Refugees and people who came seeking asylum are taking their movement to the streets to share their stories and to get people thinking about what's happening. They hope to share their experiences and help other Australians to think about how our government's harsh immigration policies are affecting people.
"There is a big focus on releasing refugees from detention but then it is as if they disappear into the mist. This is an issue we must address. Talk to any refugee and they will have a story of extreme hardship to tell. Who is listening to them? Who is sharing their stories?"
Arad Nik 2 April 2021
Hear more from Arad about this campaign in his video from Hobart below:
We need to be heard
We work
We pay taxes
But we do not have the right to freedom
Let us feel safe
Let us feel we have a home
Right now
With a permanent visa.
Asylum seekers and refugees are fighting for permanent visas, and an end to temporary visas.
You can help.
When: Wednesday 12:00 -1:30 pm
Where: Department of Home Affairs, 299 Adelaide Street, Brisbane CBD
We want you!
Please come and support our friends in their campaign as they tell their histories and raise awareness of the torturous, inhumane and temporary visas for refugees by the government.
By standing together, in solidarity with our friends, we can support and encourage them as they shed light on the truth about Australia’s harsh immigration policies.
Share this article with your friends, family & colleagues
Stand in peaceful solidarity and support
Bring your placards and signs
Share this action on social media
Use the hashtags below :
Refugees want to become good Australian citizens, to be independent, contributing members of society. People who have fled many trials and hardships, and need to seek asylum want peace, safety, a chance at a future.
Please come and support them and hear their stories each Wednesday.
Can I do more?
You sure can!
Australian citizens can change the governments expensive, cruel, and divisive policies with our votes. Ask you political representatives where they stand on refugee, asylum seeker and immigration issues. Tell them how you'd like them to represent your values about these issues.
Here are more ways to make a difference:
Donate
Refugee Voices is a refugee-led community organisation that builds the capacity of people from refugee backgrounds to shape the debate and open the doors for them to be heard.
You can support Refugee Voices here.
Contact LNP Senators and MPs
Email the Queensland Premier
Letter Templates
Learn more
Join the protest in solidarity with innocent refugees and asylum seekers living in limbo in the community, as well as refugees and asylum seekers who have been unjustly imprisoned for more than eight years.
They fled persecution and discrimination for a chance at a better life here in Australia, for a chance to build a stable life, pursue careers and start a family.
After mounting pressure from refugees, media and the community, the government finally released over sixty of these people into the community. Their visa allows them to work and access Medicare but not much else, and it must be renewed every six months.
Recent releases have highlighted that there are approximately 30,000 refugees living in our community in a similar predicament. Not only are their lives in limbo, they also live with the constant fear of their visas being revoked and being deported.
COVID-19 has shown us how important government support is for everyone living in precarious situations. Instead, the government has wasted billions of tax-payer dollars on detaining innocent refugees in order to create a divide between immigrants and citizens rather than supporting everyone to succeed.
For these reasons, we demand that the federal government grant all refugees and asylum seekers a secure pathway to citizenship. We also want all refugees and asylum seekers in the community to have access to JobSeeker, secure housing, Medicare and free education, especially TAFE.
