Senator Andrew Bartlett
Monday, April 04, 2005
 
Baby Amy and parents free - can you help other children behind the wire?
As previously noted on this blog after spending almost 2 years inside the Christmas Island Detention facility baby Amy and her parents were set free last Wednesday when the Minister finally succumbed to acute pressure from her colleagues and refugee advocates. I received the following report of their first day of freedom:

”The family were taken grocery shopping by Christmas Island locals. In a show of true Aussie spirit local Australian businessmen demonstrated the kind of generosity Australia is internationally renowned for. Each time they attempted to pay at the checkouts of shops on the island they were greeted with a warm "welcome to Australia" and waved on through without any charge for their goods. Australians living on Christmas Island are now taking care of the family until they fly to Perth on Thursday.”

Sadly though they leave behind the rest of their family and friends – including another 10 children.


All the refugees currently on Christmas Island fled Communist Vietnam because they were under threat for believing in democracy. As I said after visiting the detainees on the island in December last year the fact that some have already been released while others have had their initial claims refused, highlights an anomaly in the system and creates additional distress for those left behind. Especially because they were all involved in the same activity and many of them are linked in a family sense. 13 of the people are subject to a pending appeal on the recent judgment of the Federal Court. The rest have renewed Refugee Review Tribunal hearings that run through the month of April.

To help raise money for the Hao Kiet asylum seeker fighting fund, refugee advocate Kaye Bernard has put her most treasured possession up for auction on e-bay. Her ‘cup of rocks’ comes from inside the restricted area of the Christmas Island 'Phosphate Hill Immigration Reception Processing Centre'. Together with the origami 'red crab' (made by one of the young detainee girls) the rocks were given to her by the Hao Kiet detainees. They were used as ballast for a vase of flowers grown by the detainees inside the centre. Follow this link to make a bid. If you would like to make a donation directly to the fund, contact Kaye for details.

posted by Andrew Bartlett @ Monday, April 04, 2005 Permalink
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