Justice for Refugees Walk

Palm Sunday saw many gather to protest the Government’s asylum seeker policies. Despite the low number reported in the media, the general consensus seems to be that those attending numbered about 10,000. Organisers of the walk, Refugee Advocacy Network posted on their facebook page that the crowd filled every city block from Flinders back to Latrobe street (along Swanston Street).  Many watching from cafe verandahs or bar balconies voiced their support as the crowd moved passed them.

Before walking, the massive crowd gathered outside the state library to hear some moving and challenging speeches from several asylum seekers and refugees, including a letter read out from a young mother in detention. “Sometimes I think it will be easier to die,” she wrote. A young Kurdish woman from Iran also spoke about the struggles of living on a bridging visa in Australia for the past nine months because under the terms of this visa she is not allowed to work or study. “We are depressed. We feel useless for ourselves and society”, she told the crowd. “Our lives are meaningless. We dont know how long we should live like this… in every single moment of this life we are dying.”  

Rev Alistair McRae, minister at Wesley Uniting Church in the city, made a rousing speech, a copy of which can be found here PalmSundayWalkRefugees Alistair’s speech

The event was organised by  Refugee Advocacy Network and supported by more than 40 groups, and many, many individuals. People of all ages and arenas of life.  Some great photos and comments can be found on the Refugee Advocacy Network Facebook page here

Organisations  who supported the Justice for Refugees palm Sunday walk:

Act For Peace
African Australian Multicultural And Youth Services
African Think Tank
Association of Neighborhood Houses
Asylum Seeker Resource Centre
Australian Churches Refugee Taskforce
Australian Democrats
Australian Education Union
Australian Nurses And Midwifery Federation
Australian Services Union
Australian Western Sahara Association
Baptcare
Black Sash Australia
Brigidine Asylum Seeker Project
Catholic Office For Justice And Peace
City of Moreland
Collins Street Baptist Church
Combined Refugee Action Group
Concerned Australians
Electrical Trade Union
Geelong Refugee Advocacy Information Network
Good Shepherd Australia New Zealand
Humanitarian Crisis Hub
Jesuit Social Services
Kommonground
Labor 4 Refugees
Maritime Union of Australia
Medical Association for the Prevention of War
Melb Uni Campus Refugee Rights Club
Melb Uni Student Union
Melbourne Catholic and Migrant Refugee Office
Melbourne Welsh Church
National Tertiary Education Union
Pax Christi
People for Human Right and Equality
Queenscliff Rural Australians for Refugees
Refugee Action Collective
Rise of the Morning Star
Secondary Students For Refugees
Socialist Alliance
Socialist Alternative
Solidarity
St John’s Social Justice Group (Mitcham)
St Michael’s on Collins
Surf Coast Rural Australians for Refugees
Tamil Refugee Council
The Democrats
The Greens
The Victorian Greens
United Voice
Uniting Church Synod of Victoria and Tasmania (including us, Sophia’s Springs UC)
Victorian Council of Churches
Victorian Trades Hall Council
Writers For Refugees