Safe Harbour InfoBites

With all the secrecy surrounding the plight of refugees and asylum seekers detained on Manus Island and Nauru it is difficult to know what is happening. So its great to have a resource like The Safe Harbour InfoBites to refer to. It provides snapshots of information regarding people seeking asylum, refugees and offshore processing of people on Nauru and Manus Island.

Maura who carefully compiled the information from a range of credible sources encourages you to read and share this information widely. The more who know the better! Download your copy here. Note though that the statistics quoted in the document are current as at January 2019 but are likely to change with some of the people detained on Manus Island or Nauru being shifted to PNG or Australia for medical treatment.

To find out more or take action here are some starting suggestions:

Finding out more

Reports

  • Until when? The forgotten men on Manus Island, a report by Amnesty International Australia and the Refugee Council of Australia, available from www.refugeecouncil.org.au, published November 2018
  • Australia’s man-made crisis on Nauru: Six years on, a report by the Refugee Council of Australia and the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, available from www.refugeecouncil.org.au, published September 2018
  • Indefinite despair: The tragic mental health consequences of offshore processing on Nauru, a report by Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors without Borders), available from www.msf.org.au, published December 2018

Other art-related projects supporting refugees and people seeking asylum

Getting involved: joining or supporting a local group

  • Safe Harbour Australia, on Facebook or by emailing Mij Tanith
  • Adelaide Vigil for Manus and Nauru, on Facebook or through their website at www.adelaidevigil.com
  • Justice for Refugees SA, on Facebook or through their website at www.justiceforrefugeessa.org
  • Circle of Friends, contact us for more information on how to get involved.

Getting involved: asking politicians to represent your views in their work

Safe Harbor pop-up installation in Whitmore Square

The Safe Habor project held a pop-up installation in Whitmore Square on Saturday. It was a busy day for the organisers with public engagement from the moment they set up. It was heartening to meet people who had came from Goolwa, Port Willunga and the Hills as well as from suburbs all around Adelaide. People were asked to sign a petition for the transfer of refugees and asylum seekers on Manus and Nauru to Australia.  There were a  collection of “bite-sized” info cards to give people more information on the issue and  Adults and children has the opportunity to decorate and painted small boatss. At least  50 were added to the flotilla during the day.

Thanks to Anthea and Graham  from Adelaide Vigil For Manus and Nauru who were on hand to engage with the painters about their  experiences visiting Manus Island. A big thanks  also to Kerryn and Maddy for the live music, and the Rythms of Resistance group for their drumming session.

Please keep spreading the word – like the project on facebook  and attend one of our events with your friends and family:

  • Small boat painting workshop – Gallery Yampu 1 Jenkins Street Birkenhead Sunday 13th Jan 10 a.m. till 4 p.m.  Turn up for all or part of the session. All materials provided. No skills or experience necessary.
  •  Coreflute boat making workshop – Littlehampton Sunday 13th Jan. 10 a.m. till 2 p.m.  All materials provided. No skills or experience necessary.
  • Pop-Up Installation Wellington Square, North Adelaide Sunday 19th Jan any time between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. Come and see the hundreds of small boats surrounding the big one, hang around to paint a small boat to add to the flotilla, learn a bit about what is really going on in the off-shore camps, stay for the druming and the music.

 If you are a musician and would like to play at the pop-up installation at Wellington Square on 19 January please contact Mij on 0405 086 533 or email.

Launch of Safe Harbour Project

The Safe Harbour Project was launched on Monday 10 December at the Mary McKillop Plaza adjacent St Francis Xavier Cathedral. Coinciding with International Human Rights Day.

About 100 members of the public contributed to this first installation, each decorating a boat to symbolise their chosen message. The motif of a boat was chosen as a symbol of despair, hope and optimism. In the words of Rev Sandy Boyce who blessed the boats:

“Today we reclaim the boat as a symbol of safety for those fleeing danger. 
This boat need no longer be a political tool to stoke fear of those who take desperate measures to travel treacherous seas to reach our border.

This boat is a symbol of community, 
of people who find unity and purpose in their longing for freedom and safety;
This boat need no longer be a political tool to stoke fear of people who simply dare to imagine a safe harbour.

This boat reminds us of the people who have crammed into boats, placing themselves in the care of strangers and risking danger.
This boat need no longer be a political tool that stokes fear of people who bring different cultures, languages, traditions to this land; they enrich the fabric of our society in wonderfully diverse ways.”

This was the first public display of the boats. A series of interactive,” pop-up”  installations, featuring a much larger boat, as well as an increasing number of the small ones, will appear in and around the city from early January. The aim of the project is to change the conversation around refugees and people seeking asylum, and to put an end to off-shore detention. You can follow the Safe Harbor Project on Facebook: Safe Harbour Australia and  Twitter @aus_safe.  If you would like to be involved email Mij Tanith or phone on 0405 086 533.

 
 
 

Safe Harbour Project: End offshore dentention

Safe Harbour

A small group of Adelaide-based activists have devised a project aimed at persuading the government (whether it be the current Coalition, or, after the next Federal election, the ALP) to close the Manus Island and Nauru concentration camps and finally, finally, begin to treat all refugees and asylum seekers in the “care” of the Commonwealth with humanity and compassion. 

The Goals: to draw the attention of the public to the on-going detention of refugees and asylum seekers on Nauru and Manus Island, and viable alternatives to this cruel regime; to engage the public – children as well as adults – in supporting refugees and asylum seekers, including those already in the community, and those still in off-shore prisons.

In the unlikely event all the off-shore centres are closed during the time the installation is on display, it will still go ahead, with the information unchanged, and the final message tweeked to say “Never Again”.

The Timing: this is really important. We need it to happen over the coming summer, well before the next Federal election, scheduled to be in or before May next year. Our aim is to have the first installation set up on the banks of the Torrens near the Convention Centre for the ALP National Conference which runs 16th to 18th December. 

Who is involved: growing numbers of refugee supporters and advocates, both individuals and organisations, plus well known South Australian artists, musicians, and a professional set designer and builder.  

What we have in mind: we envisage a large plywood boat, built off-site and assembled in a number of places over a number of weekends. These include each of the city squares, as well as public places in selected suburbs. This boat will be painted, and covered with lesser-known facts about what really goes on in the detention camps, and messages of hope.  A number of well-known artists will do the painting. 

We also intend printing a series of “Facts, myths and government lies” about the treatment of refugees and asylum seekers, both off-shore and in detention centres in Australia.

The large boat will act as a magnet to people of all ages, who will be able to view the installation and all its messages, and then paint and decorate small balsa wood boats – 500 in number – with their own messages. These small boats, interspersed with other boats made from re-used core flute, and from coloured card folded into origami shapes will then be “planted” around the large boat to be become part of a growing, highly visible and beautiful installation.

At the end of the project, we plan to deliver the large boat, and probably lots of the small ones, to appropriate destinations such as the Department of Home Affairs (Immigration and Citizenship) or to politician’ electoral offices, preferably in a blaze of publicity.

We are also negotiating with the Migration Museum around the possibility of having the boat displayed there.

Some of the finer details are yet to be locked in; many will depend on the extent to which people are willing to lend their energies to the project. But our aim is to create a stunning piece of community art which will help change the treatment of refugees in recent years.

Keen to get involved? – we need people with all kinds of skills!

Contact Mij Tanith on 0405 086 533 or by email.

Circle 1: Sharing what we have

Currently Circle 1 is lending a hand to a family of 7 who fled from the Taliban in Afghanistan in 2010. The father arrived in Australia in 2011 and received a permanent Visa. In the years since he has sponsored his wife (now 70) and each of his children with the last 3 arriving in June 2018. They are living on 1 Pension and 1 Special Benefit. Funds are urgently needed for food, rent, utilities, Metro cards, a shared mobile phone and personal items.

We are looking for donations of $5 per week (or more). These can be paid monthly or up front. We are also seeking once-off amounts e.g. $56 for a student Metro card, $70 for a driving lesson. There will be a review of need in June 2019.

If you would like to know more, email Trish Dundon (Hart), Co-Convenor. To help now, make a donation via our secure GiveNow platform or contact us about making a bank transfer.