Speakers called for an end to the secrecy surrounding Australia’s refugee laws and the right of refugees to settle in Australia. There was anger too at the recent deportation of Hazara asylum seekers to Afghanistan.
Shokufa Tahira, an Hazara asylum seeker, accused Australia of breaching its human rights obligations by sending or threatening to send people like her back to their homeland. “Australia can effectively deport Hazara refugees back to danger, ignoring whether it’s dangerous or not,” she said. “I think it is essentially a death sentence if Hazaras are sent back to Afghanistan considering the security situation.”
Amnesty International said the recent Moss Review showed that allegations of sexual assault and physical abuse at Nauru were credible, and suggested that government authorities had known about the allegations for more than a year but failed to act. “All they care about is their public image,” spokesperson Graeme McGregor said. “The government believes it has the consent of the masses, but events like this [rally] show it’s not the case,” he added.
The last year has seen a seemingly endless succession of abuses against refugees. The recent Human Rights Commission report exposed again the damage being done to children in detention in particular. But the government has chosen to shoot the messenger with a concerted campaign against Commission President Gillian Triggs. Although it says it is getting children out of detention, there are 119 children in detention and others in the community on Nauru that are going nowhere.
But it is not just children harmed by detention. A year ago on Manus Island, Reza Barati was killed and scores of others savagely beaten by detention centre guards and locals. Manus is still not safe. The fear of further attacks drove protests and a mass hunger strike by asylum seekers in January.
The momentum for change is growing. Last year’s Palm Sunday demonstrations were the largest for refugee rights since the Howard years. Over 200 groups signed a statement against children in detention following the Human Rights Commission report. Christian leaders have staged actions at MPs’ offices around the country as part of the Love Makes a Way campaign.
