RAC

Refugee left in limbo attempts suicide in MITA

A Kurdish refugee in his mid-30s attempted suicide at approximately
6.00am at the Melbourne Immigration Transit accomofdation centre. He
was unsuccessful as he was stopped by his friends and SERCO guards.
Fearing for his mental health, SERCO and police officers sent him to
a hospital at approximately 6.30am.

This attempted suicide is the result of SERCO and immigration
detention policies leaving him in limbo. He has been in detention for
14 months and was given refugee status after 7 months.

He remains detained after Serco branded him a "person of interest".

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Government to blame for asylum seeker deaths as sea

RAC Press release 22nd June 2012 The possible loss of lives of nearly 100 asylum seekers feared drowned at sea between Australia and Indonesia was entirely preventable. The Refugee Action Collective places the blame for these lives lost with the Australian government and demands people smuggling is decriminalised to prevent any further loss of life.

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Refugee Action Collective to rally at Immigration Department over ASIO security checks

RAC Press Release, 24th May 2012 On Friday, 25th May, refugee rights activists will stage a protest at 12:30 pm outside the Department of Immigration office building in the Melbourne CBD.

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ASIO negative Tamil refugee attempts suicide - second in one month

RAC Press Release> Fellow detainees rescued a Tamil refugee who had attempted suicide by hanging from a roof beam at Melbourne Immigration Transit Accommodation centre at 1.30 am this (Friday) morning.

The Tamil refugee, the first Tamil to receive a negative ASIO finding had been in detention for 37 months. He was taken to hospital by ambulance, unconscious and with a weak pulse. His present condition is not known. The refugee is in his early thirties.

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RAC condemns Rob Oakeshott’s push for offshore processing of asylum seekers

RAC Press Release 15th March 2012 Independent MP Rob Oakeshott is attempting to get legislation through parliament that will allow asylum seekers to be sent to third countries for processing. Oakeshott has called on both major parties to support his bill.

The Refugee Action Collective has condemned Oakeshott’s bill as being anti-humanitarian and an attempt to circumvent the High Court ruling in 2011 that ruled the Malaysian refugee swap deal as illegal.

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Refugee activists picket SERCO office in Melbourne - 16 September 2011

Members and supporters of the Refugee Action Collective, Victoria, including contingents from Monash and Melbourne Universities, held a protest on Friday 16 September outside the Melbourne office of SERCO, the company which holds the contract for running Australia’s immigration detention centres.

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Refugee Action Collective (Victoria) condemns sensationalist reporting from The Herald Sun on the age of asylum seekers

RAC Press Release 17th May 2011 The Refugee Action Collective (Victoria) condemns false, misleading and sensationalist reporting from The Herald Sun especially in the case of a piece from Anne Wright titled: 'Asylum seekers pretending to be teenagers for faster processing' posted online on Monday, May 16.

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The ALP must breed a Petro Georgiou

I was sharing a coffee with Simon Mead, Secretary of the WA State Labor Party on the morning of the day that Kevin Rudd would enjoy his last full day as Prime Minister when I put to him a question that Simon would laugh off. Earlier that morning a trusted insider in the ALP told me that Kevin Rudd would be deposed as Prime Minister by the evening's end and that if he did not go quietly there would be a spill/vote the next morning. Though Simon and I met for other yarns I did put this to him in passing.