Hundreds protest Kevin Rudd’s new policies on asylum seekers
Speakers at the rally condemned the change, calling it a race to the bottom.
An Afghani refugee, who prefers to be named Omid, called on the crowd to oppose what he sees as the origin of the refugee problem.
“It’s war that creates refugees,” he said.
“It’s the United States of America that create refugees, it’s occupation that creates refugees.”
“We need to build up an anti-occupation movement in Australia, to decrease the number of refugees from all over the world.”
Under Labor’s plan, asylum seekers who arrive in Australian waters by boat will be processed in Papua New Guinea and resettled there if their claims are found to be genuine.
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From Just Freedom
PM Rudd just shut our gates to the most vulnerable people in the world. Ducking human rights laws and shipping needy people offshore is not fitting of the lucky country.
There IS a cost to playing politics with refugees, sign here:
https://secure.avaaz.org/en/seeking_asylum_is_a_human_right_locb/?email
Pamela Curr
Not in my name
To Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Immigration Minister Tony Burke:
We call on you to scrap the new policy in regard to asylum seekers reaching Australia by boat. This “hardline” approach is cruel and doesn’t make financial sense. We are the land of plenty — we call on you to treat people arriving in Australia by boat with compassion and decency and abide by all international conventions regarding the rights of refugees.