Ethiopian refugees, friends of the rscj community in Nairobi, Kenya, now resettled in Australia

Rural Australians for Refugees (RAR) is a rapidly growing grassroots movement which began in one country town in New South Wales, Australia, in October 2001. Three concerned women, feeling depressed and powerless in the face of government policies, called a public meeting to which 500 people came. The first RAR group came into being and, two years later, there are about 60 groups in country towns and regions throughout Australia. RAR works towards bringing about a more humane and welcoming policy towards refugees.

Australian government policies are such that the UNHCR has condemned them as being in contravention of the Geneva Convention. People who come to Australia seeking asylum are placed in detention centres indefinitely, either in Australia or by agreement with some countries in the Pacific. When or if they are released from detention, they are repatriated or given a Temporary Protection Visa. The latter places drastic limitations on them such as not being able to work for a wage, lack of access to services such as health, uncertainty as to their future.

Australia has very few asylum seekers and refugees compared with other countries. Mostly they are from Iraq and Afghanistan. As an island continent, access is by sea with enormous money paid to people smugglers. Fear tactics by the government have fuelled racist attitudes in the country especially in the wake of terrorist attacks and policies and legislation have contributed to a fortress mentality.

RAR 's main objectives include working to

• Close all detention centres and allow all asylum seekers, once health and security matters have been addressed, to have their requests for asylum processed while they live in the Australian community;
• Repeal the Temporary Protection Visa legislation;
• At least double Australia's annual intake of refugees from 12,000 to 24,000.
  RAR's initiatives include
• Inviting members of the community to write messages of welcome in books which are then taken to detention centres. In this way asylum seekers in detention can know they have support from many Australian citizens. Thousands of such messages have been received.
• Canvassing support from local government and communities in some country towns to welcome and support families of asylum seekers.
• Letter-writing and lobbying politicians with a view to keeping pressure on them and feeding new ideas.
• Visiting asylum seekers in detention centres.

My personal involvement: On Saturday mornings I go for 2 hours to a central position in town where a small group of us place a large banner, provide information to passers by, invite welcome messages or signatures of dissent from government policies. In general, we hope that our constant presence will keep the community aware of the plight of asylum seekers and refugees and the need for change in government policies and community attitudes.

For further information visit the RAR website www.ruralaustraliansforrefugees.org.