National Action: “Close the Camps and Bring Them Here” August 27th 2016

In the wake of the thousands of leaked files documenting the abuses to refugees and asylum seekers detained on Nauru this month, rallies held this weekend will build upon the momentum to put an end to Australia’s offshore detention centre policies.

A national day of action has been called with rallies occurring in Australian capital cities this Saturday, August 27th, as well as in Tokyo and London.

People in Hobart will be gathering in Franklin Square between 1:30pm and 2:30pm for a group picnic and to add their voices to the call to immediately close offshore detention centres on Nauru and Manus Island, and for all people currently detained in these camps to be brought to Australia for processing. A group photo will occur at 2:00pm.

Neylan Aykut, spokesperson for Rural Australians for Refugees, Southern Tasmania, said; “We are joining thousands of Australians calling for a more intelligent and humane approach to processing refugees and asylum seekers in line with International Law. We don’t believe this policy has ‘stopped the boats,’ it’s a huge waste of money, and punishing innocent people by leaving them in these conditions indefinitely is both cruel and stupid.”

Other groups supporting this action are Amnesty International’s Tasmanian Refugee Rights Group and The Tassie Nannas, who have been holding weekly ‘knit-ins’ in the Hobart Mall in protest the treatment of refugees and asylum seekers in offshore detention centres.
Neylan Aykut, Carol Bristow