Rallies in support of the refugees on Manus Island have been held in Sydney and Melbourne – with recorded messages from men within the detention centre being played to hundreds of people.
Those present heard an emergency situation is unfolding on Manus Island where refugees and asylum seekers have no safe place or security.
Recorded messages from two men on the island were played at the rally outside the State Library in Melbourne on Saturday, as they described their situation.
Rallies in support of the refugees on Manus Island have been held in Sydney and Melbourne
Those present heard an emergency situation is unfolding on Manus Island where refugees and asylum seekers have no safe place or security
They said they have no basic provisions or medical supplies following the closure of the detention centre this week, where 600 people have barricaded themselves inside.
‘We are forgotten people who have been tortured … even though we have committed no crime,’ one of the men said.
‘Our situation is getting worse and we need your help,’ the other man said.
‘Will Australians stand up and speak for humanity if you think refugees are humans?’
In Sydney, hundreds of people gathered at Hyde Park on Saturday afternoon to call for an end to the stand-off on the island.
Refugee Action Coalition spokesman Ian Rintoul told those present the Australian government was trying to drive the refugees and asylum seekers out of the centre and ‘into even more unsafe conditions’.
Recorded messages from two men on the island were played at the rally in outside the State Library in Melbourne on Saturday, as they described their situation
They said they have no basic provisions or medical supplies following the closure of the detention centre this week, where 600 men have barricaded themselves inside
Nicole Judge, who worked for the Salvation Army on Manus Island, said she advocated for closing the detention centre but didn’t want people left there to suffer.
She said the men who chose not to leave the camp feared for their safety outside it.
Food, electricity and running water were cut off at the detention centre after it officially closed on Tuesday.
Nicole Judge, who worked for the Salvation Army on Manus Island, said she advocated for closing the detention centre but didn’t want people left there to suffer
The protest in Melbourne was organised by the Refugee Action Collective of Victoria against the treatment of the refugees and was followed by a march through to Flinders Street
The protest in Melbourne was organised by the Refugee Action Collective of Victoria against the treatment of the refugees and was followed by a march through to Flinders Street.
Legal worker Sophie L’Estrange told the crowd about her experiences working on the island during the Good Friday shooting earlier in 2017.
She said she could hear the sounds of people dying for 45 minutes.
Federal Greens MP Adam Bandt also addressed the crowd in Melbourne, criticising the ‘cold eyes’ of Immigration Minister Peter Dutton, and said the detention centre on Manus Island was a ‘hell-hole’.
Legal worker Sophie L’Estrange told the crowd about her experiences working on the island during the Good Friday shooting earlier in 2017