Hobartians honk for refugee rights

On Friday 6 October, Hobartians will stand with the refugees on Manus Island and Nauru in the biggest ‘honkathon’ of the year.

This joins rallies and other protests being held around Australia until 15 October calling for the asylum seekers and refugees on Manus Island and Nauru to be brought immediately to Australia

The rallies will take place under the slogan “Manus Island Nauru – Not Safe for Refugees – Bring Them Here”.

Protesters are worried that, with the closure of the Manus Island detention centre on 31 October, the asylum seekers and refugees will face danger if they are forced to live in the PNG community. Some have already been attacked and the PNG authorities are not able to protect them.

Many of the people on Manus and Nauru have been detained for four years. Although we welcome the prospect that some will go the United States, that ‘deal’ is still very uncertain and it is unclear how many will be accepted by the US. The only certainty is that not all of them will be included.

The Australian Refugee Action Network (ARAN) –a national network of scores of refugee activist groups – has called for these protests as matter of urgency.

The Amnesty International Refugee Rights Group Tasmania is a member of ARAN’s network and is planning their biggest honkathon ever. It will take place from 4:30 until 6pm on the corner of Murray and Macquarie Streets, catching the peak hour traffic at this busy intersection. The group will show their support for the people on Manus and Nauru by holding signs or putting their arms up crossed in protest – as the men on Manus do every day at 2pm. Dressed in high-vis or yellow, this group will make quite a sight.

“Every month for 4 years as a group we’ve held signs up to passing traffic, who honk to show their support,” said Lili Calitz, of the Hobart-based group. “The feeling when people honk is amazing, and there is so much support here in Hobart.”

“This month, we will also have a banner that shows the people from Manus or Nauru who have died, often through medical neglect or suicide,” she adds. “This has had to be altered this week to add another name. This is heart-breaking, and shows why we’re worried about the safety of the refugees and asylum seekers in PNG and on Nauru.”

“No other country in the world has a system of offshore detention such as Australia. It’s time to end this disgraceful system, put an end to the suffering of people who have committed no crime, have not been charged with anything and did nothing worse than ask Australia for help.”

ARAN Member organisations (as at 8/06/17):

The Australian Refugee Action Network (ARAN) is a national network of refugee action groups, including:
NATIONAL:
Academics for Refugees
Catholic Alliance for People Seeking Asylum (CAPSA )
ChilOut
Doctors 4 Refugees
Love Makes a Way
Manus Emergency Fund
Mums 4 Refugees
People Just Like Us
Rural Australians for Refugees (RAR)
Sanctuary Australia Foundation
Tamil Refugee Council
Teachers for Refugees

ACT:
Refugee Action Committee, Canberra
Rural Australians for Refugees – Queanbeyan

NSW:
Amnesty International NSW Refugee Network
Community of South Sudanese and Other Marginalised Areas
Grandmothers against Detention of Refugee Children NSW
Home Among the Gum Trees NSW
Hunter Asylum Seeker Advocacy (Newcastle)
Mid North Coast Refugee Support Group
Refugee Action Coalition (Sydney)
Refugee Action Collective Eurobodalla
Refugee Action Collective Illawarra
Rural Australians for Refugees – Albury-Wodonga
Stop the Shame (Shoalhaven area)
Valerio Daniel De Simoni Association
Yass for Refugees

NT:
Darwin Asylum Seeker Support and Advocacy Network (DASSAN)

QLD:
Brisbane Refugee and Asylum Seeker Support Network (BRASS)
Gold Coast Get-Up
Noosa Welcomes Refugees
Refugee Action Collective (Queensland)

SA:
Amnesty International SA Refugee Action Network
Australian Refugee Association (ARA)
Bring Them Here Vigil Group
Justice for Refugees
Semapahore/Port Adelaide Amnesty Action Group

TAS:
Amnesty International Tasmanian Refugee Action Group
Amnesty International Tasmania Branch
Amnesty International Tasmania Southern Group
Tasmanian Asylum Seeker Support
Tassie Nannas
Uniting Church Synod of Vic/Tas

VIC:
Amnesty International Vic Refugee Network
Brigidine Asylum Seeker Project
Close the Camps Action Collective
Combined Refugee Action Group (CRAG – Geelong)
Grandmothers Against Detention of Refugee Children
Hobsons Bay Refugee Network
Law Students for Refugees
Mornington Peninsula Human Rights Group
Refugee Action Collective (Victoria)
Refugee Advocacy Network
Rural Australians for Refugees – Aireys Inlet
Rural Australians for Refugees – Albury-Wodonga
Rural Australians for Refugees – Apollo Bay
Rural Australians for Refugees – Castlemaine
Rural Australians for Refugees – Mansfield
Rural Australians for Refugees – South Gippsland
Southern Women’s Action Network (SWAN) – Mornington Peninsula
Uniting Church Synod of Vic/Tas

WA:
Refugee Rights Action Network (WA)

INTERNATIONAL
International Alliance Against Mandatory Detention
Lili Calitz, Member, Amnesty International Tasmania Refugee Rights Group