CHILDREN HELD IN DETENTION IN AUSTRALIA


Here We go again, folks. Is there something rotten down under?

Just received this note from some Australian friends who asked that the following Global plea be shared here on this site. As we come out of a week of marches, rallies and demonstrations across America drawing attention to the issue of immigrants and 'guest workers,' in Australia, there is a similar, but slightly different debate.

In spite of official denials from some in Australian government circles, there are scores of young people, considered illegal, being held in detention. The official story is that there are no children in detention but, some in the activist community say otherwise, and offer proof. Below is a note that was forwarded to International Access Networks asking Australian citizens to contact their locally elected officials, government agencies and, the media about the issue of child detentions. It is not only a government policy that has been kept under wraps, but apparently, a policy that is more wide-spread than many ordinary Australians are aware of.

Now, it is GLOBAL.

Whether you decide to act is up to you. Here is the letter I want to share, and that was sent to us in the last 24 hours. It reads.............


Dear friends,

Last July, the Australian government finally ended its shameful policy of keeping children in indefinite detention when they came here seeking asylum. After finally inserting a modicum of human decency into what had been a disgraceful policy for more than ten years - same old policy, but now "out of sight, out of mind".

This time the government wants to send children to remote islands in the Pacific, and this law could be rammed through Parliament next week (during the week of May 8-12,) if we don't act now.

Tomorrow Get Up is launching a NEW TELEVSION AD to oppose this inhumane new law. Click on the link now to watch a preview, and sign the petition today telling the government Australians say no to children behind the razor wire.

http://campaign.getup.org.au/Sitecast2/redirect.aspx?es=65722&l=36&url=http%3a%2f%2fwww.getup.org.au%2fcampaign%2fnochildindetention


We know a detention centre is no home for a child. Between 1999 and 2003 alone, 2184 children were detained in Australia - one child for nearly five and a half years. Most were under the age of 12. There, they witnessed hunger strikes, and suicide attempts. A national inquiry found many lacked appropriate schooling, healthcare and nutrition.

Together, Australians decided that no child fleeing persecution should be made to suffer this way again. But the government is scrambling to reverse our laws after 42 West Papuans were granted asylum, angering Indonesia. It is now understood that all asylum-seekers who arrive by boat will be shunted offshore, denied the right to appeal their cases, or to ever settle in Australia.

This policy betrays our community's most fundamental principals. Please help stop this by adding your name to this important petition today.

http://campaign.getup.org.au/Sitecast2/redirect.aspx?es=65722&l=37&url=http%3a%2f%fwww.getup.org.au%2fcampaign%2fnochildindetentionetup.org.au%2fcampaign%2fnochildindetention>www.getup.org.au/campaign/NoChildInDetention

Our television ad features a small girl trapped behind razor wire. In reality, this child is the daughter of a 'boat person' whose family arrived in Australia fleeing persecution from Vietnam in 1978. Only this refugee was given a chance - and he went on to attend Harvard and, head up a major Australian company.

We must act now, before it's too late. Already Immigration Minister Amanda Vanstone has set the wheels in motion to introduce this legislation next week, hoping to push it through the Senate while media attention is on the budget. Now it's up to us. We've beat these laws before and we must join together to beat them again. Sign the petition telling our senators to stand firm for children's rights today.

http://campaign.getup.org.au/Sitecast2/redirect.aspx?es=65722&l=38&url= http%3a%2f%2fwww.getup.org.au%2fcampaign% 2fChildInDetention>www.getup.org.au/campaign/NoChildInDetention

Thank you for being part of this,
The Get up team

PS: Our ad will premier tomorrow on Channel 7's Sunrise program at the following times, and will air throughout the week:

And there you have it..... An effort by ordinary Australians calling out for help to what can only be described as a dire situation to scores of young people, part of families, that already left behind bad political and social settings. One can only liken the situation of Australian refugees and asylum seekers, with that of the Haitian Refugees of the 1980's and '90's who were treated in a similar fashion after reaching, or even BEFORE reaching, American shores. Millions of Americans were appalled of the government's two-tiered policy of defining Haitian immigrant and asylum seekers as 'Economic,' while Cuban boat people arriving on the shores of Florida were regarded as 'Political' refugees. Perhaps input from an international audience will help put things right in the 'land down under.' Stay tuned......

Thanks for your time! See you here again soon. Same time, same channel.

-Eric K. Williams, Executive Director
INTERNATIONAL ACCESS NETOWRKS / I-A-N, Inc.