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UID:9713@rac-vic.oncal.link
DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20200410T140000
DTEND;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20200410T160000
DTSTAMP:20261104T032735Z
URL:https://rac-vic.oncal.link/events/car-cavalcade-detention-is-a-covid-1
 9-risk-free-the-refugees/
SUMMARY:Car cavalcade: detention is a Covid-19 risk\, free the refugees!
DESCRIPTION:Car Cavalcade: Detention Is a Covid-19 Risk\, Free the Refugees
 !\nCovid-19 means detention is an infection risk. The refugees must be rel
 eased to safety.\n\nplease register here so we know how many are coming\, 
 and which cars to look out for and keep together in the cavalcade\nhttps:/
 /rac-vic.typeform.com/to/Evwztk\n\ncavalcade endorsed by:\nAdelaide Vigil 
 for Manus and Nauru\nAmnesty South in Tasmania\nAustralian Services Union 
 Private Sector Branch (Vic)\nArmidale Rural Australians for Refugees\nEart
 hworker Cooperative\nPeople for Human Rights and Equality\nSemaphore and P
 ort Adelaide Amnesty Australia Action Group\nSouth Gippsland Rural Austral
 ians for Refugees\nTasmanian Asylum Seeker Support\nTeachers for Refugees 
 Vic\n\n\n\n\nto endorse message us on Facebook or sms to 0403 013 183\n\n\
 nCavalcade protest is safe\, detention centres are not - Free the refugees
 \n\nNo authoritarian shutdown of protest - sign the petition\nhttps://www.
 megaphone.org.au/petitions/cavalcade-protest-is-safe-detention-centres-are
 -not-free-the-refugees\n\nRAC has rescheduled its car cavalcade until Frid
 ay April 10 (Good Friday) to give us time to build wide support for solida
 rity with refugees\, even if that means defying the banning of safe public
  protest. Please join us\, the more people we have coming\, the less likel
 y it is anyone be fined. Legal observers will be present on the day. Julia
 n Burnside QC has offered us pro bono support.\n\nWe were told by Preston 
 police that our proposed protest was illegal and we faced fines of $1652 f
 or every person who took part\, plus much heavier fines for RAC.\n\nThe hy
 pocrisy is staggering. Our protest will be completely safe\, with only two
  people per car (from the same household) and no one getting out of their 
 cars. Our protest will be safer than going shopping\, safer than travellin
 g 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 t
 he Mantra.\n\nPeople are up to 4 in a room detained in hotels. At Kangaroo
  Point in Brisbane\, refugees are a maximum of 65cm apart in meal queues. 
 In the Mantra\, airline staff use the hotel regularly. Serco employees do 
 not practise social distancing and come and go. It is only a matter of tim
 e before coronavirus devastates detention centres.\n\nOver 1200 doctors ha
 ve signed a letter calling for the release of refugees from detention. The
  United Nations has called to release refugees from detention. ALP federal
  MPs Ged Kearney and Peter Khalil have called for the release of refugees 
 in the Mantra\, and income support for those in the community.\n\nWe call 
 on premier Daniel Andrews to join these calls by\n\n1) Publicly calling fo
 r the release of all refugees from detention\, and providing safe accommod
 ation for refugees in Victoria\n\n2) Using public health powers to release
  refugees from detention in Victoria\n\n3) Allowing safe protest in the fo
 rm of car and bicycle cavalcades\n\n\n*Please note this protest will be in
  the form of a car and bicycle cavalcade.*\n\nThe health emergency makes t
 his protest to free refugees more important than ever. We can show them ou
 r solidarity. Here is how it will work:\n\nDrive your car to the meeting p
 oint at Hotham St Preston and form a cavalcade.\n\nWe will travel south do
 wn Hotham st\, then around the Mantra three times before proceeding down H
 igh st.\n\nWe encourage you to bring your own signs and decorate your cars
  with signs and slogans like\n"Free the Refugees"\n"Covid19: Detention Isn
 't Safe".\n“Healthcare not detention“\n“Let them stay“\n“End Off
 shore and onshore detention”\n\nBe careful not to cover number plates wi
 th signage\, and obey all road rules.\nSpray chalk (available from Bunning
 s) will wash off if you have any.\n\nFor health reasons we ask: no more th
 an 2 people per car\, and for people in cars to be from the same household
 . Do not get out of your car at any time. Do not come if you are sick\, or
  in close contact with a sick person.\n\nBicycles are welcome\, but do not
  ride in groups\, only individually\, stay at least 1.5m (further is bette
 r) away from any other riders.\n\n\nWhy we are protesting:\n\nAs the men d
 etained in Preston Mantra have made clear during their protests\, refugees
  now face the increased risk of coronavirus infection because of their det
 ention conditions in Australia. The refugees are the definition of vulnera
 ble people\, many with underlying medical conditions such as asthma\, diab
 etes\, heart and kidney problems\, confined in places where any idea of so
 cial distancing is a joke.\n\nThese refugees were transferred to Australia
  for medical treatment\, many have underlying health conditions that make 
 them vulnerable to Covid-19. They are now having their lives once again pu
 t at risk by the Australian government.\n\nThe Australasian Society for In
 fectious Diseases and the Australian College of Infection Prevention and C
 ontrol recommended releasing immigration detainees (currently caged in hot
 els and detention centres across the country) into the community. The shar
 ed dining rooms\, bedrooms and bathrooms and the notorious handling of det
 ainees by security mean that Covid will spread through detention centres q
 uickly. Detention centres are running out of - or have already run out of 
 hand sanitiser. English classes of more than 20 are running in rooms that 
 don’t allow for physical distancing. Mantra hotel is even short of food\
 , because of problems sourcing supplies\, according to Serco.\n\nOver 70 r
 efugees and asylum-seekers brought from PNG and Nauru for medical treatmen
 t have been locked up at the Mantra Hotel in Preston for seven months. Thi
 s is on top of six years they spent in offshore detention. Over 40 are beh
 ind the fences at the Broadmeadows detention centre. There are more than 1
 400 people being held in immigration detention centres across Australia.\n
 \nWe are calling for all refugees and asylum seekers to be released into t
 he community immediately\n\nFor more information\, ring Chris on 0403 013 
 183
LOCATION:Mantra Bell City\, 215 Bell Street\, Preston\, VIC\, 3072\, Austra
 lia
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