Category: Featured

RAC has launched a petition in solidarity with the Medevac refugees on hunger strike, all refugees indefinitely detained, and those still held offshore indefinitely by Australia.

The petition calls on Karen Andrews, Minister for Home Affairs, and Alex Hawke, Minister for Immigration, to immediately free all indefinitely detained refugees.

Sign the petition here.

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1 July 2020

The Refugee Action Collective (Vic) has been inspired by the resistance shown by the refugees held in the hotel at Kangaroo Point in Brisbane and the solidarity rallies by their supporters in the streets outside.

We join the Refugee Action Collective (Qld) and Refugee Solidarity Meanjin in calling for the men to be released into the community where they will be welcomed by so many people.

We are appalled by the mass arrests of refugee supporters who were doing no more than peacefully calling attention to this incarceration, this breach of human rights.

Here in Melbourne, we continue the same fight. There are some 65 refugees in the Mantra Bell City Hotel in Preston, like Kangaroo Point an “alternative place of detention”, and more in MITA, in Broadmeadows. They, too, have been protesting daily.

Those in the Mantra do not have access to fresh air and all of them are trapped in close proximity to Serco guards who could all too easily bring the COVID-19 virus in from outside, with cases spiking in the city’s north. Broadmeadows is one of many suburbs going into lockdown as a COVID-19 hotspot.

We, too, have faced police action for safely drawing attention to this situation, with one RAC member charged with incitement and 30 facing $1652 fines for taking part in a socially distanced convoy of solidarity.

So we send our solidarity to you all in Meanin/Brisbane from Naarm/Melbourne. And the best solidarity is for all of us to keep up the fight for freedom for refugees and asylum-seekers against this racist Morrison/Dutton government.

The Victorian State Council of the Australian Education Union has overwhelmingly endorsed the following motion:

The AEU condemns the Federal Government’s treatment of refugees who are currently held in lockdown at a Preston hotel.

The government has abrogated their responsibility for the rights and welfare of these refugees generally and specifically in the context of the response to COVID-19 by failing to provide sufficient:

• space to enable the required social distancing between refugees and between refugees and guards
• hygiene products such as soap
• personal protective equipment where necessary.

The increased risk to the refugees is significant given that they have come to Australia under the Medevac legislation and have considerable medical problems, which make them more vulnerable to COVID-19.

The AEU, consistent with existing policy, calls on the government to immediately allow refugees and asylum seekers to be released safely into suitable community care arrangements.

Further the AEU reinforces its support for the right of Victorians to engage in safe political protest free from the fear of arrest. Appropriate political protest is a fundamental civil right which should not be thwarted by charging or fining protesters.

The AEU calls for the charge of incitement to be dropped against Chris Breen, and for the fines against all 29 refugee rights supporters to be withdrawn.

Free the refugees

Dutton is the real COVID criminal

Victoria Police have used draconian powers to stamp out dissent, in a move that has implications for unions, climate activists and all movements for justice and change.

On Good Friday, they arrested Refugee Action Collective member Chris Breen in his house, held him for nine hours at Preston police station, seized his electronic devices (including his son’s) and charged him with incitement under section 321G of the Crimes Act 1958 for involvement in a RAC car convoy.

If Breen is found guilty, it creates a precedent that could be used against anyone planning a rally, a protest or a picket line. It is a threat to all our liberties and further evidence of the arbitrary way policy are using their health powers.

The same day, police also harassed dozens of activists taking part in the RAC convoy, which had been organised as a demonstration of compassion and solidarity with refugees in the Mantra Hotel in the Melbourne suburb of Preston.

Police took the details of 30 participants in the convoy, telling them they may receive infringement notices with fines of $1652 each, a total of almost $50,000. At least one was threatened with arrest.

The activity was entirely safe, with activists isolated in cars, with no more than two occupants from the same household.

It was safer than going shopping, safer than travelling on public transport, safer than non-essential work that continues, and safer by an order of magnitude than being stuck in a sealed corridor in the Mantra.

It was as safe as the car convoy conducted the previous day by the United Workers Union to promote the #NoWorkerLeftBehind campaign for wage justice, which the police did not prevent from taking place.

And it was as a safe as the CFA car convoy in Eildon on Easter Sunday to celebrate a resident’s 100th birthday, which had no police presence and was celebrated in the media.

Meanwhile, the situation for refugees in the Mantra is appalling, with up to three people sharing a room, no soap and no room for social distancing in common areas.

The men are surrounded at close quarters by Serco guards without PPE during meals and other activities, in direct breach of COVID-19 physical isolation guidelines. Serco guards fly in from all over the country.

The Mantra is like a cruise ship on land – if COVID-19 breaks out, it could affect every refugee. These men came to Australia under Medevac legislation and have conditions like diabetes, respiratory problems, kidney disease and Crohn’s disease.

More than 1200 doctors have signed a letter calling for the release of refugees from detention. ALP federal MPs Ged Kearney and Peter Khalil have also called for their release and for income support for refugees in the community.

Premier Dan Andrews should be using the health powers to free refugees, rather than quashing safely conducted protest and political dissent.

RAC was right to exercise compassion on Good Friday and signal support for the men in Mantra.

We, the undersigned, join RAC in calling for:

1) The charge against Chris Breen to be dropped.
2) The fines to be dropped.
3) Refugees and asylum-seekers to be released into community care.
4) Government approval of car convoys and other safe forms of political protest.

To endorse this statement, email [email protected]

SIGNED BY HUNDREDS OF ORGANISATIONS AND INDIVIDUALS, INCLUDING:

Maritime Union of Australia
United Workers Union
Health and Community Services Union (HACSU)
CFMEU Construction & General Division VIC/TAS Branch
Australian Education Union Victoria Branch (by a separate resolution)
NTEU Victorian Division
ETU Queensland and NT Branch
Ballarat Regional Trades and Labour Council
RMIT University NTEU branch committee
Federation University NTEU branch committee
The Victorian Greens
Tamil Refugee Council
Labor for Refugees NSW
Mums for Refugees
Grandmothers for Refugees NSW
Pax Christi Australia
Jews for Refugees
Justice for Refugees Victoria
Brigidine Asylum Seekers Project
Senator Nick McKim, Tasmania (Greens)
Senator Lidia Thorpe, Victoria (Greens)
Lee Rhiannon, former NSW Senator (Greens)
Gavin Marshall, former Victorian Senator (ALP)
David Shoebridge, NSW Greens MP
Dr Tim Read, Victorian Greens MP
Samantha Ratnam, Victorian Greens MP and leader
Ellen Sandell, Victorian Greens MP
Sam Hibbins, Victorian Greens MP
Paul Petersen, Assistant Branch Secretary MUA, Queensland Branch
Keith McKenzie, President ETU, Qld and NT Branch
Robert Richter QC, Barrister
Greg Barns, Former National President Australian Lawyers Alliance
Julian Burnside AO QC, Barrister
Alison Battinson, Principal lawyer, Human Rights for All
Louise Redmond, National President, Rural Australians for Refugees
Peter Murphy, Sydney Peace and Justice Coalition
Elizabeth Cox, former UN Women Director, Pacific region
Young Labor Left NSW

Read a longer list or add your name or your organisation.