http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,3701978%255E1702,00.html
Protestors to shadow Ruddock From AAP - 02feb02 PROTESTERS in Sydney have vowed to follow Immigration Minister Philip Ruddock wherever he goes until detention centres are closed. Up to 1,000 people marched from inner-city Town Hall to the Sydney offices of the Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs to denounce the government's treatment of asylum seekers and its policy of mandatory detention. The procession of protesters stretched through Pitt and George streets for about a kilometre but police reported they were relatively pleased with the crowd's behaviour. Free the Refugees Campaign (FRC) member Paul Benedek told the gathering the pressure on the government to change its immigration policies would continue. "Everywhere that Ruddock goes, we will be there," Benedek said. "Every single time he shows his face, we'll be there with more and more people." Mr Benedek said a national protest was being organised to coincide with the opening of Federal Parliament in Canberra on February 12. Other protests would be staged before and after that date, while every public appearance Mr Ruddock and Prime Minister John Howard made would be marked by the presence of protesters, he said. The federal government's policy of mandatory detention of asylum seekers also came under fire in Sydney last weekend, when protesters gathered outside Villawood Detention Centre. As today's protest began the crowd was told a 29-year-old Iraqi detainee at Woomera had been charged after an incident involving a centre employee last weekend. It was the latest incident at the troubled South Australian facility which has been plagued by hunger strikes and threats of self harm by detainees for several weeks. Protest organiser Roberto Jorquera from FRC said the level of public outrage over the government's current immigration policy was a sign that it had to change, and change quickly. "It's a message to Immigration Minister Philip Ruddock to say their policy is no longer sustainable and the situation has reached crisis point," he said. The protest was organised in consultation with City Central Police. . -- -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink This email message and any accompanying attachments may contain confidential information. If you are not the intended recipient, do not read, use, disseminate, distribute or copy this message or attachments. If you have received this message in error, please notify the sender immediately and delete this message. Any views expressed in this message are those of the individual sender, except where the sender expressly, and with authority, states them to be the views the University of Technology Sydney. Before opening any attachments, please check them for viruses and defects. CRICOS Number: 00099F