Buddies Refugee Support Group

Thanush Selvarasa is a Sri Lankan Tamil who spent eight years in detention. While he looks for a job he’s relying on charity. Photograph: Farhad Bandesh

THE GUARDIAN, 7 MARCH 2021

Thanush Selvarasa was among the asylum seekers detained at MITA in Melbourne. Since his release he’s been working on all the things required to get a job: a driver’s licence, a tax file number, a bank account.
    He’s almost there, but in the meantime is relying on the support of his friends and charities for cash to buy food.
    “Money? No I don’t have anything. We are just depending on others now. It is very difficult. We only have six month visas, and so this is a very big challenge for us.
    “It is much better than detention. We are free but we needed some time to recover from all of those years.”
    RCOA chief executive Paul Power says there is a very real risk that some people could fall into destitution. “For the great majority, it’s going to be extraordinarily difficult in a highly competitive labour market, without having previous employment history,” he said. “Unfunded organisations, volunteer community groups, and individuals are trying to step in to support people. But it’s not in any way a comprehensive safety net”... MORE

COMING EVENTS

EVERY DAY

Daily Peak Hour Protest at KP Hotel

Refugee Action Collective Brisbane

5pm to 6pm, Kangaroo Point Central Hotel, 721 Main Street, Kangaroo Point, Brisbane
We are planning a daily protest presence outside Kangaroo Point Detention Centre/Hotel between 5-6pm. Feel free to rock up with a sign for traffic to let commuters know that our friends in KP are still not free... more

SUNDAY 28 MARCH

Palm Sunday rally for peace and refugees

Hosted by Refugee Action Collective

12 noon, Reddacliff Place, 266 George Street, Brisbane
• Free the refugees – close all the camps
• Permanent visas not poverty
• Peace not militarism, no to racism
MC: Dr Peter Catt, Dean of St John’s Cathedral... more

While A-G Porter was saying the rule of law would end if he couldn’t get a fair trial, he was urging a law that would let him deport refugees without them being able to see, or challenge, the evidence against them.

– Julian Burnside, barrister and refugee advocate, on Twitter

Buddies Learn English Holiday, 11–16 April
CLASSROOM VOLUNTEERS NEEDED!

Lesley Willcoxson and Kayla Szumer

Classroom volunteers are needed for the Learn English Holiday program to be held at Immanuel Lutheran College, Buderim. Volunteers for our children’s programs are especially welcome, particularly those with experience of working with children.
We are also happy to have volunteers who would like to work in the adult classroom, or volunteers interested in helping supervise at the beach on Thursday morning.
You do not have to be available for the whole program.

For further information please email Lesley Willcoxson.

We also now have enough Homestay Hosts to house all our attendees. Our sincere thanks to all those who have kindly volunteered to open their homes and extend their hospitality to help facilitate this signature Buddies event.

VOLUNTEERS DRIVERS ALSO NEEDED
To transport attendees to and/or from their Homestay to classes

Family of 4, mother and 3 children (13, 8, & 6), staying in Buderim
Family of 4, mother and 3 children (15, 5 & 3), staying in Buderim
Family of 4, mother and 3 children (15, 13 & 9) staying in Montville
Single lady, staying in Woombye
Two sisters and two children (12 & 6), staying in Ninderry

Our visitors are bringing their age-appropriate car seats and anchoring straps. For more info, contact Kayla Szumer, buddiesleh@gmail.com or phone 0427 380 235.

MEMBERS' SURVEY – Summary of results

Andrea Douglas

Thank you to everybody who responded to the survey. While only a small number responded the information provided is highly informative. The open-ended comments especially have provided invaluable insights into members' attitudes and opinions of Buddies. The directors will be developing several actions based on the survey results and these will be discussed with members and detailed in a future Bulletin.

Click on the link HERE to download a summary of the survey findings.

And thanks for offering to volunteer...

Thank you also to those respondents who said they are willing to volunteer in some way and provided a contact email or phone number. You will be contacted soon to discuss in what way you would like to help.

Temporary: How did we get here?

Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law

If you’ve ever wondered how Australia became one of the most hostile places on Earth for refugees, explore ‘Temporary’, a new project from UNSW’s Kaldor Centre.
Temporary tracks the hopes of people living in limbo within our communities – through stories, art and an eight-episode narrative podcast. This series will help you understand how people survive in spite of a system designed to keep them out... MORE

THE CANADIAN COMMUNITY SPONSORSHIP PROGRAM
Canadians and Aussies are stepping up – if the government won’t resettle PNG and Nauru refugees, we will.

RAVI’S STORY

Ravi fled at 25 from India where his uncle was murdered in front of him. He is still stuck in PNG as the Australian Government has not brought him here for medical treatment after he attempted suicide by setting himself on fire, even though he was approved for Medevac in July 2019. Ravi does not have refugee status but Team Canada has been able to secure an organisation to sponsor him to Canada.
“We are being treated much worse than criminals, even though we haven't committed any crime”… MORE

‘Unacceptable’: Boochani slams Lambie’s Medevac secrecy as she explains her reasoning

The Examiner, 7 March

Behrouz Boochani says Senator Jacqui Lambie’s decision not to reveal the deal behind her Medevac vote in December 2019 is another example of the “secrecy” surrounding Australia’s treatment of refugees.
Senator Lambie promised to make the nature of the deal public by the end of 2020, but failed to do so, outlining her reasoning in an opinion piece. Her vote was critical for the Federal Government in repealing the Medevac law.
Senator Lambie claimed that “the agreement I made gets torn up if I reveal it”, and promised that the deal would ultimately “make a huge difference to the lives of those people in offshore detention”.... more

‘Goodbye, Australia’: The migrants giving up on the Australian dream for Canada

SBS News, 7 March

Strict requirements for permanent residency and a lack of government support during the coronavirus pandemic has prompted some temporary migrants in Australia to look elsewhere to build a life.
Husband and wife Ákos Percsy and Marina Áng have spent almost four years fighting to build a life in Australia, serving drinks and stocking supermarket shelves.
But after being left out of the Government’s COVID-19 support as temporary migrants, and unable to secure a clear pathway to permanent residency, they’ve decided to give up on their Australian dream in favour of what they see as a more welcoming life in Canada... more

‘Incredibly onerous’: Refugees lured by hope of a visa that’s near-impossible to secure

New Daily, 8 March

Despite the system being in place for six years, no refugee has been able to use the Safe Haven Enterprise Visa (SHEV) pathway to permanently settle.
Offered as a glimmer of hope, the strict regulations around the rare visa pathway mean they have been designed as near-impossible to meet, leaving refugees in a state of hopelessness that sometimes borders on suicidal.
The policy was born out of wrangling in 2014 between the Government and then-senator Clive Palmer, who argued that regional areas in the grip of labour shortages would benefit if refugees were wooed away from big cities... more

Deported to danger and death: Australia returns people to violence and persecution

The Guardian, 14 December 2020

Bangladeshi politics is ruthlessly uncompromising and stubbornly violent yet Australia forcibly deported asylum seekers back to their home country, where they have faced arrest and threats. Some have died.
Samad Howladar had spent five years inside Australia’s offshore detention regime, held on Manus Island until he was deported, in handcuffs, back to Bangladesh in 2018.
He told Australian and PNG authorities that he feared violence in his homeland – a violent persecution meted out by distant relatives in his village because of his father’s historical connection with a now-banned Islamist political party. To no avail... more

The Mexican camp that was a symbol of migrant misery has emptied out under Joe Biden

SBS News, 13 March

A sprawling camp in the Mexican city of Matamoros, within sight of the Texan border, has since 2019 been one of the most powerful reminders of the human toll of former President Donald Trump’s efforts to keep migrants out of the US.
The camp has emptied out recently, after hundreds of asylum seekers living there were finally allowed to cross the border to press their claim to stay in the United States.
President Joe Biden last month rolled back the program – known as the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) – that had forced asylum seekers to wait in Mexico. Mr Biden’s wife Jill visited the camp during last year’s presidential campaign to witness the conditions first hand... more

Uyghurs in Australia call for genocide declaration in wake of report into China’s Xinjiang region policies

ABC News, 10 March

Beijing is breaching every provision of the UN Genocide Convention, with “intent to destroy” the Uyghurs as a group in China’s north-western Xinjiang region, according to a major new report by a US-based think tank.
    The CCP has violated “each and every act” prohibited in Article II of the genocide convention, the new report says.
    The report, published by Newlines Institute for Strategy and Policy, is the first independent expert application of the 1948 Genocide Convention to the ongoing treatment of the Uyghurs. Both the US and Canada have declared China’s persecution of Muslim minorities to be genocide.
    Uyghurs in Australia live with survivor’s guilt and want the government to take action.... more

China tells UN Australia’s offshore detention centres violate human rights, don’t have adequate conditions

ABC News, 13 March

China says it is “deeply concerned” by the Australian government’s operation of offshore detention centres, and called for the sites to be closed immediately, saying the human rights of those in offshore detention centres have been violated.
    It has also called on Australia to investigate “serious war crimes” committed by soldiers overseas.
    China has been accused of detaining up to a million people, mostly Uyghur and other Muslim minorities, in a vast system of camps.
    Ties between the two countries soured in 2018 when Australia became the first nation to publicly ban China’s Huawei from its 5G network and worsened when Australia last year called for an inquiry into the origins of coronavirus... more

Thank you to Andrea Douglas, Jill Horton, Kayla Szumer and Diana Woolley for their contributions to this edition.

BUDDIES BULLETIN – EDITORIAL POLICY
DEADLINE FOR CONTRIBUTIONS: 5pm Wednesday
Please send contributions for the newsletter to the editor.
EDITOR / PRODUCTION: Wendy Oakley
WEBSITE: Wendy Oakley
FACEBOOK: Anneliese Broadaway

Facebook

Website

ABOUT BUDDIES REFUGEE SUPPORT GROUP
Buddies is an independent community group based on the Sunshine Coast which advocates for just and compassionate treatment of refugees, consistent with the human rights standards which Australia has developed and endorsed.
We support policies towards refugees and asylum seekers that reflect respect, decency and traditional Australian generosity to those in need, while advancing Australia’s international standing and national interests.
Confidentiality  Your email address is completely confidential.
To contribute to Buddies   Buddies’ fundraising contributes to refugee and asylum seeker support. You can direct debit to:
Suncorp Bank, BSB 484-799
Account No: 123508960
Account name: Buddies Refugee Support Group Ltd
Your donations are much appreciated by those we help.

This email was sent to <<Email Address>>
why did I get this? unsubscribe from this list update subscription preferences
Buddies Refugee Support Group · PO Box 367 · Buderim, Qld 4556 · Australia