3 email blitzes in progress: most urgent is the Senate.

[Mohamed Elmasri]

Asalaam Alikom,

Help if you can. 

Jzk,

Mohamed Elmasri

CARE WITH ME Inc. 

Sent from my iPhone

Begin forwarded message:

----- Forwarded message -----
From: "Ann Morrow" <morro...@gmail.com>
To:
Subject: 3 email blitzes in progress: most urgent is the Senate.
Date: Tue, Feb 25, 2014 12:22 AM

Sorry if I seem to be haranguing you!

Well, actually, I am haranguing you!

The Combined Refugee Action Group has mounted 3 letter-writing 'blitzes' which are very important just at this stage:

1.    The first blitz is to try to persuade the Senate  - BEFORE MARCH 3RD - to vote against the Govt's proposed amendments to the Migration Act - amendments already passed in the House of Reps - which will have a very harsh impact on people seeking our protection.  (Letter below explains in detail).

2.    The second blitz calls for that hell-hole - Manus Island - to be shut down immediately.

3.    The third blitz calls for an urgent, independent inquiry into the incident in which several asylum seekers en route to Australia claim that Navy personnel required them to grasp burning hot pipes, which then burned their hands.


PLEASE read the suggested letters below, choose one or all 3 blitzes,  cut and paste the appropriate letter into an email/emails and send copies (or your own versions of them) to :

#    Victorian Senators (in particular), (Senate email addresses in attachment);
#    the Min for Immigration,
#    Shadow Minister for Immigration,  and to
#    your own local member.

When your energy flags, just ask yourself what you'll say in future years when your grandchildren ask, "Why did you let this happen?"
It'll be good if we can say: "Well, we didn't.  After Ezra was killed in the Manus Is. Camp, we stopped it -  before it got completely out of hand....'

Ann

-------- Original Message --------

Subject:	[Letter Blitz to the Attorney General.] Hi All,
Date:	Mon, 24 Feb 2014 00:20:56 -0800
From:	Combined Refugee Action Group <notification+odigvc=e...@facebookmail.com>
Reply-To:	Reply to comment <g+413hyfgp000000a64n5t002...@groups.facebook.com>
To:	Letter Blitz to the Attorney General. <morro...@gmail.com>

Combined Refugee Action Group Combined Refugee Action Group 24 February 19:20 Hi All, We currently have three letter/ email blitzes happening and need your support!!! 1. Emails to Senators re the Migration Amendment Bill (urgent!) 2. Letters/ emails calling for Manus Island to be closed 3. Letters/ emails calling for an investigation into the Navy See below for further details and form letters for each blitz. 1. EMAILS TO SENATORS RE THE MIGRATION AMENDMENT BILL This has been passed in the Lower House. The Senate needs to approve it before it goes ahead. If it goes ahead, it will have potentially devastating effects for refugees and asylum seekers in Australia. Senate is sitting on the week beginning March 3, so this one is urgent. Write to the Senators in your state, requesting that they vote against it. A form letter is provided below.. Dear (Name of Senator), I am writing in regard to the Migration Amendment Bill 2013, which is currently before the Senate. I am gravely concerned that the adoption of this bill will pave the way for the heightening of mistreatment of refugees and asylum seekers who are in Australia. In particular, the third schedule to this bill will further entrench the denial of natural justice to some 50 refugees being indefinitely detained because of adverse security assessments (ASA’s) by ASIO. At present, these refugees are detained, many for up to and beyond five years, without having the opportunity to know in detail the reasons for their assessments, and without having the opportunity to appeal them in a legally binding way. It is a community expectation in Australia that natural justice be allowed to take its course. If a person is suspected of a crime, the community would surely expect that person to be charged, tried, and to have the opportunity to defend themselves. It seems to be the claim of the Minister for Immigration and Border Protection that the Australian community expects refugees, who have committed no crime in the past but who are suspected to be security threats, to be given what could amount to life sentences without charge, trial, or avenue of appeal. I believe this claim is false. The Australian community does e For those who can devote a bit of time between now and March 3rd, xpect protection from terrorists, but it is reasonable to say that most Australians do not understand the reality of the situation before us: that these refugees are not would-be suicide bombers from the Taliban, but that the vast majority are Tamils from Sri Lanka who have been denied the natural justice that any Australian would expect as a matter of course. To date, the current independent review being conducted by the Hon. Margaret Stone has overturned the ASIO assessments of refugees in two cases, one involving a family with three children. What this highlights is that ASIO’s assessments are not infallible, and that a robust system of appeal is crucial. Without even this non-binding review six refugees, three of them children, would still be wrongly held in indefinite detention. The accountability of decisions to indefinitely detain refugees must be strengthened, not weakened. Moreover, in August 2013 the United Nations Human Rights Committee reported that Australia’s practice of indefinitely detaining refugees with adverse security assessments is in contravention of 143 international laws. Passing this bill will further entrench Australia’s illegality, and further tear down its reputation as a nation that upholds human rights. In addition to these concerns regarding the third schedule to the bill, the first and second schedules also are deeply troubling. With the implementation of the first schedule, we could see scenarios where, for example, an asylum seeker’s claim is rejected at the RRT and notification of this decision is sent in the mail, but where the government is able to forcibly deport the asylum seeker before they have received the notification or had opportunity to seek legal help to pursue the matter further. The second schedule also is a cause for grave concerns, as have been outlined to the Senate by the Kalder Centre for International Refugee Law and the Australian Churches Refugee Taskforce. In considering this bill, I urge you to deeply reflect on the ramifications that it will have for those who are most vulnerable, and on the ramifications that it may have on the character of our nation. Yours sincerely, ( Your signature, name and address.) 2. EMAILS OR LETTERS RE RIOT ON MANUS ISLAND Write to the Minister for Immigration, the Shadow Minister for Immigration and your local MP to call for Manus Island to be shut down immediately. Here are some points to use: I am deeply disturbed to read and hear reports about the riot on Manus Island in which a young man, Reza Berati, died. He attempted to arrive in Australia to seek safety from persecution, but instead he was brutally killed. Reza was the same age as my (son/ brother/ friend/ cousin). Asylum seekers are locked up indefinitely in conditions which have been condemned by the UN and Amnesty International. Adequate welfare services are not provided. People are waiting indefinitely for their asylum claims to be processed , only to be told that their only chance for resettlement is in a country with corruption, high infant mortality, regular gang rapes of women, incarceration for anyone who is gay and little or no employment opportunity. A riot was inevitable and should have been reasonably foreseen by the government. The government has failed in its duty of care to those who were Combined Refugee Action Groupkilled, injured and traumatised. Locating an immigration detention centre in a country with a history of corruption, violence and little law and order, dramatically increased the chances of that riot being respond to in an unlawful and violent manner. This also should have been reasonably foreseen by the government. Current Immigration Department and Border Protection policies are cruel and Combined Refugee Action Groupinhumane. They destroy people mentally and physically. They inflict more torture and terror on those who came to ask for our help to escape persecution and torture. Manus Island detention needs to be closed immediately, and asylum seekers need to be moved onto Australian land in order to ensure their safety. As Reza Berati was k For those who can devote a bit of time between now and March 3rd, illed within the compound, the compound is now a crime scene. Keeping the centre open will hinder investigations. I welcome the announced investigation into events on Manus Island,  But the  the investigation must be independent and impartial. This is a criminal matter, and a full criminal investigation must be undertaken. The Australian Federal Police should be involved. 3. EMAILS AND LETTERS CALLING FOR AN INQUIRY INTO NAVY Write to the Minister and Shadow Minister for Defence, calling for an full investigation into claims that asylum seekers were tortured during a boat interception. Points for your letters: Sudanese asylum seeker, Yousif Ibrahim Fasher, recently reported that asylum seekers were mistreated and had their hands deliberately burnt by Australian Navy personnel during a boat interception. Australia has an obligation to impartially investigate allegations of torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, to criminally punish perpetrators, and to provide effective remedies (including compensation) to victims. These obligations arise under the United Nations Convention against Torture, and Article 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. These obligations were enacted into Australian domestic law a few years ago. The federal crime of torture is set out in Section 274.2 of the Commonwealth Criminal Code. Under both Australian and international law, torture is defined as the intentional infliction, by a public official, of severe physical or mental pain or suffering, for the purpose of intimidating, coercing, punishing, discriminating against, or obtaining a confession from any person. The crime of torture has extraterritorial effect, meaning that it is still an offence even if it is committed by Australian personnel outside Australian territory. Faced with such allegations, the proper course of action for any responsible government is to call on the Navy to conduct a full and impartial investigation to determine if there was any breach of the Navy’s operational and disciplinary rules. The allegations should also be referred to the Australian Federal Police to investigate whether there is evidence of the federal crime of torture. While Navy personnel are entitled to the presumption of innocence pending the outcome of investigations, asylum seekers are entitled to have their allegations properly investigated. View Post on Facebook · Edit email settings · Reply to this email to add a comment.