BY DANTE TAGLE
SYDNEY — "There is no such thing as an illegal refugee", Iraqi community leader Zainab Al Turkey told the 50 anti-racists who crammed into an upstairs room of Parramatta's Town Hall on February 26 to launch the Free the Refugees Campaign.
Addressing the topic of the meeting, "Can we close Australia's concentration camps?", were activists who formed the FRC, including representatives from the International Federations of Iraqi and Iranian Refugees and the Democratic Socialist Party.
Arsalan Nazarian outlined the political repression faced by Iranian people which forces so many to seek refuge and then spoke of what greets them when they arrive in Australia: "Then when they come here, they face appalling conditions — one washing machine for 250 detainees, two toilets amongst 700 detainees, abuse from the guards and worse".
Al Turkey spoke of because of the 1991 US war against her country, the sanctions imposed since then and the dictatorial regime of Saddam Hussein, "Iraq has become like a huge prison".
Democratic Socialist Party activist Paul Benedek used the example of East Timor to illustrate how a movement could be built to free the refugees. "Hard work and activism over the years, sometimes with meetings or rallies of just 10 people, built up consciousness about East Timor. Then, when the crisis occurred and the East Timorese were being massacred, that consciousness was able to be converted into action, and tens of thousands hit the streets in support of East Timor."
Five days later, on March 3, 20 of the group's activists, chanting "Close down the camps, free the refugees", picketed a conference in Sutherland hosting immigration minister Philip Ruddock. The Free the Refugees Campaign has pledged to picket Ruddock whenever he appears in the city.
To get involved in the FRC, call Paul 9687 5134 or Kobra 0404 865 421.