When: Saturday, 15 May 2021 at 11:00 am local time Where: Brisbane Immigration Transit Accommodation (BITA)
100 Sugarmill Rd, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
RSVP: via RACQld Facebook event page
Speakers include:
Senator Larissa Waters - Qld Greens
Christine Cooper - Unions for Refugees
Jeremy Fernando - Vice President External, Australian Medical Students Association
Ian Rintoul - Refugee Action Collective
A Medevac refugee spokesperson
About 35 Medevac refugees are still imprisoned in the Brisbane Immigration Transit Accommodation. We are calling this demonstration to show our solidarity with them and to remind them they are not forgotten. Before being brought to Australia for medical reasons, these refugee men were detained on Nauru and PNG for over six years. They were meant to get medical care in Australia but instead were detained in hotels and detention centres for over a year. There are also about another 61 Medevac refugees detained in hotels and detention centre across Australia. It is time to end this torture. They should ALL be immediately freed. They came to Australia seeking protection and should never have been sent to Nauru and PNG. They should have been processed under Australian law and given permanent protection in Australia. Even those released into the community are still being mistreated. They’ve been given Final Departure Bridging E Visas. These visas allow them to work but if they can’t find work or are unable to work, they do not get Centrelink support. This is a recipe for poverty and reliance on charity. They are also meant to be making arrangements to leave the country even though they are refugees and can’t return to their homes. It is time to stop the cruelty and free them all now and give them all permanent protection.
