Refugee supporters in Melbourne and Sydney place thousands of shoes at Border Force and The Department of Immigration
In solidarity with the refugees and people seeking asylum being detained in both onshore and offshore detention, groups of activists led by Jewish community members have today set up art installations in front of Border Force offices in Melbourne and the Department of Immigration in Sydney. Each shoe in each city represents a human life: the very lives which are being actively denied and harmed by the Australian Government policy of detention.
Dinah Hollander, one Melbourne-based organiser, noted the historical links between today and the way Australia has treated Jewish refugees.
“In June 1938, at the opening of the Holocaust, Australian delegate Thomas White attended the Evian Conference in Paris, France. The plan was to discuss an emergency solution to resettle Jewish refugees. But White infamously declared that “as we have no real racial problem, we are not desirous of importing one by encouraging any scheme of large-scale foreign migration. Today we see the continued racist controlling of which people can and cannot cross Australian borders.”
Taking the lead from the peaceful resistance of those detained in Manus we have set up these installations to draw attention to each individual life which this government refuses to see. What’s more, every single person that is being detained exists in relation to others. So the effect of these policies reaches beyond the individual and tears into families, friends and communities.
Behrouz Boochani, a journalist and writer, and prisoner in Manus Island, explains that, “our resistance was completely peaceful in a situation where we were under so much pressure and the threat of violence. Our resistance was completely democratic because so many people with different nationalities, religions and cultures were resisting peacefully together… Our resistance had a broader purpose. It was to be a model and present a new way for humanity. We wanted to show how humans have this capacity to be kind and peaceful and care about humanity even in a harsh situation.”
Drawing on this, Dinah Hollander, stated, “the installation brings together shoes of all different kinds – pairs, singles, children’s, business, athletic. This speaks to how the humanity and individuality of those being detained has been distorted by referring to them collectively. It speaks to the fracturing of homes and families and the denial of complex identities. The size of our installations speaks to the immensity of this problem and it’s incalculable weight. People should never be numbers, scapegoats or political play.”
Hollander continues, “initially our target was to collect 600 pairs of shoes to represent the 600 men detained on Manus Island but the community response was so large that we eventually had to decline collections. In total across both installations there are 1,350 pairs with a further 200 singles. This response clearly indicates that the Australian people both see and support the refugee community and are demanding a change in policy.”
Natan Shlomo Bernfield, an organiser in Sydney says, “the last few weeks we have seen a huge increase in the explicit violence being inflicted on people seeking asylum. The Australian government has now made abundantly clear that they are not concerned with the human rights of people in their care. Not only have people on Manus faced physical assault, days without food or water, and the ongoing dehumanisation after five years of unjust incarceration, families are being forced apart on Nauru and people in our communities are constantly facing the threat of forceful deportation. We condemn both the Labor and Liberal parties for perpetuating the harmful system and structural violence faced by people seeking asylum.”
Bernfeld continues, “Those imprisoned on Manus Island have made clear that they do not wish to come to Australia: it is vital that they are evacuated to a safe third location immediately. All those people in detention, both onshore and off, must be freed immediately and given continuing visas. And – as international law makes clear is necessary – family groups must be kept together. Each individual life must be treated with dignity and respect.”
Dinah Hollander, Natan Shlomo Bernfield, WACA – Whistleblowers, Activists & Citizens Alliance
