calling all refugee supporters to join
The People’s Assembly
in Canberra
at the opening of parliament
12 noon, Tuesday, 28 September 2010

We will assemble on the lawns outside Parliament House, Canberra, to call on the new federal parliament to introduce humane refugee policies and stop using refugees as political footballs. Refugee groups are asked to bring banners with the key messages of the gathering as well as their own messages.

Was your voice heeded on asylum seekers during this election?

Many of us are worried about the way in which successive governments have treated asylum seekers and refugees. We are tired of seeing asylum seekers used as political footballs where each side of politics scores points by proposing increasingly harsher policies.

We believe it's time to tell our parliamentarians, "Enough is enough!"

With the entry of the Greens and independents as significant players in government, there is a chance to end this endless round of punitive policy making and to achieve humane policies for refugees. We want to encourage these new players to demand better standards from the parliament on human rights.

We want to call a halt to this race to the bottom on human rights.

The reason we are coming together on this day is to say that we, the people, want to be heard. We care about how vulnerable people are treated and we want our politicians to stop using asylum seekers as political footballs.

Enough is enough.

At a recent Refugee Advocacy Network meeting in Melbourne it was decided to ask all the refugee and asylum seeker networks, agencies and community groups to support and participate in this Peoples Assembly in Canberra.

Groups in each city will need to organise their own transport. We hope to send a bus from Melbourne, and are also assuming that many people will travel independently. The logistics for the event are yet to be organized in detail.

We are seeking your support for this event. Please email us at refugeeaction@hotmail.com with PEOPLES ASSEMBLY in the subject line, indicating the likely number of people who may attend from your group/organisation.

If your group or you as an individual would like to endorse this proposal please email us at refugeeaction@hotmail.com

We believe many Australians are concerned about this issue. Let's make sure our politicians get the message.

Signed by (organizations for identification purposes only) 13 Sept 2010: Pamela Curr, Asylum Seeker Resource Centre; Brigid Arthur, Brigidine Asylum Seeker Project; Marie Hapke, Refugee Action Collective; Sue Longmore, Queenscliff RAR; Anne Monk, Geelong Refugee Action and Information Network (GRAIN); Pam O’Connor, Co-ordinator Rural Australians for Refugees Mount Gambier Inc; Denise Cauchi, Humanitarian Crisis Hub; Giancarlo Di Stefano, Australian Nursing Federation; Sue Bolton, Socialist Alliance (Vic); Corey Oakley, Socialist Alternative; On behalf of the Refugee Advocacy Network; Blue Mountains Refugee Group; Refugee Action Coalition (Sydney).