Last year, Give Hope campaigned to protect a group of people seeking asylum from being forcibly returned to the hell of offshore detention – calling on our Prime Minister to let them stay. And, with the help of church members and others across the country, the #LetThemStay campaign was a great success. This group of people seeking asylum included women who are survivors of sexual assault, adults and children with serious medical needs and people who had been transferred to Australia from offshore detention because of their deteriorating mental health. Since 2016, these people have been living in community detention, babies have been born and children have started going to school. It was hoped that their claims for protection and asylum would be processed here, as they settle and thrive in our community.
However, at the end of August, the government began targeting this group again by issuing a new type of visa – the “Final Departure Bridging Visa” – which sees individuals immediately lose all financial support, lose housing in a matter of weeks and given six months to either move back into offshore detention or return home. It’s been reported that 60 people have already received this visa and up to 400 others, including families with children, will be next.
This decision is a cruel and deliberate attempt to make living conditions so unbearable for these people that they are forced to return to possible danger and harm in their home countries or the uncertainty of life in offshore detention. It will leave an already vulnerable group of people destitute, deprived of essential support and terrified for the future.
Now, Give Hope is calling on Uniting Church and community members to help this group of people and fight for their safety and wellbeing once more.
Here’s how you can help
Provide practical support: You can do this by sending in vouchers for major supermarket retailers (e.g. Woolworths), department stores and pharmacies to the Give Hope Team. We’ll bundle these up and pass them on to the team at the Asylum Seeker Centre in Newtown (ASC). The ASC team is on the ground working to support those in NSW/ACT who are in the #LetThemStay group. Vouchers can be sent to: Give Hope Team, PO BOX 7137 Silverwater NSW 2128. Alternatively, you may choose make a donation to one of the major organisations working to help. Visit: Let them stay for info on where to donate.
Write to the Prime Minister and the Minister for Immigration and Border Protection: We’ve made it easy for you to contact Mr Turnbull and Mr Dutton to express your anger about the recent decisions. It’s important that we show widespread outrage throughout the community at our government’s cruelty. Simply follow this link, edit the message text as you wish, and send.
Meet with your local Federal MP: Meeting with your local Federal Member is an ideal way of showing them that, as a constituent, you won’t support a government that treats innocent people and children this way. Contact us for any support you need to organise a meeting, prepare and follow up.
