle are aware of your circumstances and support you in your rights under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to seek asylum. We reject mandatory detention and the Kafkaesque situation whereby ASIO can declare you unfit to be settled here, (despite being found to be legitimate refugees), without you being able to know the grounds of ASIO’s accusations, nor defend yourself against them.
We acknowledge the terrible situations you have faced, both war in your own country and indefinite detention in ours. We admire your spirit and your courage. It is people like you who we need here in Australia.
Our own national anthem has this second verse:
“For those who’ve come across the seas
We’ve boundless plains to share;
With courage let us all combine
To Advance Australia Fair. “
We at RANN believe this. You are welcome here. Please do not think you are alone or forgotten. Many, many Australians reject the inhumane policies of the current government and opposition.
We call on the government and opposition to stop playing politics with people’s lives, especially the lives of those who are most vulnerable and needy, and in particular, to release the 27 asylum seekers at MITA Broadmeadows immediately.
Clare De Mayo
Refugee Action Network Newcastle (RANN)
It is very difficult to refuse food,but more difficult to live without hope of freedom. I wish that our government would give you permanent residency to so that you can begin to live freely.
I think it disgraceful that these men are driven to such desperate straits. They are deemed a security risk on the advice of ASIO which in turn relies on the Sri Lankan Government, a totally corrupt and vengeful regime. I urge the Australian government to release into the community all those classed as refugees, even if they report frequently to authorities.
As I am immerse myself in another busy day I can’t get the 27 refugees who are on hunger strike out of my mind. I’m with you, Greens are with you. We will keep working until you are free. Stay strong. #notinmyname. Janet Rice, Lead Senate Candidate, Australian Greens Victoria
Some thoughts about the Hunger Strikers.
These men have been granted refugee status so this means they have already lived through horrific conditions. Then, when they reached a friendly civilized country which signed up to the UN protocols on the treatment of refugees, they found themselves again behind barbed wire. What sort of government would inflict this further punishment? the Australian Government!
I send my abject apologies to those who are suffering and my sincere thanks to those who are helping them endure the almost unendurable.
Ruth Boschen, Balwyn.
Chris Wallace-Crabbe, poet,
Our treatment of refugees is a humiliation, not just for them, but for us. It
is amazing that a democratic system cannot cope with the question. See
W.H. Auden’s harrowing poem, “Refugee Blues”.
Indefinite detention without trial or legal recourse, on the basis of secret “assessments” and secret “evidence”, of people deemed to be a security risk! These are people who have been found to be genuine refugees who would, by definition, be in danger of persecution and summary execution (murder) in their homeland!
Security risk? The only risk to my nation’s security is the overthrow of the rule of law, the denial of natural justice and the wrongful deprivation of life and liberty. When my government does these things in my name I become a security risk, all good citizens, all those who believe in the rule of law become a security risk, because government and its institutions have become the enemy.
Australians like to consider ourselves as compassionate, caring…That there has been so little concern expressed about the position of the Sri Lankans held in indefinite detention despite being found to be refugees clearly puts the lie to that. And now, to avoid more of them being in that situaion, our government will ship them back without them being allowed to have their refugee claims examined as is required under international law!
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Like many Australians, I would like to add my voice like others who have written above, to look for alternatives to indefinite detention for asylum seekers. Apart from the contravention of human rights, it is a loss of our most valuable resource- people- their energy, creativity, imagination. Worse, it crushes these vital life forces, and the cost – as has been seen from oppressive policies before – is our own humanity. Lets us not leave such a bleak legacy for the future. let us change this present.