Speakers include:
Craig Foster (Football legend)
Most Rev Vincent Long (Catholic bishop of Parramatta)

End the torture on PNG and Nauru
There are still 400 refugees and asylum seekers in PNG and Nauru. With the US deal close to exhausted, those remaining have few hopes of resettlement. After almost seven years their situation is increasingly desperate. Those in PNG have been moved into a vulnerable situation in the community where they are being forced into poverty. The shameful repeal of the Medevac Bill shows that the government is determined to continue its cruelty towards refugees.

There are also 1200 people from Nauru and Manus who have been transferred to Australia. Those brought under the Medevac process are being held in detention centres or hotels in Melbourne and Brisbane, in degrading conditions and without the medical treatment they need. We need to demand freedom and permanent protection for all of them.

Permanent protection and family reunion
The problems for the 30,000 asylum seekers who arrived by boat before July 2013 and live in the community are also growing. Some face homelessness, left with no government support. All face permanent insecurity.

Those found to be refugees can receive only Temporary Protection Visas, or Safe Have Enterprise Visas living in regional areas. They are forced to re-apply for protection every three years, with the prospect of being sent back to danger always hanging over them. They have less rights than those on permanent visas and cannot travel, study, apply for citizenship or bring their families to join them. Many have been separated from their families for eight years as a result.

Justice, peace, unity
Donald Trump has taken the US to the brink of war with Iran, threatening another devastating war. The horrifying war in Syria is creating more hundreds of thousands of refugees. Trump’s military threats and trade war against China are also breeding anti-Chinese racism, fuelling claims in Australia that Chinese people represent a foreign threat. We need to stand against these attempts to spread racism and fear and to normalise war.

Join us to say yes to refugees, peace, justice and unity!

Facebook event here: https://www.facebook.com/events/564065847707489/