Worldwide protest against Australian and Indonesian governments
Tuesday, 9 March 2010.
We call on the Australian government to grant asylum to the 254 Sri Lankan refugees in Merak, Indonesia. Wednesday 10 March is 150th day on the boat for these Tamil-speaking refugees from the Sri Lankan war zone
Hong Kong protest led by 'Long Hair' Leung Kwok-hung
Wednesday 10 March 12 noon
Australian consulate, 23/F Harbour Centre, 25 Harbour Road, Wanchai, Hong Kong
Two hundred and fifty four Sri Lankan Tamil-speaking refugees have been trapped on a tiny boat in the port of Merak in Indonesia for almost 150 days. They have been detained as a direct result of a request by the Australian prime minister, Kevin Rudd, to the Indonesian president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. The refugees are threatened with being incarcerated in a horrific detention centre or sent back to Sri Lanka where life had become unbearable during the war. They could still face unpredictable punishment including being kidnapped and tortured
These refugees are demanding respect for their right to have a decent life, freedom of movement and education for their children - basic rights that everyone on the planet deserves. Crammed into the boat, in all weathers, they fear storms and other disasters. They are being constantly menaced by the Indonesian navy. They fear the boat can be boarded and all of them arrested. Activists who travelled from Australia to Merak to help the refugees have been deported. Journalists and humanitarian activists have been denied access to them.
To find out more about the conditions of the refugees and the situation they find themselves in, please visit www.tamilsolidarity.org
Hong Kong protest led by 'Long Hair' Leung Kwok-hung
Wednesday 10 March 12 noon
Australian consulate, 23/F Harbour Centre, 25 Harbour Road, Wanchai, Hong Kong
Two hundred and fifty four Sri Lankan Tamil-speaking refugees have been trapped on a tiny boat in the port of Merak in Indonesia for almost 150 days. They have been detained as a direct result of a request by the Australian prime minister, Kevin Rudd, to the Indonesian president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. The refugees are threatened with being incarcerated in a horrific detention centre or sent back to Sri Lanka where life had become unbearable during the war. They could still face unpredictable punishment including being kidnapped and tortured
These refugees are demanding respect for their right to have a decent life, freedom of movement and education for their children - basic rights that everyone on the planet deserves. Crammed into the boat, in all weathers, they fear storms and other disasters. They are being constantly menaced by the Indonesian navy. They fear the boat can be boarded and all of them arrested. Activists who travelled from Australia to Merak to help the refugees have been deported. Journalists and humanitarian activists have been denied access to them.
To find out more about the conditions of the refugees and the situation they find themselves in, please visit www.tamilsolidarity.org
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