Speaker: Kanchana Senthuran

The Refugee Action Collective (RAC) held a vigil on Monday, 26 October, at 5.30pm at Federation Square to demand fair treatment of refugees risking their lives to come to Australia by boat while escaping from war-torn countries. They are also demanding that refugees be processed on the Australian mainland and provided with a safe haven when they arrive.

The vigil was supported by the Tamil Community. Currently Tamil refugees are escaping from Sri Lanka by boat to Australia due to large scale human rights abuses against Sri Lanka's Tamil population. RAC believes that asylum seekers are not illegal and have a right to have their claims assessed immediately. Mandatory detention is a cruel and unnecessary policy that the Australian people disagree with. The overwhelming majority of asylum seekers qualify for refugee status under international law.

For further information contact: Marie 0409 252673, Sue 0413 377 978 or Sylvie 0409 190 738 (less info)