1000s protest Australia's 'cruel' refugee policy

By Jill Fraser

MELBOURNE Australia (AA) - The Australian government’s immigration policy was given a unanimous "thumbs down" Saturday by thousands of citizens who took part in rallies across the country.

Protesters in Melbourne, Sydney, Tasmania and dozens of regional centers called for the closure of offshore processing camps, which have been heavily condemned by the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR), and for asylum seekers and refugees to be brought to the mainland.

Organized by the groups Refugee Action Coalition, the Refugee Action Collective (RAC) and Doctors for Refugees, the rallies focused specifically on recent proposals by the government to ban for life refugees, who travelled to Australia by boat and are languishing in processing centers on two tiny islands, Nauru and Manus Island, from ever coming to Australia.

Chris Breen, spokesperson for the RAC, which organized the 3000-strong rally that took place in Melbourne issued a statement Saturday condemning the government's recently announced intentions to introduce new laws for a lifetime ban for refugees who came to Australia by boat.

“The proposed legislation is a discriminatory punishment for refugees that would permanently split families. If carried through it would result in hundreds of deportations from Australia to indefinite offshore detention.”

Breen described the government’s refugee policy as “callous, discriminatory, dysfunctional and increasingly desperate”.

He suggested that driving the proposal was a slump in Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s popularity and an attempt to secure the support of anti-Muslim senator Pauline Hanson.

A poll released late last month showed Turnbull to be less popular than former prime minister and party-mate Tony Abbott, who was dumped by the Liberal Party.

Meanwhile, Greens' immigration spokesman Nick McKim called the policy a "desperate attempt to reabsorb the votes from Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party".

The government plans to backdate the ban to 19 July 2013, when former prime minister Kevin Rudd stated: “As of today, asylum seekers who come here by boat without a visa will never be settled in Australia.”

It is anticipated that Turnbull will introduce legislation to change the Migration Act when Parliament reconvenes next week.

On Saturday, over 3,000 people marched down Swanston Street in Melbourne holding signs and chanting "let them stay" and "refugees welcome".

Australian Greens leader Senator Richard Di Natale addressed the crowd.

“Today must mark the end of this race to the bottom,” he shouted into the microphone above loud cheers.

Di Natale labeled the government’s immigration policy “vicious, cruel and harmful” and called on the Labor Party to “show real leadership” and join with the Greens and the community “to reject the government's attempt to strip away hope from refugees”.

“We’re here today to take a stand against the vicious racism that lies at the heart of this policy directed towards innocent people seeking asylum,” Di Natale said.

The Labor Party has condemned the ban but has not announced whether or not it will block it in the Senate (Upper House).