Protest vigils for Salim—murdered on Manus by Peter Dutton

Protest vigils for Salim, the 52 year-old Rohingya refugee who was killed on Manus Island last Tuesday (22 May) will be held today, Friday 25 May in Sydney and Melbourne.

In Sydney, the protest will be held at Sydney Town Hall, at 5.30 – 6.30pm. Speakers will include representative of Rohingya Association of Australia and Greens NSW MP, David Shoebridge.

Noor Zaman, president of the Queensland Rohingya Community said, “Salim’s death was not suicide, it was murder by Peter Dutton, by Malcolm Turnbull, and by IHMS caseworkers, who would not help him. We have a lot of evidence of his appeals and our appeals for help for Salim, but they would not help him.”

Salim (pictured) was brought to Australia for treatment for severe epilepsy in 2014 but was returned to Manus Island without it being controlled. On Manus, he suffered crippling multiple seizures a day.

A petition by the Rohingya refugees on Manus was given to Border Force in May 2015 (attached here) but it was ignored.

“Peter Dutton and offshore detention are condemned by Salim’s needless death,” said Ian Rintoul, spokesperson for the Refugee Action Coalition, “Salim has been killed by medical neglect and Dutton’s deliberate anti-refugee policies. Manus and Nauru should be immediately evacuated, so the refugees and asylum seekers can be brought to safety in Australia.

“Labor’s upcoming conference should back the call to ‘Bring them Here’. Eleven deaths in offshore detention are more than enough to reveal the dreadful mistake of re-starting offshore detention in 2013. It laid the basis for Abbott, then Turnbull, and the horror of the last five years. Amnesty International has said that detention on Manus and Nauru ‘amounts to torture’.”

“No more Salims. It’s time to end the torture and end offshore detention.”

For more information contact Ian Rintoul 0417 725 713

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