Refugees have dramatically stepped up their campaign for permanent visas, with encampments in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane.
Nationally, more than 8000 refugees who arrived by boat and whose asylum claims were rejected have been living in a hellish limbo for more than a decade.
As one Iranian refugee put it, “12 years on bridging visas is too long. We need certainty.”
In Melbourne, refugees have been protesting around the clock for more than a month—first outside the office of Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil and then, when she moved portfolios, outside the Department of Home Affairs in the Docklands.
In Sydney, the encampment is outside the office of the new Home Affairs Minister, Tony Burke, in Punchbowl.
As Solidarity went to press, refugees had rallied in Adelaide and were launching an encampment in Brisbane, outside the office of Treasurer Jim Chalmers in Logan.
The encampments are run by asylum-seekers whose claims for refugee status and protection were rejected under the so-called Fast Track system, set up by the Coalition government in 2014.
Refugees were given minimal time to explain why they had fled their homeland. They had limited appeal rights in a process designed to reject the greatest number of cases.
Many are Tamils who fled repression in Sri Lanka and others are refugees from the harsh clerical regime in Iran. But there are also Iraqis, Bangladeshis, Pakistanis and, remarkably, even Afghans.
Widespread solidarity
The encampments have won widespread solidarity from refugee activists, unionists, students and even local businesses.
In Melbourne, more than 250 marched to Labor Party headquarters on 12 August. Another 400 rallied on 16 August with a contingent from the United Workers Union joining the protest, which was addressed by a state Greens MP.
A small group of Nazis gathered nearby in a failed attempt to intimidate the rally but had to slink off after being drowned out by a confident, angry crowd.
After days of relentless chanting, in Sydney, more than 700 rallied outside Burke’s office on 12 August when refugee representatives met Burke’s office staff.
Four days later, Burke made his first concession—coming out of his office on 16 August and inviting a small group of refugees in to “brief” him.
Ian Rintoul from the Refugee Action Coalition in Sydney said Burke was feeling the pressure. “Protest works. It’s only because of the encampments that he’s finally had to acknowledge the refugees outside his office door.
“But his approach to the protesters will be an empty gesture unless he is willing to discuss two key demands.
“Refugees on bridging visas need work rights and access to Medicare as a priority.
“And the government needs to announce a clear pathway to granting permanent visas for all the victims of Fast Track.
“The commitment by successive governments to the cruel politics of border controls, boat turnbacks, mandatory detention and offshore detention has caused enormous human misery and has to end.”
SUPPORT THE PROTESTS
The encampments are running day and night. Support is welcome at any time.
Melbourne: 808 Bourke Street, Docklands.
Sydney: 29/1 Broadway, Punchbowl
Brisbane: Shop 65, Logan Central Plaza, Wembley Road, Woodridge
By David Glanz
