Life is like living in a cemetery for ASIO rejected refugees
On Monday April 8th this year, 30 refugees imprisoned within Broadmeadows Detention Centre (or as our government calls it, “Melbourne Immigration Transit Accommodation”) began a hunger strike against their indefinite detention. A statement released by the refugees on the night they began their hunger strike highlights their desperation:
“We have painted banners as part of our protest. There is one that shows many people hanging. That is what we want to happen to us if we are not released… we can’t keep living like this. We are not in detention. We are in a cemetery.”
The refugees that have been on hunger strike call themselves “ASIO rejected refugees”. They have been granted refugee status, but have been given negative security assessments by ASIO for unknown, undisclosed reasons, allowing the Australian government to continue detaining them indefinitely. For these refugees, this means being imprisoned for the rest of their lives.
The Broadmeadows hunger strikers have since stopped their hunger strike after days 10 days without food. A representative of the government has been forced to agree to meet with them and hear their demands. Their story is one of bravery and inspiration, contrary to our own government’s cowardice and deprivation.
However, their story is in no way unique. For as long as our government has locked up refugees in their tax-payer funded, privately run prison camps, refugees have resisted, refusing to be simple victims of a racist government. In 2000, hundreds of refugees escaped from three separate detention centres throughout South Australia and Western Australia, travelling into nearby city centres and protesting for their rights. Again in 2002, 40 refugees broke out of Woomera detention centre after over 1000 protestors descended on the now infamous Woomera prison.
At Villawood Detention centre in 2011, 100 refugees rioted and set fire to the torture chamber they were detained in. In 2010, at a detention centre in Darwin, 100 refugees rioted and staged a rooftop protest. The following day more than 90 refugees escaped the prison and held a mass protest on a nearby highway, displaying banners the surmised their situation: “we are homeless, defenceless, innocent”.
Stories like those above only touch on the inspirational history of refugee resistance in this country in response to the pitifully racist policies put forward by Australian government after Australian government. Oppressed groups in society have never been silent. They have always fought back and we need to fight back with them. And for as long as refugees have been imprisoned, the have been screaming for their freedom. We need to scream with them.
This is why groups such as the Monash Refugee Action Collective (MRAC) exist. MRAC is a student activist group based at Clayton campus that is committed to standing in opposition to all forms of mandatory detention of refugees as well as the blatantly racist rhetoric that both the major parties use, portraying refugees as criminals instead of what they really are – scared, traumatised and lost people only wish to be safe from the horrors of war.
Grassroots campaigns such as MRAC are the most effective way of communicating the truth behind the government cover-up of treatment of refugees to the general public. A movement built on the ground, by the people, to inspire the masses and push back against the propaganda of parliamentarians will without a doubt be the most powerful tool in bringing about an end to the inhumane treatment of our fellow human beings. The power of the people when united in the fight for a common cause is overwhelming, and as evidenced in the civil rights movement of the 1960’s, has the power to force social change.
Large events such as protests, rallies and demonstrations are just one part of the grassroots campaign, and are a key opportunities to push back against the racism of the Australian government. One such event is being held this month; in protest against the mandatory detention of refugees by the Australian Government, a demonstration is being held outside the Broadmeadows Detention Centre on the 28th of April, where the aforementioned hunger strike occurred. This is a protest no-one can miss.
Indeed, if the plight of refugees seeking asylum in Australia, from what is considered a ‘progressive’ nation, has appalled you, made you feel upset, or disgusted, or angry, then you should stand up, and make your voice heard! Get involved in what is a vital campaign to change the lives of those who are being unjustly detained.
The protest outside Broadmeadows Detention Centre is to be held at 1pm on April 28th. For more information, or to learn more about MRAC, contact Dean on 0425808173 or dvin5@student.monash.edu.
