Join our weekly solidarity protests

Why We Protest

Up to 8500 Individuals and families who come to Australia to seeking a safe home more than a decade ago have never had their claims for protection fairly assessed. For years, they have lived with  uncertainty and the fear of being returned to danger. Precarious temporary visas have kept people in a state of limbo. Without permanent status, they cannot fully integrate or plan for the future. We believe everyone has the right to a safe home and the opportunity to build a stable life.

Our weekly protests highlight the struggles faced by these refugee communities. We want to raise awareness and push for policies that offer permanent solutions. Standing together, we amplify the voices of those who are faced severe hardship as a result of Australia’s current policies.

How You Can Help

Joining our protests is a powerful way to show support. Each person who stands with us strengthens our message. You can also amplify our collective voice through social media or by talking to friends and family.

Another way to help is by contacting local representatives. Let them know that you support permanent visas for the thousands of people who have been failed by an unfair and flawed process. Your voice can influence change at the policy level.

Our Weekly Protests

These gatherings are peaceful, respectful, organized and inclusive. Everyone is welcome to join, regardless of background or experience.

• Bring signs or banners that express support.
• Wear comfortable clothing and bring water.
• Invite friends and family to join.

Join Us in Making a Difference

We invite you to join us in our weekly protests. Your presence can help create a more inclusive and supportive society. Let’s work together to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to thrive.

International

The international situation as it relates to refugees has been characterised over the last few years by three trends. The first is the growing number of refugees, asylum seekers and displaced persons. This, now at 122 million, is the highest it has ever been – including during and in the aftermath of World War 2 (see Appendix). The second has been the unwillingness of – especially the developed world – to deal with this problem. It is not an exaggeration now to say that the whole international system of refugee protection put in place from 1951 has been or is in the process of being unwound.

The third is the increasing use of refugees for political purposes – reflecting and increasing xenophobia, intolerance and racism.

Anti-refugee politics in Australia became a major political issue in 2001 with the Tampa election and, with various ups and downs, has remained an issue ever since. In Europe, the equivalent date is 2015 when the influx of refugees then and in the following year saw many right-wing parties campaigning against them and non-European immigrants in general. For example, the Alternative for Germany (AfD), which had been primarily an anti-Europe party, switched focus somewhat to lead the opposition to refugees and non-European migrants. It is now the second most popular party in Germany and has won a number of provincial elections. The same is true elsewhere in Europe, where the far-right has surged ahead in many countries. Copying the “Australian solution” of offshore detention, the Tories in the UK, and the current governments of Denmark and Italy, have all tried to find third countries in which to imprison asylum seekers. Legal difficulties alone have prevented them doing so far at this point. And while the British Labor government has shelved the proposal to force people seeking asylum to Rwanda, they have not rejected the idea of offshore ‘processing’ and are considering Albania as a possible location The success of far-right groups like the AfD, the Sweden Democrats, the Austrian Freedom Party, the Brothers of Italy, National Rally in France, etc have been worrying enough. Just as significant is that parties of the centre – both conservative and social democratic – have shifted in their direction on these questions.

The biggest boost to anti-refugee and racist sentiment was the election of Trump. In the US election campaign, the economy was the number one issue but immigration was also crucial – with 82% of Trump voters saying it was very important to their vote – an increase from 61% in 2020. To put this in perspective, immigration easily eclipsed other issues – such as climate change (11%), racial and ethnic inequality (18%), and abortion (35%). Of significance for us and other pro-refugee and anti-racist advocates is the way in which anti-immigration rhetoric was so closely connected in Trump’s campaign to other issues – jobs, welfare, crime, drugs. Moreover, Trump supporters (94%) thought he had clearly explained his position on immigration – a higher proportion than thought so about any other issue. So, there was no uncertainty in their minds here.

Whether or not Trump is able to carry out his threat to deport millions of people, his easy victory is certain to empower far-right groups and further shift centre right and centre left parties toward harder anti-refugee and anti-immigrant positions. This is the unfortunate international context in which our campaign will now have to operate.

Australia

Labor

Since its election in 2022, the ALP has carried out two of its election commitments: to convert 19,000 people on Temporary Protection Visas to permanency (notwithstanding that there are still approx. 1000 people who are still waiting to have their TPV/SHEV visas converted to Resolution of Status (RoS) visas) and to increase the humanitarian intake to 20,000. But it has done nothing to redress the 9,000 who failed the unfair “fast track” system or the thousand of those who came by boat, were imprisoned on Manus or Nauru and subsequently evacuated to Australia and have been living in the community now for years.

Labor has also demonstrated its long-term commitment to offshore processing by renewing the Nauru contract and forcibly transferring up to 100 people to Nauru since October 2023. Moreover, Labor has refused repeated approaches to bring the men still trapped in PNG to Australia along with their families while sustainable resettlement pathways are determined. In late 2024, a new funding agreement was reached between the Australian and PNG governments to support the men still held in PNG, however, the woeful inadequacy of the support payments combined with the significant health issues that many suffer will mean that the harm and trauma being inflicted on this group will continue.

Legislating more harm and cruelty

The Labor government has also responded unfairly and hysterically to the two critical High Court decisions. Following the NZYQ ruling in November 2023 that indefinite immigration detention was unlawful where there was no prospect of removal to another country, the government rushed through laws imposing harsh conditions on people released from immigration detention as a result of the NZYQ ruling, of which there are approximately 200. This legislation also carried mandatory jail sentences for breaches of those conditions.

The High Court subsequently ruled in November 2024 that the imposition of night time curfews and electronic monitoring ankle bracelets on those former detainees was punitive in nature and therefore unlawful as it exceeded the government’s power.

In response, the government rammed through three Bills in the final days of sitting in 2024 which not only gave legal cover to the reimposition of curfews and electronic monitoring but also made it easier to re-detain, deport and imprison refugees and people seeking asylum. Furthermore, it gave the Minister the power to confiscate phones and other devices from people held in immigration detention, measures that Labor had voted against in opposition.

Key aspects of the new laws include:

Allowing the Australian government to pay third countries to ‘receive’ people that are forcibly removed from Australia, with no guarantee of safety in that country.

Creating an expanded regime of offshore warehousing and detention, for example, sending more people to Nauru.

Expanding the Minister’s powers to overturn protection findings to virtually any refugee in Australia.

Giving the Australian government and immigration officials immunity against civil claims arising from forced removal or harm suffered in third countries.

Reintroducing invasive surveillance and monitoring conditions including the reimposition of curfews and ankle bracelets.

Separating people from their families and communities, preventing them from ever returning to their homes.

Advice coming from the office of Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke seems to indicate that there is some consideration now being given to those people failed by fast track, with an initial focus on people who came as unaccompanied minors and those who arrived earliest, generally from 2010. However, no concrete actions have occurred to back up these claims, with an election due in the first five months of 2025, all the evidence is that Labor will take little to no action to provide certainty or security for the people who have now spent a decade or more on insecure visas.

The Coalition

The Coalition has used every chance which has appeared to spread fear about and attack refugees for many years. So, it is not surprising that Peter Dutton has done the same. The few boats that have arrived, the High Court decisions and refugees from Gaza have all provided him with opportunities to do so. Even though the issue does not rate highly in surveys on the questions that determine people’s votes, (only 1% of people said it was the key issue determining their vote in 2022), it combines with other issues in various ways. Dutton is well-practiced in linking the refugee issue with others to stir fear. Examples have been the “African gangs” scare and his recent suggestion that refugees from Gaza could be terrorists.

More broadly, the Coalition is clearly determined to run on “culture wars” questions all the way to the election. This includes linking immigration to problems with housing, jobs and cost of living questions. While the level of immigration is not the same as the number of refugees we take, it is closely connected politically in two ways. Often people do not make distinctions between people coming in different categories and, secondly, opposition to immigration can draw on some of the same xenophobic and racist sentiments as are connected to opposition to refugees. As the table below shows, there has been a significant increase in concern about immigration since the last election. It is the single issue where concern has increased most.

The Coalition is also committed to reducing the humanitarian intake. It is reasonable to expect that Peter Dutton will interpret Trump’s victory in the US as a confirmation that a negative and toxic narrative around migration and refugees is a successful strategy for electoral success.

The campaign

Over 2024, a new aspect of the campaign nationally has been the establishment of 24/7 encampments outside government Minister’s or Home Affairs offices in Melbourne, Dandenong, Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth. These have been calling for permanent visas for those who failed the fast-track process. Some of these went for 100 days or more, with participants withstanding the intense cold, heat, rain and wind. In Melbourne, Dandenong and Adelaide, people were attacked verbally and, in some cases, physically, by racists and neo-nazis.  A significant element of the encampments is that they were overwhelmingly organised and staffed by the refugee communities themselves rather than the advocacy/activist groups. These protest encampments were effective in raising a level of awareness of the years of uncertainty and fear that the thousands of people failed by Fast Track continue to live with that the campaign has not been able to achieve for a significant period of time.

In Canberra, we have quite small refugee communities and no possibility that a similar encampment would take place here. We held a protest outside Minister Katy Gallagher’s office in solidarity with the encampments and have maintained two small pickets each for an hour per week outside Gallagher’s and Alicia Payne’s office.

RAC actions and activities 2024

Rallies

• 24 March – Palm Sunday – Justice for Refugees: Permanent Visas NOW
• 23 June – Say NO to Labor’s Deportation Bill
• 24 June – Stop the Deportation Bill – partnered with Amnesty on this rally at Parliament House
• 19 August – 11 Years of Harm – partnered with ASRC and Amnesty on this rally at Parliament House
• 6 September – Solidarity Protest – Permanent Visas NOW. Held outside Senator Katy Gallagher’s electoral office.
• From September 19, weekly solidarity pickets – Permanent Visas NOW – these to continue in 2025.

– 12-1pm, Wednesdays, outside Senator Gallagher’s office;

– 12-1pm, Thursdays, outside MP Alicia Payne’s electoral office.

Public Meetings

• 6 April – Building the Refugee Campaign: What we do, how we do it and why. (This was the Palm Sunday follow-up event and was held as a panel discussion)
• 1 May – Public Protest Meeting – Against Labor’s Deportation Bill. Speakers – Senator David Pocock, Senior Supervising Solicitor RACS, Isobel McGarity.
• 25 August – Freedom is Beautiful film screening with speaker, Moz Azimitabar.

Collaborative Projects

• Refugee Week School Presentations

Led by RAC and Vinnies

Other orgs involved – MARSS, Red Cross, Multicultural Hub.

Eight presentations held across all levels of schools in the ACT

• 10 March Big Walk 4 Refugees – Canberra Walk
• Delegation of young adults with living experience – to Parl House – 26 March
• Mentored ACU social work degree student group – Raymond Canning and Eileen O’Brien led this work.

General Meetings

• 20 January – Annual Planning Meeting
• 2 June
• 11 August
• 28 September
• 1 December

Other

• RAC Submission to April Senate Inquiry into the Migration Amendment (Removal and Other Measures) Bill – ie the Deportation and Visa Ban Bill

• RAC Contingent – Canberra WAVE Climate Rally – 27 Nov, Parliament House

The election

Early 2025 is likely to be dominated by the Federal election campaign – due to be held by mid-May at the latest. Even if the election is earlier – in March – it means that much or all of the lead-up to Palm Sunday will take place in the context of an election campaign. As we have discussed many times in the past, RAC cannot put itself in the position of openly endorsing particular candidates or parties. This is because there are likely to be more than one candidate with policies which align with us. In the last Federal election for the Senate, there were three candidates in this category. However, we can comment – with an election “scorecard” and social media pointing out which candidates have the best and worst policies on refugees.

Palm Sunday and the preparations for it can intersect with the election in this way.

It is also proposed that a public forum be held in early to mid March discussing the alternatives to the current cruel policies.

RAC Organisation

RAC and the campaign for refugee rights more broadly face ongoing challenges with retaining and drawing in new activists to such a long running campaign. People move on to other activities and life intervenes. However, new people, albeit in small numbers, continue to come along to RAC actions and join the RAC mailing list, enabling us to keep in contact.

In 2024, we had some reasonable success in rebuilding ANU RAC. As one way of bringing younger people into the campaign, it is important that we continue this in O-week, with an ANU contingent at Palm Sunday and through other meetings and activities there.

The Project Team system has been used successfully for some events over the last year. This involves a group of people who come together to organise a specific event. We propose to continue this. As has been proposed at previous general meetings, a calendar outlining events and actions planned throughout the year will be established to give greater certainty where possible.

With reduced resources and capacity, it is necessary to be realistic about what actions and activities can be held. It is proposed that planning for known events, such as the July 19 anniversary, starts as early as possible.

Finances. We mentioned last year that we are running a little low on money. We haven’t made an appeal for donations for some time, but propose to do so, specifically in order to pay expenses in the lead-up to Palm Sunday.

Social media work has become more systematic and organised over 2024 with work being undertaken by a knowledgeable team of people. RAC is maintaining a social media presence on Instagram, X, Bluesky and Facebook. Work on the RAC website is also underway to make this platform more useful for new people and as an ongoing resource.

Conclusions

Palm Sunday will again be a focus for the early part of the year. We will attempt to intervene in the election campaign in material we produce for Palm Sunday.

Depending on the timing of the election, we propose to hold a public meeting in the lead-up to Palm Sunday focussed on the alternative approaches to refugees and people seeking asylum that do not involve cruelty and punishment.  

The key issue in the campaign, as in 2024, will again probably be the need for permanent visas for asylum-seekers in Australia on long-term, insecure visas. However, as more people are moved to Nauru, and people continue to be held in PNG, the issue of Australia’s offshore detention policies are an ongoing campaign issue. Finally, the issue of family reunion for people who have secured permanent visas after years of limbo will be one of increasing focus.

We should be prepared, depending on how events such as mass deportations unfold in the US and whether and how the new draconian legislation is used against refugees and people seeking asylum in Australia, to hold actions and activities that address this.

Make an appeal for donations.

Appendix

Based on UN data, the Refugee Council of Australia states that as of 30 June 2024, there are 122.6 million forcibly displaced people globally (for the first time ever in recorded history). This includes over 32 million people under UNHCR’s mandate, and another 6 million Palestinian refugees.

https://www.refugeecouncil.org.au/how-many-refugees/#:~:text=UNHCR%20most%20recently%20estimated%20that,forced%20to%20leave%20their%20homes%3F

Nothing has made that more clear than the brutal immigration legislation pushed through Parliament this week, what the Asylum Seekers Resource Centre’s  Kon Karapanagiotidis has described as the “Albanese Government’s ultimate betrayal”. The Government did a deal with Opposition leader Peter Dutton to pass a trio of Bills into law. Read more here https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/nov/25/labor-three-migration-bills-what-new-powers-are-sought-and-will-the-coalition-vote-them-through

According to the Refugee Council of Australia:

    These new laws are the most extreme that we have seen in a decade.

    They will have major consequences for refugees, migrants and people seeking protection that will be felt for years to come. 

    We don’t yet know the full impact or extent of these laws; there simply hasn’t been enough time given to review and scrutinise the legislation or to consult         with communities impacted and the organisations that support them. 

    What we do know is that the current or any future Australian Government now has the authority to: 

• Rescind a refugee’s protection finding in order to remove them from Australia 
• Pay undisclosed third countries to warehouse non-citizens 
• Imprison people who will not return to countries where they fear for their lives 
• Create travel bans for citizens of certain countries to pressure their governments to accept forced returns 
• Seize mobile phones and conduct unwarranted searches on people in immigration detention 

    Where the Government has written these laws to absolve itself of responsibility, we as a community will fill that gap: to advocate for families forced apart, to     keep track of how those deported to unknown or dangerous places are faring, to advocate for alternatives to the implementation of these draconian powers,     and to keep demanding accountability and transparency from the Government.

https://www.refugeecouncil.org.au/dismay-at-new-draconian-migration-laws

When in Opposition, the Labor Party assured refugee advocates that the only way Australia would get fair and humane treatment of refugees and people seeking asylum would be through a Labor government. This is what we got instead.

As discouraging as this is, it’s more important than ever that we support each other to remain strong in our fight for justice for refugees because: If we don’t, who will?

Three pieces of legislation are expected to be voted on by the Senate this Wednesday, including the brutal deportation Bill introduced by the government in March 2024, and, if passed, will make it legal for Australian governments to inflict even more harsh punishment on refugees and people seeking asylum.

In brief, these laws will:

• Make it easier for Australian governments to deport people, including paying third countries to ‘receive’ people that are forcibly removed from Australia. The laws will not prevent harm, detention or refoulement from occurring in that third country. Labor for Refugees NSW has suggested that this will enable a form of human trafficking.
• Create an expanded regime of offshore warehousing and detention, for example, sending more people to Nauru. People who have been failed by the unfair fast track process and those evacuated from Nauru and PNG now living in Australia are at risk from this legislation.
• Expand the Minister’s powers to overturn protection findings to virtually any refugee in Australia.
• Give the Australian government and immigration officials immunity against civil claims arising from forced removal or harm suffered in third countries.
• Force people to cooperate in their own deportation, or be thrown back into immigration detention if they refuse. This is contained in the Bill introduced in March 2024 and now revived.
• Confiscate phones and other devices from people in immigration detention.
• Reintroduce invasive surveillance and monitoring conditions, including the reimposition of curfews and ankle bracelets.
• Separate people from their families and communities, preventing them from ever returning to their homes.

Please find linked articles to the March Deportation Bill, the November Deportation Bill and the Device Confiscation Bill.

Urgently contact our ACT Senators – Urge them to Vote NO to this cruel legislation

It is expected that these pieces of legislation will be voted on in the Senate this Wednesday and will be supported by the Coalition. It is critical that our Senators understand the brutal impacts of the legislation they will be deciding on.

Please take a moment and, using the points above, email our ACT Senators and urge them to VOTE NO.

Contact Details for our ACT Senators

senator.katy.gallagher@aph.gov.au | Senator.David.Pocock@aph.gov.au

Please use your voice and urgently call on our Senators to VOTE NO to this brutal legislation.

Climate change is already causing and worsening refugee crisis

Disastrous climate change is already forcing people from their homes, their communities and their countries. Recent flooding in South Sudan is one of the latest examples – affecting 1.4 million and displacing 271,000.

Internationally, over the last 15 years, an average of over 20 million people have already been displaced each year by extreme weather events. This does not even include slow-onset threats such as desertification or rising sea levels.

A 2021 World Bank report estimated that, by 2050, the climate crisis could drive more than 200 million people to move. Global heating, interacting with other political and economic conflicts, could make the figure much higher – as many as one billion according to some estimates.

In our region, low-lying Pacific islands are particularly vulnerable – 350,000 people in the region are threatened by sea level rise.

This is the human face of the climate crisis.

How will we treat climate refugees? A humanitarian disaster?

There are currently no legal obligations on countries to support those fleeing the climate crisis.

Indeed, much of the world is turning its back, even on those who have fled persecution and have been long considered to be refugees. The proportion of people resettled safely is falling. Instead, more barriers have been created in Europe and North America.

Politicians in many countries – from Trump’s America to Victor Orban’s Hungary and, of course, Australia – have manufactured fears of refugees to score political points.

Australia’s policies have led the way backwards

Australia has some of the most cruel refugee policies in the world. We have mandatory detention of those who arrive by boat. Detention can be indefinite – entirely at the discretion of the Minister responsible. We have boat turn-backs on the high seas. We have “offshore” detention – meaning that Australia has paid PNG and, still, Nauru to imprison those seeking asylum from us.

Some countries are, unfortunately, following Australia’s terrible lead. In imitation of us, the UK tried to send refugees to Rwanda. So is Denmark. Italy, and possibly Germany, are looking to use Albania for the same purpose.

If we treat people fleeing the combined effects of climate change, war and political persecution as Australia currently deals with refugees, it will be a global humanitarian disaster.

We need much better and very different policies both on climate and we need them now. And we need much better and more humane policies for dealing with the refugees who are already the victims of our climate failures.

Join us!

Refugee Action Campaign, Canberra

Room G031, Copland Building, ANU

With a federal election on the horizon, come along to the General Meeting to discuss how we can use the election environment to highlight the continuing impact that Australia’s policies are having on refugees and the need for fundamental change.

We will start our meeting at 11:30 AM to avoid any clash with the AFL Grand Final.

Draft Agenda:

• Political Update
• Orienting in the election
• Future events – to the end of 2024
• Palm Sunday 2025 – getting the ball rolling
• Campaign business – housekeeping tasks

If you would like to add an agenda item, please email RAC at mail@refugeeaction.org

RAC Canberra supports the 24/7 encampments in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane.  In solidarity, we are holding weekly protests outside Senator Katy Gallagher’s office to add our voices to the call for permanent visas. Please join us for this solidarity protest every Wednesday from 12:00 to 1:00 PM at 40 Corinna Street, Phillip.

1:00 PM, Sunday 23 June
Intersection of Northbourne Avenue and London Circuit

Stand up and show your support for refugees and people seeking asylum. Put it in your diary, and be part of this Canberra protest as we add our voices to the thousands across Australia calling on the Albanese government to withdraw the Bill.

12:30 PM, Sunday 3 June
The Pavilion, Australian Centre for Christianity & Culture

15 Blackall St., Barton

The racism behind the policies

Where it comes from

This general meeting will begin with a discussion of the origins of racism. It has been widely pointed out that were refugees coming to Australia and elsewhere European, the cruel policies pioneered in Australia and now being copied elsewhere would not exist. The very different treatment offered by some countries to refugees from Ukraine compared to those from the Middle East and Africa is an example.

But is this simply a part of the human condition? An introduction by John Minns will suggest not and will look at the historical origins of racism.

There will also be a discussion of future plans, including our response to the latest legislation Labor has introduced (see below) and suggestions for the campaign in the coming months.

Agenda

• Racism behind the policies – where did it come from?
• Report back on Stop Labor’s Deportation Bill public meeting
• Political update
• Marking July 19 – 11 year anniversary
• Refugee Week schools’ project
• Other business.

The meeting will be followed by a light lunch of winter-warming soups.
All are welcome.