Dave/Ross on Sat, 27 Apr 2002 18:06:43 +0200 (CEST) |
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<nettime> rally in Adelaide |
Refugee Embassy Journeys to Adelaide Dave McKay and Ross Parry will be driving the mobile "Refugee Embassy" from Woomera to Adelaide on Friday (May 3), so that they can present a document to the South Australian Premier, Mike Rann, thanking him for his efforts to defend the rights of refugee children in Woomera. This will be the first time that the embassy, a banner-draped mini-bus, has been away from Woomera since its birth on Easter Monday. The decision to establish an embassy in Woomera followed a weekend of demonstrations outside the detention centre there, by nearly 1,000 people, a demonstration that saw fifty detainees escape, eleven of whom are still on the loose. "We felt that efforts needed to be made to improve the plight of refugees through legal means" McKay explains. "So Ross and I informed police in Woomera on Easter Sunday that we were going to stay on and seek permission to visit detainees on a regular basis." McKay was rewarded for his candidness by being arrested for trespassing, just minutes after the last busload of demonstrators departed from the campsite in front of the detention centre, on April 1... 'an April Fools joke on us by the police negotiators,' McKay calls it. A condition of bail was that he could not even enter the township of Woomera until May 27, when he will appear in court in Port Augusta. "It was obviously an attempt to stop the embassy before it got a chance to start," says McKay, who, with fellow Quaker Ross Parry, both from Newcastle, N.S.W., simply moved to the Pimba Roadhouse, at the turnoff to Woomera from the Stuart Highway. "It was a blessing in disguise," says Parry, whose job it is to discuss issues with tourists and locals who spot the colourful slogans painted on the "embassy", a blue and white Mazda bus identical to those used at the detention centre. On one side of the bus are the words "Refugee Embassy", while the reverse side says "Refugee Empathy". "We don't think of ourselves as ambassadors in any strictly legal sense," says McKay, "but we do feel an overwhelming responsibility to express empathy to the asylum seekers who are being accommodated at Woomera." In four weeks of trying, the duo have only been able to secure a single visit to the reception centre, but they are hopeful that things may soon change. They were told by the Centre Manager Designate, Mike Hughes, that access to the centre was terminated because of their involvement with the Easter demonstration. However, the pair have given assurances that they will not participate in demonstrations against the Government or against the Centre Management if they can have their status changed so that they will be able to visit detainees five days a week. Toward that end, the appearance at Parliament House in Adelaide on Friday will not be a protest. "It's more of a pro... a pro... well just a pro-demo," says McKay. "We are pro-anyone who will take a stand in favour of the emotional needs of these deeply traumatised asylum seekers, and we feel that Mike Rann has set a sterling example by campaigning for the rights of children at Woomera." NOTE: We would like to meet up with supporters in Adelaide on Friday, and would encourage people to carry placards with very positive slogans on them (in keeping with the 'image' we are trying to promote). Some suggestions are: Welcome to Refugees, South Australians Care, A fair go for all, Rann's our Mann, I like Mike, Child Welfare--Everyone's Responsibility, Thank You, Labor 4 Refugees, Silence = Consent, etc. We are waiting on word from the premier's office with regard to the best time for the rally. We will notify everyone by email as soon as we hear back. Dave McKay and Ross Parry Refugee Embassy Post Restante, Woomera 5720 Phone: 0407-238805 Donations are coming in at a reasonable pace to cover our needs. Donations are acknowledged from the following people: MacKinnon Family $75 Tracey Betahe $50 David S. $50 Bev Polzin $50 Evan $60 Emma Hughes, Lorel Curry, Adele Goldie, Andrea Maksimovic, and Peter Wilkie unspecified amounts. Make donations to the Refugee Embassy by depositing them in Westpac Bank Account number 544823, Branch number 735065, in the name of Ross Parry. Our present balance is approximately $800. # distributed via <nettime>: no commercial use without permission # <nettime> is a moderated mailing list for net criticism, # collaborative text filtering and cultural politics of the nets # more info: majordomo@bbs.thing.net and "info nettime-l" in the msg body # archive: http://www.nettime.org contact: nettime@bbs.thing.net