By Derek Schlennstedt
THIS Sunday learn the truth about the challenges that refugees face when coming to live in Australia; hear first-hand accounts from a whistle-blower who has worked in Nauru detention centres and listen to refugees who have had to flee their country due to war and persecution.
The recently formed Healesville Rural Australians for Refugees will be holding their first event on Sunday 6 November at the Darren Honey Centre in Healesville.
With a variety of speakers talking about their experiences in travelling to Australia, and personal accounts about the state of children living in detention, the event is sure to be a thought-provoking and insightful look into the current state and treatment of refugees.
Speaking at the event will be Jane Willey, a former Save the Children teacher on Nauru, Zaki Haidari, a young asylum seeker boat arrival from Afghanistan, and local jeweller Harout Nenejian, whose parents are Syrian refugees.
Accompanying the speeches will be live music by local musician Aurion Hannaford with refreshments available throughout the event.
Jeanette McRae, Chairperson for Healesville RAR says the event is about changing the narrative of fearmongering within the wider community and recognising that the people being held in detention centres are humans just like us.
“It’s a public awareness event, changing the narrative and saying that we, as a community, care,” Jeanette said.
“What we’re attempting to do is humanise it, let people know that these are human beings like ourselves, rather than fear mongering we need to be embracing people from other cultures and communities.”
One of the speakers attending is Jane Willey, a former Save the Children teacher on Nauru who has defied the government’s ban restricting workers from speaking out about their experiences and could face two years jail time for telling people the real story behind Australia’s children in detention.
The Rural Australians for Refugees (RAR) chapter was created to act as an informal network of regional groups supporting and advocating for refugees and people seeking asylum.
Since its inception in September, the Healesville RAR group has grown to 25 members.
Iain Gillespie, founder of Healesville RAR, said that it was important to have a local chapter as there remained no Rural Australians for Refugees chapters between Dandenong and Mansfield.
“There are RAR’s all around the nation, hundreds of them, but there are none between Dandenong which is a huge refugee centre and Mansfield, so the whole Yarra valley has no RAR group,” Iain said.
Iain hopes that the event on Sunday will create awareness about the treatment of refugees by the Australian Government and put added pressure on the current government to close detention centres.
The event starts at 2.30pm this Sunday at the Darren Honey Centre in Healesville.
