Rural Australians for Refugees making a difference to the lives of
refugees and people seeking asylum
Mr Dutton, our town needs this family – a message from Biloela
“Help us to get Priya, Nades and their two beautiful little girls out of detention and bring them home to Biloela, QLD. On behalf of Biloela – thank you!”
And if you are in Melbourne don’t miss
Bring Biloela to Melbourne for Priya & Nades
Wednesday, May 2 at 8 AM – 9 am at the Flagstaff Gardens.
Read the latest update on Priya, Nades and their children here
I am a person seeking asylum and I am currently awaiting my refugee status from our government. To support me to do things like pay my rent, study and get help finding work, I have been receiving support through the Status Resolution Support Service (SRSS).
Right now Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull is overseeing one of the largest cuts to support for people seeking asylum that this country has ever seen. The SRSS provides people like me, with basic support to help us build our lives in the Australia.
Read Kamran’s letter here
Call for an Australian Bill of Rights
Prof Triggs, former president of the Australian Human Rights Commission, used her speech at the recent National RAR Conference to call for an Australian Bill of Rights.
‘‘Unlike almost every other comparable country Australia has no bill of rights against which government policies, legislation and actions can be benchmarked,’’ Prof Triggs told the 300-strong conference.
She gave examples of how the human rights of people seeking asylum have suffered because courts have not had such a legal tool to use.
Cuts to SRSS program – Have you sign RCOA’s petition calling on Malcolm Turnbull to #ChangeThePolicy of cruelty and save these life-saving supports for people seeking asylum? If we can show him there is strong community support, we could save these life-saving supports.
DID YOU KNOW?
The Refugee Council of Australia has three teleconference working groups on key campaign issues: Permanent Protection, Ending Offshore Processing, Increasing the Refugee Quota/Special Humanitarian Quotas. You can join any of these if interested by contacting .
Boat ‘turnbacks’ in Australia: a quick guide to the statistics since 2001 –
Compiled by Parliamentary Library staff – Updated 16 November 2017
NEW GROUPS
Surfcoast Mums for Refugees has recently been established with the support of Surfcoast RAR and the Spring Creek Community House.
Colac RAR has recently been established, and a committee has been formed to determine the specific areas the group will channel its energies into.
Contact Surf Coast RAR for details – surfcoastRAR@yahoo.com.au
BMRSG Helps Saving these men from life on the streets. Since September 2017 BMRSG has been financially supporting nine young men originally evacuated to Australia from Manus Island and Nauru with severe medical and psychological conditions. Already traumatised by their experiences and still new to Australian life, they were cut off from government payments without a warning date and given 3 weeks to get out Read more
CALL TO ACTION / LOBBYING ACTIVITY – ARAN Petition Justice4Refugees 2018
Please download the petition here and collect as many signatures as you can.
Don’t miss your chance to say “NO” to proposed changes to citizenship law. Also, the Parliamentary Committee online survey allows you to express your view on the Australian Citizenship Legislation Amendment (Strengthening the Commitments for Australian Citizenship and Other Measures) Bill 2018. The survey closes at 5pm on 27 April 2018 AEST. The proposed legislation would require an eight year wait to apply for citizenship, instead of one year. The Bill also demands high-level English competency for citizenship. Long waiting periods for citizenship and excessively high English competence are unjust, unfair and cruel barriers to the most vulnerable new arrivals, who have so much to contribute to Australia as citizens. Written submissions can also be sent to . Please circulate this message to community members and stakeholders. See sample submission on the Bill here, and also on the ARAN campaigns page here.
Let us know what your group is doing,
and make sure your events are on our Event Calendar
If you missed the National RAR Conference, you missed a treat.
RURAL AUSTRALIANS FOR REFUGEES: BUILDING THE FUTURE
Wodonga – 6-8 April 2018
A full report of the 2018 RAR Conference is available here
In the meantime, here is a an article from the Border Mail
Rural Australians for Refugees national conference presents Tampa Award
and a call for
An Australian Bill of Rights
Download a pdf copy of the Conference Program for full details