Submission to the Inquiry on the Migration Amendment (Repairing Medical Transfers) Bill 2019
BMRSG's submission as to why we do not support this bill. "We are concerned that this bill will slow the evacuation of seriously ill people from Manus and Nauru to Australia for specialist treatment thus exacerbating their disorders. Doctors and medical personnel must always be able make the decision for rapid medical evacuation in a society which values human life.
The previous system involved many levels of bureaucracy and constant court battles to enable medical transfers, an expensive and time wasting business."
Susan Templeman’s speech Migration Amendment (Repairing Medical Transfers) Bill 2019 Second Reading Speech
Member of Macquarie, Susan Templeman's speech opposing the repeal of the Medivac legislation.
MIGRATION AMENDMENT (REPAIRING MEDICAL TRANSFERS) BILL 2019 SECOND READING SPEECH
Since the Medevac laws passed in February, against the government's wishes, 110 refugees and asylum seekers have been transferred to Australia for medical treatment.
In a submission to a Senate inquiry examining the government's bid to unwind the laws, Dr Kerryn Phelps points out that about 80 per cent of cases were agreed to by the minister at the first instance and none have been refused on security grounds.
"The process is working as intended - an orderly system providing medical treatment for sick refugees in a timely manner," Dr Phelps said.
Until when: The forgotten men of Manus Island
This joint report by the Refugee Council of Australia in partnership with Amnesty International, tells the story of the men who have been sent by Australia to Manus Island, Papua New Guinea (PNG), and what has happened to them after they were forcibly removed from the ‘regional processing centre’ on Manus Island one year ago.
Executive summary
"The system the Australian government has designed for refugees and asylum seekers, has a kind of evil and devastating effect. It can ruin the very inner strength of human spirit. To the outsider, Fariborz [Karami] took his own life [on Nauru in June 2018], but the truth is the system took his life. There is no alternative explanation, and we must hold
the Australian government accountable for this action.
‘Do not abandon us’ Behrouz Boochani tells audience in Wentworth Falls
Behrouz Boochani, the Kurdish Iranian journalist and award winning autho, discussed his recently published memoir No Friend But the Mountain: Writing From Manus Prison at the Wentworth Falls School of Performing Arts last Saturday. Mr. Boochani fled from Iran to seek refuge in Australia but was instead sent to offshore detention on Manus Island in Papua New Guinea. Mr. Boochani is a vocal advocate for Kurdish people and all refugees and asylum seekers. Mr. Boochani Skyped in from East Lorengu, the refugee accommodation on Manus Island where he currently resides, and received a standing ovation from audience members, before talking about his memoir and his time in detention.
Wentworth Falls Launch of “No Friend But The Mountains”
by Roger Grealy Kathie Herbert and Joy Connor did us proud in organising and running the afternoon around the local launch of... Read More
Report on BMRSG visit to the federal politicians 18 and 19 June 2018
Joy Connor, Deputy Chair BMRSG visited politicians in Canberra with Marie Sellstrom President of Rural Australians for Refugees. First they met with Peter Dutton's main advisor and an advisor then they met with Shayne Neumann, Ged Kearney, Sue Templeman and the Advisor to Kristina Keneally.
At these meetings they discussed Immigration Detention, the use of handcuffs on people seeking asylum when they went to medical and counselling appointments, SRSS, resettlement, The Amendments to the Migration Act, the RAR Statement on People Seeking Refuge and Asylum and the Andrew Wilkie Bill.
Blue Mountains Refugee Support group holds vigil outside Macquarie MP’s office
Members of the Blue Mountains Refugee Support Group (BMRSG) took their campaign to the Windsor office of Macquarie MP, Susan Templeman, on Thursday, July 19.
The gathering was part of a national day of vigils held around Australia to mark the deaths of 12 male asylum seekers in permanent offshore detention centres on Manus Island and Nauru.
Twelve empty chairs and 12 pairs of shoes were placed outside Ms Templeman’s office to represent the death of each of the young men. Many of the men, aged between 23 and 34 years old, died from suicide, including overdose and self-immolation.
The vigils, named ‘Five Years Too Many’, also marked the fifth consecutive year of refugees and asylum seekers being incarcerated in these centres, established on July 19, 2013.
‘Five years too many’: a day of vigils for asylum seekers held across Australia
Members of the Blue Mountains Refugee Support Group combined with the Grandmothers Against Detention of Refugee Children to hold a vigil outside the Federal Member for Lindsay Emma Hussar’s offices in Penrith on Thursday.
The gathering was part of a national day of vigils held around Australia to mark the deaths of 12 young male asylum seekers in permanent offshore detention centres created by the Australian government on Manus Island and Nauru. The vigils, named ‘Five Years Too Many’ also marked the fifth consecutive year of refugees and asylum seekers being incarcerated in these centres, established on July 19, 2013.
Twelve empty chairs and 12 pairs of shoes were placed outside Ms Hussar’s offices to represent the death of each of the young men.
2018 Human Rights Dinner keynote address by Behrouz Boochani
Standing up for human rights is about picking the battles that are long and exhausting precisely because they are the ones that matter the most.
Even after five years of misery and oppression, Behrouz Boochani hasn’t given up. So how on earth can any of us?
As he said in his keynote address via video from Manus island last night at the Annual Human Rights Dinner in Sydney:
“Our advocacy will be acknowledged as truly valuable and worthwhile only when we can secure the release and safety of the refugees imprisoned on these islands.”
Never give up. We won’t.
Friday essay: the Chauka bird and morality on our Manus Island home
Michelle Nayahamui Rooney grew up on Manus Island and returned to her home in November 2017. Here is the story of her childhood, what Manus island means to her as she tries to explains what the detention centre has done to this community.
"My poem Chauka, yu we? started as an angry reaction to the appropriation of the Chauka and the inhumane treatment of asylum seekers. As a scholar and as a Manus Islander, I have tried to reason through the historical, political, social and moral issues that gave rise to the detention centre. At the same time I am left angry, sad and guilty..."