Media Release 23 October 2009
Tampa, SIEV X — Never again
Vigil to welcome refugees and stop the inhumane 'Indonesian Solution'

Refugee Action Collective (RAC) is holding a vigil on Monday, 26 October, at 5.30pm at Federation Square to demand fair treatment of refugees risking their lives to come to Australia by boat while escaping from war-torn countries. They are also demanding that refugees be processed on the Australian mainland and provided with a safe haven when they arrive. The public is invited to bring banners and placards

The vigil is supported by the Tamil Community. Currently Tamil refugees are escaping from Sri Lanka by boat to Australia due to large scale human rights abuses against Sri Lanka's Tamil population.

RAC is mobilising as desperate refugees once again become a political football for desperate politicians needing to divert public attention away from other issues.

The current situation echoes the Howard Liberal government years with terms like 'illegals' being used to describe refugees as well as large payments being made to an under-resourced foreign country, in this case Indonesia, to take refugees into indefinite detention for years in unimaginably terrible conditions.

The Labor government claims their strategy is a humane one and about being tough on people smugglers. Indonesia is not a signatory to the UN Refugee Convention and is greatly overcrowded and under resourced compared to Australia.

Sylvie Leber of Refugee Action Collective stated:

"It's so disappointing. We hoped that by now our group's work would be all over. The humane thing to do would be for Australia to welcome the refugees trying to get to our shores and to provide them with safety and support. Australia is well set up to look after a small number of refugees. They always give back so much to the community and it is a privilege for us to have them here."

RAC believes that asylum seekers are not illegal and have a right to have their claims assessed immediately. Mandatory detention is a cruel and unnecessary policy that the Australian people disagree with. The overwhelming majority of asylum seekers qualify for refugee status under international law.

It's heartening to RAC that many Australians, including both Labor and Liberal politicians, and union leaders, traditional allies of the Labor Party, are criticising the leadership of the two major political parties. The majority of Australians are sick of ugly racist scapegoating of asylum seekers arriving by boat.

For further information contact:
Marie 0409 252673, Sue 0413 377 978 or Sylvie 0409 190 738