Tonight at a Melbourne detention centre a man sat on a bench next to me and sobbed silently, his whole body shaking. He asked me to visit his house to see his daughter and mother. He led me to his donga door and with a shushing finger to his lips, pointed at a small red […]
The Refugee Rights Action Network joined other activists from all around the country, this Easter weekend in Darwin – a place which has progressively become the detention capital of Australia. Activists from Perth, Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney were among those attending, this included three ex-detainees – three men from Iraq, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka who […]
By Tierri Abraham, New Matilda. From http://newmatilda.com/2012/01/31/boys-locked-leonora
Chris Bowen promised to release women and children asylum seekers into community detention in 2010 but 160 boys remain in the remote Leonora centre. This is what they told refugee activists who visited on the weekend.
Pressure from a group of teenage detainees inside the Leonora Immigration […]
Coalition spokesperson on multicultural affairs Teresa Gambaro has again sparked controversy stating that asylum seekers should learn English to negate racism. This follows her previous comments that “migrants should be taught about the importance of wearing deodorant and waiting in queues without pushing in”.¹
These comments are indicative of a total misunderstanding of the nature […]
Over the Christmas period refugee advocates in DASSAN (Darwin Asylum Seeker Support Action Network) attempted to brighten the lives of children in detention by providing them with gifts from the broader community. These attempts were met with resistance and un-cooperation by Serco. Refugee advocates and organisation ‘Serco Watch’ posted a media release by DASSAN about […]
By Andrew Martin
As predicted, the ALP national conference was another low point for the neoliberal pro-capitalist party, which adopted offshore processing as part of its platform. It was a win for Chris Bowen, the immigration minister, who gained support for putting the weight of the party behind the government’s proposed Malaysia solution. Bowen sought […]
Harsh penalties for boat crew ‘target wrong people’
By Jarad Owens, The Australia. From http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/immigration/harsh-penalties-for-boat-crew-target-wrong-people/story-fn9hm1gu-1226233592962.
Nine Australian judges have now criticised laws imposing mandatory five-year jail terms on the crew of asylum-seeker boats, with the latest saying the harsh penalties target the wrong people, condemn their children to “extreme poverty” and have no deterrent effect.
Sentencing two impoverished Indonesian fishermen this month, […]
RRAN Meetings
RRAN WA and Fremantle RRAN meet the first Monday of the month at 6.30pm at the Boorloo Activist Centre, U15/5 Aberdeen Street, Perth (just north of the McIver Train Station or online via Jitsi. For more details, send us a message via our Contact RRAN WA page, or call/text us on 0412 860 168. Contact Fremantle RRAN
Leonora Convergence 2012 Report back
Over the weekend of the 26th-29th of January 2012, RRAN went on its third trip to the Leonora Immigration Detention Centre to visit the children that are being detained there by the Australian government.
On the 17th of February, we shared our experiences and observations at a public forum. This is a recording of that […]