Tamil Justice

ABC  (10/03) - Fears Australia has forgotten boatful of Tamils

Refugee advocates have staged a rally in the eastern Australian city of Sydney to mark 150 days since a boat load of asylum seekers moored in Indonesia.

About 50 protesters gathered today outside the Prime Minister’s Sydney office.

Greens MP Sylvia Hale says the government has turned a blind eye to the 230 Tamils still onboard the boat moored at the port of Merak.

“Allow those Tamil refugees to proceed to Australia. ”

Ian Rintoul, from the Refugee Action Coalition, says conditions aboard the ship are getting worse – including a recent outbreak of chicken pox.

“There’s simply ongoing problems with getting proper medical attention,” he said.

The ship has been moored since October when it was intercepted by the Indonesian navy on the way to Australia. More

China Worker  (10/03)- “Australian government should act to end this suffering now” – “Long Hair” Leung Kwok-hung at 10 March demonstration

150 days on a cramped, squalid boat. That is the ordeal faced by 254 refugees from Sri Lanka stranded in the Javanese port of Merak. The Merak refugees have become a political football between the political leaders of Australia and Indonesia, who were also meeting on 10 March, as rights campaigners staged protests around the world to demand speedy action to restore the basic right to asylum to the refugees.

Tuesday March 8, 2010
Refugee Action Coalition
Ian Rintoul
phone 0417 275 713

150 Days at Merak: Protests Call to Resettle the Refugees, End the Indonesia Solution

Protests in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and London on Wednesday 10 March will mark the 150th day of the asylum boat stranded at Merak and coincide with the Indonesian President Yudhoyono’s visit to Australia.

Refugee advocates and representatives of the Tamil communities are calling on the Australian and Indonesian governments to end the misery of the Tamil asylum seekers at Merak. The asylum seekers – among them 109 UNHCR certified refugees – have been stranded at Merak for five months.

If they had been allowed to come to Christmas Island their refuge determination process would be completed. Some of them would be probably already be living in the Australian community,” said Ian Rintoul, spokesperson for the Refugee Action Coalition

“There is no future for them in Indonesia. The detention centres are full. It seems the Indonesian government has nowhere to accommodate them even if they would get off the boat. UNHCR processing can take years, with no guarantee of re-settlement to a third country. There is no incentive for them to leave the boat until there is a guarantee of re-settlement.

“A long term solution for a humane regional refugee policy must include an agreement with Indonesia for the processing and re-settlement of refugees. Although Australia is the only signatory to the Refugee Convention in the region and the only re-settling country, Australia took only 32 UNHCR refugees from Indonesia last year.

“Until there is an agreement that deals with resettlement, asylum seekers will be a source of tension between the two countries. Simply paying for Indonesia to effectively out-source Australian detention centres is only making the situation worse.

Australian government Ministers and the Prime Minister have publicly states that Australia will play a role in resettling refuge from Merak after UNHCR processing. So has the US State Department. But so far Australia has avoided giving any specific undertaking to Indonesia regarding re-settlement.

“The Merak refugees are the meat in the sandwich. The Indonesian government can act immediately to immigration verify and allow UNHCR processing to begin while the Tamils are still on board. The ball will then be in Australia’s court to commit to resettling the Merak people,” said Rintoul.

** The Sydney protest will be held, Wednesday 10 March, 12.30pm at 70 Philip Street, City. Speakers will include representatives from the Tamil community.

** A delegation of refugee advocates and Tamil community representatives (including Sara Nathan, who was deported from Indonesia in January following a humanitarian mission to the Merak boat) will deliver a letter for the Indonesian president to the Sydney Indonesian consulate at 236 Maroubra Rd, Maroubra, 10.30am Thursday 11 March.

For more information, contact Ian Rintoul 0417 275 713

PR Refugee Action Coalition – Mass Tamil Asylum Seeker Protest Hits Christmas Island

In scenes reminiscent of the early protests that rocked Woomera, Port Hedland and Baxter, under the Howard government, a mass protest by Tamil detainees at Christmas Island began at 4.30pm Christmas Island time, on Thursday, 27 January.

The protest is supported by all the Tamils detainees but, “We are hopeful that the Kurdish, Iranians and Arabs people will join us,” a Christmas Island detainee told the Refugee Action Coalition.

At 4.30 around 60 asylum seekers began marching around the path inside the detention with placards saying, “How Long Do we have to wait’, “Oceanic Viking 6 weeks, Christmas Island 6 months”, and “Protection Not Detention.”

The protest coincides wit h the visit to the island by Senator Fielding and Opposition spokesperson on immigration, Scott Morrison.

“People are sick and tired of waiting so long for their the applications to be processed. There are scores of Tamils now who have been waiting for six months and much longer. The government has no explanation for why Tamil asylum seekers are having to wait so long. As their placard says, processing on the Oceanic Viking was done in six weeks, ” said Ian Rintoul, spokesperson for the Refugee Action Coalition.

“They are also angry at the people being charged for last year’s so-called riot and being put into the Red Compound management units.

“Australian of the year, Professor Patrick McGorry, was right when he called detention centres ‘factories for mental illness’ Perhaps Julia Gillard and Chris Evans will face up to the fact that Christmas Island is just as much a mental illness factory as Woomera or Baxter.

“There is no adequate torture and trauma counseling available and medication of the detainees is increasing. A government with a humane policy towards asylum seekers would close Christmas Island,” said Ian Rintoul.

There will be more protests in the days ahead. The detainees said they will maintain their protest “until we get answers.”

The protest also comes after detainees were told that under a new rule, management would no longer allow detainees to have mobile phones. Detainees in mainland detention centres are allowed to have mobile phones, and Christmas Island detainees have been allowed to have phones for months.

Meanwhile, it is expected that the two Australian refugee activists detained by Indonesian immigration authorities will return to Australian on Saturday morning. Tamil community activist, Sara Nathan will arrive in Sydney (Flight QF 042) at 7.40am. She will be available for media comment/interview at the airport.

For more information contact Refugee Action Coalition Ian Rintoul 0417 275 713

The Australian – Tamil asylum-seeker ‘could lose leg’

A SRI Lankan asylum-seeker aboard the boat Kevin Rudd asked Indonesia to intercept on its way to Christmas Island last year is set to have a leg amputated unless he receives immediate surgery in Australia, doctors have warned.

The Australian (21/01) – Do more for Merak refugees, Jakarta tells Canberra

AUSTRALIA’S ambassador for people smuggling issues, Peter Woolcott, will be told in Jakarta tomorrow morning he must do more to help resolve the asylum-seeker standoff at Merak, including offering resettlement to two dozen of those on board.

Green Left Weekly (23/01) – 100 days and counting

by Aaron Roden

On January 18, the 250 Tamil asylum seekers in Merak, Indonesia, had spent 100 days on their boat in appalling conditions. This is despite almost half of them being already recognised by the United Nations as refugees.

A global day of protest was held in solidarity with them, and against the Australian government’s “Indonesia solution”.

The refugees have refused to get off their boat — fearing imprisonment in Indonesia or deportation to Sri Lanka — after Prime Minister Kevin Rudd last year personally requested that their boat, en route to Australia, be intercepted by Indonesian authorities.

Ian Rintoul, spokesperson for the Refugee Action Coalition (RAC), said: “International protests have put the Rudd government on notice that the world is watching what happens to the asylum seekers at Merak. More

Green Left Weekly (23/01) – Christmas Island detainees charged

by Jay Fletcher

Eleven men detained in the Christmas Island detention centre have been charged and appeared in court on January 20 over a fight that broke out among 150 asylum seekers on November 21. They were remanded until a later date.

The conflict was sparked between Hazara refugees from Afghanistan and Tamil and Sinhalese refugees from Sri Lanka, reportedly over the use of a communal pool table.

Ian Rintoul from the Refugee Action Collective told ABC Online on January 20 that attention should be focused on adverse conditions inside the centre, such as overcrowding and the anxiety caused by seeing others forcibly deported.

“It just seems to me to be entirely vindictive that the Federal Police and the government are pursuing the asylum seekers for a fight that was really created by conditions inside the detention centre”, he said. More

International Day of Protest

To mark 100 days since Kevin Rudd’s phone call had the Merak Tamil asylum seekers intercepted and returned to Indonesia. We join protests action in Canada, New Zealand, to tell Kevin Rudd and the Australian government:

No Indonesian solution, Bring the Merak asylum seekers to Australia.
No-offshore processing. Full rights for all asylum seekers. Close Christmas Island

Date: Monday 18 January

In Australia –

SYDNEY: 12.30-1.30pm, Kevin Rudd’s Sydney Office, 70 Phillip St, Sydney (between Bent and Bridge Streets, closest train stations are Circular Quay or Circular Quay)

NEWCASTLE: 4:30pm. At the Clock Tower, Beaumont St, Hamilton

MELBOURNE: 5.30pm, State Library (Corner Swanston and LaTrobe Streets)

PERTH: 12.30pm, Office of the Immigration Minister Chris Evans, 51 Ord Street, West Perth

Around the globe -

New Zealand, Auckland. 4:00 PM. Australian Consulate, 186-194 Quay St, Auckland

Canada, Toronto: 11am – 2pm. Australian Consulate, 175 Bloor Street, East Toronto

UK, London: 4:00 PM. The Australian High Commission, Strand, London WC2B 4LA

USA: Email and postcard campaign

Malaysia: Email and postcard campaign

For more information contact Ian 0417 275 713

Refugee Action Coalition Media Release – Christmas Island Tamil detainees Protest over slow processing

Over 400 Tamil asylum seekers at Christmas Island have begun a protest boycott of activities inside the detention centre as the first part of a protest against long term detention and the slowness of refugee processing on the island.

The detainees are boycotting the gym, internet, and library services and as of Monday began boycotting the canteen.

Processing of Tamil applications is notoriously slow with many people left waiting over six months for an answer to their applications. In particular the protest is focusing on the fate of a boat load of 196 Tamils that arrived in June 2009.

Of the 196 Tamils, 112 have received visas but 78 are still waiting after six months.  None of another boat of 78 Tamils that arrived in mid August has received a visa, after waiting for over five months.

The waiting period is well outside the 90 day self-imposed Immigration department for processing applications on the mainland.

“How long do we have to wait? We are too long waiting. Our families have problems. We have too many problems,” one detainee told the Refugee Action Coalition by phone form the detention centre.

The protest has won a meeting between DIAC and Tamil detainees that has been scheduled for Wednesday morning Christmas Island. The boycott of activities has been suspended pending the outcome of that meeting.

“If the answer is not satisfactory, we will start more protests,” the Refugee Action Coalition was told.

“There is no good reason that it is taking so long for Tamil asylum applications to be processed,” said Ian Rintoul, spokesperson for the Refugee Action Coalition. “All of the Oceanic Viking Tamil asylum seekers were processed within six weeks. The Tamils are victims of Labor maintaining a policy of off-shore processing –part of Kevin Rudd’s Indonesia solution.

“Detention on Christmas Island is a nightmare. The effects of long term detention are already well-established. The vast majority of Tamils are being found to be refugees.

“The Immigration Minister claims that government policy humane towards asylum seekers. But there is nothing humane about long term detention. Christmas Island is a disgraceful monument to the anti-refugee policies of the Howard era. It is time it was closed. Asylum seekers should be allowed to live in the community while their applications are being processed.”

For more information contact Refugee Action Coalition, Ian Rintoul 04176 275 713

ABC News – Authorities accused of asylum seeker attacks

Indonesian authorities have been accused of assaulting a number of Sri Lankans who are aboard a boat in Indonesia’s Merak port.

SMH – Asylum seeker’s death prompts resettlement plea

THE death of a Tamil man who had been aboard a boat moored at Merak in Indonesia has prompted renewed calls for Australia to help strike a deal to resettle the 246 people on board.

The Australian – Tamil refugee on Merak boat dies

A TAMIL asylum-seeker on board a boat languishing at the port of Merak in Indonesia has died, amid accusations refugee organisations refused to offer him medical assistance.

Merak Media Release: Indonesian Refugees Tell Aust Govt to “Act Compassionately, There is no Indonesian Solution”

Tamils and Afghans held in Indonesian Cages

On Location in Merak: Ian Rintoul, Refugee Action Coalition

As Tamil Oceanic Viking refugees arrive in Australia, those on the boat at Merak and in immigration detention in Indonesia have called on the Australian government to act compassionately and guarantee their processing and re-settlement in Australia.

“We are the same as the people on the Oceanic Viking,” said Alex, from the boat at Merak. “We have been waiting since early 11 October. The Australian government personally phoned the Indonesian president to intercept our boat. If we had been treated the same as those on the Oceanic Viking we would have been processed by now. But now, 31 children will be spending Christmas on the boat.”

Asylum seekers in immigration detention in appalling conditions in central Jakarta have also asked the Australian government to intervene in their cases.  Nine Afghan men, including one who has been there 15 months, are in a cell, three by five metres.

The Afghan detainees asked Australian refugee activists visiting the Jakarta detention cells why the Australian government signed the Refugee Convention if it was not going to give refugees protection.

The twelve Tamil detainees from the Merak boat in the second immigration cell said, “Some of us already have UNHCR refugee status, but we are being treated like criminals. Some of us have been threatened with deportation. We were told that we would see the UNHCR but we haven’t seen them. We need Australia’s protection.”

Four of the Tamils were detained by the Indonesian police after they left the Merak boat, some seeking medical attention, last Thursday. One of them left Sri Lanka in December 2008, after his brother was arrested as an LTTE sympathiser and he also began to be harassed.

The refugee activists were shocked by the conditions in which the Tamil and Afghan men are being imprisoned. The Tamils cell is a triangular hole barely three by ten metres, holding twelve men.

“It is no better than a cage,” said Ian Rintoul, spokesperson for the Refuge Action Coalition. “They get only two meals a day, and fruit only once a week. They sleep in rosters, because there is so little room. They are not allowed out to exercise.”

“This is the reality of the Indonesian solution,” said Ian Rintoul. “The interception, detention and mistreatment of asylum seekers is being funded by the Australian government.  Sri Lanka is still unsafe. If these people were on Christmas Island, at least they would be in tents and be able to walk around. There would certainty for resettlement.

“Kevin Rudd needs to make another phone call,” said Ian Rintoul, “This time to let the Indonesian president know that Australia will live up to its obligations under the Refugee Convention and resettle the asylum seekers stranded in Indonesia.”

For more information contact Ian Rintoul, Refugee Action Coalition +62 81 398 569 964