Media release
DEFEND THE 1951 REFUGEE CONVENTION
50th Anniversary 28 July 2001
Public Meeting - 6pm Tues 31 July,
Trades Hall, cnr Lygon and Victoria Streets
Support union bans on building more detention centres,
which violate the Refugee Convention.
Speakers include: Michele O'Neil (TCFUA), Peter Mares (author of
Borderline), Luke van der Meulen (CFMEU), Marion Le (Refugee lawyer)
Simon O'Neill (RAC), Refugee speaker
Rally - 11am Sat 28 July, Footscray
cnr Paisley & Nicholsen Sts (near the ANZ bank on the Footscray Mall)
The 1951 Refugee Convention guarantees the right to flee persecution
without papers. It is under attack by Ruddock and the Liberals, and other
governments around the world, who would rather avoid their obligations to
protect victims of human rights abuses.
"Watering down the only universal legal instrument that gives refugees a
basis for claiming asylum would only be a continuation of the racist,
nationalist attacks on refugee rights in Australia such as the mandatory
detention of refugees in desert camps." said Simon O'Neill, spokesperson
for the Refugee Action Collective.
"We have seen refugees batoned, watercannoned, and teargassed by private
security guards in Australia. The struggle for a system that recognises
refugees as human beings deserving of compassion and respect begins with a
defense of the Refugee Convention, and demands expanding it to guarantee
refugees freedom from detention, permanent rights, and access to services."
"Mandatory detention and temporary visas violate the Refugee Convention by
punishing people arriving without visas (against Article 31) and not
issuing travel papers for proven refugees (Article 28). We will defend the
Convention, and fight for further rights for refugees, as well as ending
deportation for reasons not covered by the Convention, such as persecution
based on gender."
for further information contact:
Simon O'Neill
0402 413 914
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
www.vicnet.net.au/~rac-vic
GPO Box 1473N
Melbourne, VIC 3001
Refugee Action Collective - Victoria
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
www.vicnet.net.au/~rac-vic/
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