Today, refugees, people seeking asylum, and diaspora communities rallied outside of Federal MP Michelle Rowland’s office to protest the Albanese Government’s anti-refugee, travel ban Bill.
The Migration Amendment (Removal and Other Measures) Bill 2024, currently at a Senate inquiry, will see families separated and people seeking safety in Australia forced to choose between prison or being sent to a country they fled.
The seat of Greenway is diverse; this has always been the community’s strength. This Bill is a betrayal of multicultural Australia and the community.
Kalyani Inpakumar, NSW coordinator of the Tamil Refugee Council, said: “The Tamil Refugee Council expresses deep concern over the proposed new powers in the Migration Amendment (Removal and Other Measures) Bill 2024. Tamils remain unsafe in Sri Lanka with their lands, sacred sites, and livelihoods subjected to horrendous daily acts including murder, sexual abuse, torture, and incarceration. Tamil asylum seekers rightly fear persecution from the Sri Lankan government, army, police, and general populace due to the ongoing genocide if they are forcibly returned. This Bill has the potential to destroy families and subject an already suffering cohort of traumatised and abused individuals to further harm, if not death.”
Sukhjinder Singh, from the NSW Greens Multicultural Committee, said: “This Bill is very cruel and it will give unlimited powers to the Minister without proper safeguards. These days it seems like a contest of cruelty between Labor and Liberal. This Bill cannot meet human rights statement unless Labor’s definition of human rights is exclusive.”
Senator David Shoebridge MLC
