The Refugee Action Coalition has received the message below (and attached) signed by hundreds of asylum seekers in Delta and Fox compounds, also attached) on Manus Island.
The message was written the day of the memorials to Reza Barati held in all in the compounds of the Manus detention centre.
A protest vigil is being held in Sydney today (Friday 20 February), 5pm at the Sydney Town Hall Square.
For more information contact Ian Rintoul 0417 275 713
To the people of Australia:
We are the asylum seekers on Manus Island who have been forcibly relocated to Manus Island because we entered Australian territory by boat, seeking safety and protection, after we fled our countries because of civil war that threatens our families.
We were desperate to come to Australia by boat because we don’t have any other option; only to jump on a piece of wood to cross the ocean.
We came to Australia legally. We have no other reason [to come] except to seek safety. We are not criminals as some people say.
We are human beings like you. We have parents, kids and wives, who we had to leave behind and who are in danger of civil war and persecution. We hoped to assist them, but unfortunately we can’t even release ourselves from this prison.
We have been in hell in detention for more than 20 months. The treatment that we face is worse than the way you would treat an animal. We face the spectre of a sort death here once again.
Two of us lost their lives and some of us have mental problems and permanent injury because we are seeking freedom. We were sent to jail because of the hunger strike. When we were in the prison, we were beaten like dogs and torture us as if we were criminals and they told us ‘go back to your country; what do you want from PNG?’
The suffering has ended for those [of us] who have lost their lives, but ours still continues. Everyday we receive threats from the local people but some of us prefer to risk death in Manus than to go back to our homelands.
We cannot go back to our homelands because of [the danger] we have faced [there] in the past to ourselves or other people.
We appreciate the efforts of those who are supporting our case and standing with us.
If it becomes a crime to seek asylum, refugees will be a shame on the community. And the law will be deaf and blind.
Signed: asylum seekers – Delta and Fox compounds
