RAC Press Release 30th May 2011The Refugee Action Collective has condemned violent and over-the-top tactics by police at a protest at Maribyrnong Detention Centre, which left several protesters in hospital. Around 300 people attended the protest, calling for an end to Mandatory Detention.
Press Release 29.4.11 New laws further persecute refugees "The new laws against detainees who commit an "offense" will potentially block their permanent protection, while the crimes committed against detainees by SERCO, the Immigration Department and the Police go unchecked and the mental anguish of indefinite detention fuels the fire that pushes them to desperation point," says refugee advocate Izzy Brown.
Hundreds of people rallied at Maribyrnong Detention Centre in Melbourne on the 25th of April 2011 as part of a national day of action against mandatory detention that also saw protests in Curtin in WA and Villawood in Sydney. The rally heard from speakers before marching around the rear of the detention centre. For a second time in a number of weeks protestors were capscium sprayed outside a Detention Centre by Victoria Police. The police attacked protestors several times with capscium spray, batons and horse charges to prevent protestors from tieing ribbons or shaking the fence. It is becoming clear that the Victorian Police has now adopted the use of capscicum spray as standard practice as a crowd control technique.
Related: Account of the rally by John Passant: Maribyrnong, refugees and democracy -- Political analysis of the day by John Passant: Tear down your detention centres, Julia Gillard
