Written by Jyoti Dambiec
We had three great hand-painted banners, plus two big collaged people, and placards to stand and march in solidarity with refugees.
Feedback has told us that it sends a really powerful message out to the public about Vegans ‘Caring’ when we are at things like this and organisers assure us that we are more than welcome at such events.
It’s completely appropriate for people to attend events such as this as part of a group, in our case as Vegans in Solidarity with Refugees. RAC (Refugee Action Committee) actually encourages this as they feel it demonstrates the broad range of community groups who support refugees.
RAC wrote: The Palm Sunday Rally for Refugees is an annual event in Canberra where community, church, political and union groups from across the region gather together to voice their strong opposition to the Australian government’s shameful refugee policies.
Last year’s rally saw over 2,000 people march through the city demanding an end to the mandatory detention of refugees and other cruel policies aimed at denying refugees their legal right to have their claims processed. Regardless of what our politicians say, it is not illegal to seek asylum in Australia by boat, not even under Australian law, and every asylum seeker has the right to live safely in the community while their claims are processed.
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