Dear all,

As you know around 25 detainees are on hunger strike in villawood detention centre demanding unjustified and forceful deportaion. we called for a short protest a symbolic hunger strike from 12pm to 2.00pm on thursday 4th April. after 2pm we will enter to visit our detainees. RAC members will be in the protest. Please join our protest .

Hussewin, Motahar

12 noon, Bradfield Park under the north side of the harbour bridge (get off at Milsons Point station)

OVER THE past five years, Easter has become synonymous with protests for refugee rights. Woomera, Baxter and Villawood detention centres have each been the target of Easter convergences that have shone the global spotlight on the blatant disregard of human rights perpetrated by the Howard government.

The past 12 months have seen the defeat of Howard’s attempt to excise the Australian mainland from the migration zone. Some people previously demonised as “failed asylum seekers” finally got visas, but mandatory detention remains and refugees are still being deported.

Yet the construction of the $360 million, 800-bed detention centre on Christmas Island (aka Australia ’s Guantanamo) is nearing completion, unfortunately with the backing of the Labor opposition. And the recent attempt to turn back 81 Sri Lankan asylum seekers (and now send them to Nauru) shows that the government’s “fortress Australia” mindset persists.

Protesting at the doors of Kirribilli is ever more crucial given the looming election. The Howard government is in trouble on a number of fronts: the worsening debacle in Iraq ; the five year incarceration of David Hicks; the unpopularity of Workchoices; the push for uranium mining and nuclear power as a “solution” to climate change; and the incessant attacks on public education.

By uniting around these issues, we can both start pushing Howard back, and send a message to any alternative government that we need a fundamental break with the priorities of the Howard years.

Speakers already confirmed include ex-Guantanamo detainee Mamdouh Habib and from the Refugee Action Coalition and Stop the War Coalition. To get involved or to endorse the rally, call 0422078376 or 0409777173, or email mgoudkamp@yahoo.com

Endorsed by: Refugee Action Coalition, Stop the War Coalition, NSW Social Justice Network

The Refugee Action Coalition public meeting…

Christmas Island:
Australia’s very own
Guantanamo
Proposed opening: mid-2007
800 beds, $360 million
Find out about
Australia’s secretive high security prison for refugees. It’s being built now, 1000kms off the Australian mainland…Where no one can hear you scream!
Public Meeting
With Anna Samson, a refugee advocate recently on Xmas Island, plus other speakers
Monday 23 April 6pm
Level 1, Teachers Federation, 23 Mary St Surry Hills (1st left off Albion St)

Don’t think the fight for refugee rights is over. Racism, incarceration and deportation are still the defining features of Liberal policy. Leaked plans reveal the new Xmas Island detention centre will include electric fences, 24-hour surveillance, microwave detectors and individual surveillance – all intended to house people who have not been charged with any crime.
Plans also include a nursery, playground, childcare centre and classrooms- directly contravening a commitment made by Parliament that children will only be detained as an absolute last resort. The Refugee Action Coalition needs your support to expose the government’s latest ploy to de-humanise and punish those who arrive on our shores seeking peace and freedom.
ACT NOW
· Come to the public meeting and get informed
· Download the petition demanding a halt to construction of the facility at www.rac-vic.org, collect as many signatures as possible, and return to RAC by May 31.
· Join the fight for justice for refugees - the Refugee Action Coalition meets at 6pm on the 1st Monday of each month. Level 1, Teachers Federation, 23 Mary St Surry Hills (1st left off Albion St)

Related:

Villawood detainee hospitalised after hunger strike

The Refugee Action Coalition says 35 asylum seekers have been on a hunger strike for seven days, but a spokeswoman for the department says she only knows of the involvement of eight asylum seekers.

The spokeswoman says the strike began when detainees thought a fellow asylum seeker, An Xiang Tao, was going to be deported.

She says the detainee who has been taken to hospital is being treated for dehydration and it is not known why the hunger strike is continuing.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200704/s1890184.htm

Hunger strike continues at Villawood

The Immigration Department says it does not know why a seven-day hunger strike at Sydney's Villawood Detention Centre is still going.

A female detainee has spent the night in hospital after involvement in the strike.

The Refugee Action Coalition says 35 asylum seekers are taking part, but a spokeswoman for the department says she only knows of eight asylum seekers.

The spokeswoman says the strike began when detainees thought a fellow asylum seeker An Xiang Tao was going to be deported.

She says the detainee who has been taken to hospital is being treated for dehydration and the Immigration Department is monitoring the hunger strike.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200704/s1890213.htm

Australian immigration detainees launch hunger strike

About 60 prisoners at one of Australia’s notorious immigration detention centres launched a hunger strike on March 28 to protest against a new wave of refugee deportations, including the removal to China of a 35-year-old female member of the Falun Gong sect. As of yesterday, 25 detainees were continuing the fast into its second week.

http://sydney.indymedia.org.au/node/50568