Tamil Sydney - Asylum seekers under the Rudd government: who is putting their lives at risk?

Asylum seekers under the Rudd government: who is putting their lives at risk?

Public forum, presented by the Refugee Action Collective
On 26 August 2001 several hundred asylum seekers were rescued by the Norwegian ship Tampa, with consequences we have been living with ever since.In early July, shortly before the 8th anniversary of the Tampa event, another asylum seeker boat was reported to be in distress, and the Australian and Indonesian governments both failed to go to its aid.

The Rudd government has made some positive reforms to refugee policy, but do these reforms mean that things have changed fundamentally since the Tampa event? Or are things still as harsh for asylum seekers, as ever? Typical of the Rudd/Evans approach is that while refraining from Howard's demonisation of boat people, asylum seekers are still targeted through demonising their only means of getting to safety (eg, "People smugglers are the scum of the earth.") It is even claimed that we are helping asylum seekers by preventing them from reaching safety.

Come along to the public meeting and learn from those who know.

Speakers include:

· Ian Rintoul, refugee advocate who was involved in the business of the asylum seeker boat in distress in July.

· Chaman Shah Nasiri, Afghan Hazara refugee, former Nauru detainee, boat person and customer of a people smuggler.

· Andrew Bartlett, former senator, now doing work for several refugee advocacy bodies and service providers.

· Vijayaraja Alageson, Sri Lankan Tamil refugee, who can tell us why so many of his people are headed this way in boats.

Where: 2nd floor, TLC Building, 16 Peel St, South Brisbane
When: 6.30 pm, Wednesday, 2 September, 2009

For more information contact Ian on 0417 275 713 or Paul on 07 3392 3843

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