Creative Canberrans use art for refugees

"They locked me up for six months – tortured me. Then I escaped to Australia…

"They locked me up too."

These are the words of a refugee in one of Australia's offshore detention camps.

They form part of a compelling performance presenting the authentic voice of refugees that will feature at the Palm Sunday Rally for Refugees in Garema Place on Sunday, March 29 from 1pm.

Organisers of the rally, Canberra's Refugee Action Committee, have turned to the creative arts to shine a light on the human face of refugees interned in offshore camps in Papua New Guinea and Nauru under Australia's draconian refugee policy.

These are the face we never see thanks to government secrecy and the refusal to grant media access.

Performers will read telling statements from mothers, children and young men in Australia's detention centres and from a letter from friends of Reza Barati, the 23-year-old Iranian asylum seeker who was murdered at the detention centre on Manus Island in February last year.

Graphic arts are another feature of the rally, with a striking banner displaying the slogan "We are all in the same boat" – to remind Australians of our shared history as migrants, plus interactive canvases where people can write comments or tell their stories.

The rally has been organised to call for justice for asylum seekers and refugees and for a generous and tolerant Australia.

Canberra's rally is one of many taking place across Australia and follows a similar rally which drew thousands in the national capital at the same time last year.

Former ACT chief minister Jon Stanhope, until recently administrator of Cocos (Keeling Islands) and Christmas Island, will be a key speaker at the rally.

It will also feature Brigidine Sister and human rights advocate, Sister Jane Keogh.

Another speaker will be Ismail Husseini, a Hazara refugee who fled Afghanistan alone at the age of 17 and is now at university in Australia after being held in detention centres.

Canberra director and actor Camilla Blunden, who is part of the RAC Performance Group, said: "Present government policy means that we're losing sight of the sufferings of real people in detention.

"No one wants to leave their own country unless they are forced to.

"They leave because they are desperate.

"At the rally, people will speak about policy and that's important and the words telling real stories from real people will enable us to place themselves in refugees' shoes."

Sophie Singh, also a member of the RAC and the performance group, says: "People relate to this issue on a couple of levels – intellectual and emotional.

"We are trying to speak to people at an emotional level through both creative and performance art.

"This enables us to connect to issues in a different way."

Rally participants will be invited to enter some of their history or to add a message to asylum seekers on canvases featuring boats ranging from convict ships and 1940s steamships, to Indonesian fishing boats.

Filmmaker and artist, Niki Burke pointed out that many Australian citizens or their ancestors arrived in the country by boat.

"With the 'same boat' theme we wanted to address the 'turn back the boats' sentiment that is robbing us of our ability to feel compassion for asylum seekers who see getting on a boat as their only option," she said.

"But our theme speaks to more than boat arrivals.

"It speaks of our shared humanity.

"We are all human and we all have a need for safety and security and a home where we can raise our family."

RAC coordinator John Minns pointed out Australia takes relatively few refugees – about 13,750 out of total immigration of nearly a quarter of a million every year.

"Referring to them as illegals is wrong in every aspect," he said.

"Australia is the only country that both locks up asylum seekers and outsources this to other countries like Papua New Guinea and Nauru

"Even if the intake was tripled, the total would still be less than an extra 40 more in a full capacity Canberra Stadium."

In answer to the commonly asked question of what are the alternatives if we want to discourage boats and the threat of drowning, RAC Canberra has just released a comprehensive policy document outlining alternatives.

"There are options to present policies – many of them stemming from Australia's much more humane and effective refugee policy of the 1970s and 1980s following the Vietnam War," Dr Minns says.

The RAC document urges the adoption of policies that treat refugees and asylum seekers in a humanitarian, non-punitive way, enabling Australia to fulfil its international obligations.

It argues for increasing the number of refugees accepted so that Australia takes a realistic share of refugees in relation to its population and wealth.

"We are seeking rapid and fair processing of asylum applications in transit countries followed by safe transport for refugees to resettlement in Australia," Dr Minns said.

"We need to put an end to the present inhumane treatment of asylum seekers where they are detained in overseas countries while their claims are assessed.

"Asylum seekers reaching, or intercepted while attempting to reach Australia, should be brought to the mainland for processing and for resettlement here if successful.

Dr Minns said discrimination based on the way asylum seekers have arrived needs to be removed from the assessment process.

"Once in Australia, asylum seekers should have no fewer general legal rights than others in this country," he said.

The policy paper also calls for ASIO assessment to be subject to independent external review and for no deportation of asylum seekers to countries where they may face persecution or serious danger.