The meeting was organised by the Refugee Action Coalition – a grassroots coalition which has been working since 1999 to support refugees who are seeking asylum in Australia.
Professor David Isaacs, a paediatrician from Westmead Hospital, visited Nauru in December 2014 and broke his legal contract to talk about what he saw. Dr Isaacs described the treatment of children in detention as “child abuse”. His son, Mark, had worked on Nauru for the Salvation Army, and reached the same view.
Dr Isaacs challenged people to change the language about refugees and asylum seekers, by always talking about “people seeking asylum”. He also thought that the language of “rights” could be confronting and should be balanced by talking about people suffering and people seeking a better life.
An Iranian refugee, Saba Vasefi, spoke strongly about her own experience as a refugee. Ms Vasefi showed a short film featuring her daughter. This served to highlight the nature of persecution in some countries, including of children.
Tara Moss, a well-known author and UNICEF Ambassador, recounted her visit to Lebanon and the situation of the 1.1 million Syrian refugees currently living in camps. Ms Moss had visited some camps. The conditions include child labour, child marriage, and immediate dangers such as hanging electricity wires. Ms Moss stressed that this was the largest displacement of people since World War Two.
Senators Lee Rhiannon and Sarah Hanson-Young provided policy perspectives and stressed the need for the Australian government to change direction. Senator Hanson-Young praised whistle-blowers, doctors, nurses and guards. She retold the moving story of meeting a young girl she met on Nauru who simply wanted a doll. The senator’s office was subsequently flooded with donations, which are now being sent.
Senator Hanson-Young surprised many when she said that she was full of “immense optimism right now”. Grounds for that optimism were demonstrated when she interviewed Andrew Jackson, who had previously voted for Tony Abbott but had since changed his mind about the treatment of refugees. Change is possible was a theme from the evening.
