Community vigil for asylum seekers

A community vigil to support the rights of asylum seekers will be held in Launceston on Wednesday, December 10.

Launceston residents will meet in Princes Square, Charles Street, at 6pm on Wednesday, December 10, to express their support for the rights of asylum seekers.

The one-hour vigil will mark the United Nations’ Human Rights Day. It will be a time of creative, quiet reflection on the plight of asylum seekers and the horrors of detention.

“Many people in Launceston are very upset by the recent Migration Amendment Bill (Protection and Other Measures),” said Safe Asylum’s spokesperson Jeff McKinnon.

“The Bill has further eroded human rights by reintroducing Temporary Protection Visas, erasing reference to the UN Refugee Convention from our laws, potentially giving power to send people back to harm and to arrest asylum seekers on the high seas and giving unchecked power to the Minister.”

Safe Asylum invites the public to show its support at Princes Square and send a message of hope on Human Rights Day. Mr McKinnon said, “The Vigil is another opportunity for the people of northern Tasmania to express their outrage at continuing government policies.”

Safe Asylum is a grass-roots community group based in Launceston. Safe Asylum speaks out against mandatory, off-shore detention and the detention of children. The organisation has no political affiliations.

The group holds rallies, community walks and photograph displays. It also provides personal support for refugees and visits politicians. Safe Asylum usually meets at 6pm on the second Wednesday of the month at the Royal Oak Hotel in Brisbane Street.

For more information about Safe Asylum go to www.facebook.com/SafeAsylum
Jeff McKinnon