Activists to take cows to Immigration department to protest live trade of refugees to Malaysia

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat, 20/08/2011 - 11:19am

Refugee Action Collective Media Release 20th August Since the public outcry over the cruelty of the live animal export trade, many Australians have expressed dismay that the Australian government is prepared to act swiftly to stop cruelty to animals but is preparing to carry out what amounts to the live trade of human beings with its Malaysia refugee swap deal.

People who are concerned about the human rights of refugees will bring two cows to a protest outside the Immigration office on August 22 to highlight the double standards of the government.

“If the live export of live animals is cruel, so is the live export of asylum seekers to Malaysia,” said Refugee Action Collective spokesperson Naomi Farmer.

“Sending asylum seekers to Malaysia is a calculated attempt to destroy the lives of asylum seekers

“To send asylum seekers to a country which refuses to sign any of the UN human rights conventions on refugees or torture indicates that Australian government isn’t committed to these conventions either.

August 22 is the day that High Court proceedings will be held to determine if asylum seekers can be sent to Malaysia.

Refugee activists intend to stage a sit-in inside the Department of Immigration as part of the protest against the Malaysia deal.

Farmer said that “all forms of offshore processing must end. The Refugee Action Collective is opposed to the Malaysia deal and the reopening of Manus Island. We are against the practice of paying the Indonesian government to imprison asylum seekers and we are also against the warehousing of asylum seekers on Christmas Island. Asylum seekers must be allowed onto the Australian mainland to have their claims processed in the community.”

The details of the protest are:

EMERGENCY PROTEST!!STOP THE MALAYSIA DEAL!
LET THE REFUGEES INTO AUSTRALIA!

August 22nd Monday at 12:30.
Outside Department of Immigration (Casselden Place, corner Lonsdale &Spring Streets, Melbourne CBD)

Geography: 
Melbourne
Keywords: 
Australia's Mandatory Detention
Malaysian Solution
Refugee Action Collective
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Comments

Submitted by John (not verified) on Sat, 20/08/2011 - 11:57am

The asylum seekers won't be having their throats slit while fully conscious when they arrive in Malaysia, or have their tendons slashed, eyes gouged or tails broken. When one piggy-backs another campaign like they have now, they begin lose the support of people like me.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat, 20/08/2011 - 3:14pm

Me too.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat, 20/08/2011 - 1:34pm

The Government has not acted swiftly or otherwise, the Government do not care for people or animals, these animals are suffering terrible torture, why can't people protest about that, it does not mean that people don't care about other issues. If everyone sat back did nothing for animal welfard until the entire world was happy, safe and well fed, then we will be waiting for eternity, we'd still have blind "pit ponies" kept down in the coals mines for the rest of their lives. WHY DON'T PEOPLE UNDERSTAND THAT COMPASSION IS A GROWING COMODITY, IT DOESN'T RUN OUT, THE MORE COMPASSION YOU HAVE FOR YOUR FELLOW LIVING BEINGS THE MORE THERE IS.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat, 20/08/2011 - 3:15pm

Here, here.

Submitted by Allison (not verified) on Sat, 20/08/2011 - 2:53pm

If you are so concerned about human rights when will you push to stop abortion?

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat, 20/08/2011 - 3:11pm

It's a bit of a stretch to compare powerless animals to asylum seekers, who pay to come to Australia. Please don't mix the two things up.

Submitted by Flowerpower on Sun, 21/08/2011 - 1:24pm

The angry animal rights comments below this article seem tome to be missing the point. My understanding of what the asylum seeker protestors is simply this - it is cruel to send cows overseas for export and it is cruel to "export" asylum seekers. It is making the analogy that the asylum seekers are being treated as cruelly as the cattle. How is this undermining or attacking the campaign against live animal export?

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun, 21/08/2011 - 6:41pm

I wouldn't call them angry comments. I've read way worse since the 4 Corners show. I just object to cows being used in this protest.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 30/08/2011 - 10:53am

Perhaps the organisers should have put the word 'cows' in inverted commas to avoid confusion - as the subsequent report on this site shows, they weren't really cows, but protesters in cow suits ...