Protesters vow to block traffic for Queensland asylum seekers

Protesters have threatened to disrupt peak hour traffic twice a day for six months if asylum seekers are moved from a waterfront hotel to Christmas Island. 

So far 400 people have signed a ‘pledge to resist’, vowing to cause commuter chaos in Brisbane to protest the transfer of 120 male asylum seekers who have been living in the Kangaroo Point Central Hotel in the city’s south for the past seven years. 

Protests have been held outside the hotel since April.  

The organisers said this time the protests will be more consistent and will occur up to twice a day for six months to ensure the refugees are not moved. 

Protesters gather to support asylum seekers detained at the Kangaroo Point Central Hotel in Brisbane, Australia, June 28, 2020

Protestors call for asylum seekers to remain in Australia and not be transferred to Christmas Island

‘We wouldn’t have to protest like this at all if the government just released these men into the community. These people have suffered enough already,’ protest spokeswoman Dane de Leon told The Courier Mail. 

The pledge has been signed by 400 people including greens Councillor Jonathan Sri, who was arrested at the another protest.

‘If it was safe for them to return home, the government would have deported them years ago, so the crucial question now is whether we want to grant them asylum and release them, or keep them locked up forever,’ he said.  

Those who signed the pledge agree to: ‘safely risk arrest to cause as much traffic disruption as possible if the government transfers detainees to higher-security facilities instead of releasing them into the community.’ 

Greens Councillor Jonathan Sri talks to protesters who have gathered to support asylum seekers detained at the Kangaroo Point Central Hotel in Brisbane, Sunday, June 28

Police stand guard at the last protest outside the Kangaroo Point Central Hotel on June 28

Last month, police arrested 37 demonstrators after they staged a sit-in, refusing to move on after a two-hour protest permit expired.

All were issued with fines for refusing to comply with police orders. One person has been charged with assaulting police.

Protesters are demanding community release for the men, brought to Australia from offshore detention, most under orders they receive specialist medical care.   

Cr Sri said protesters had told police they would move from the road if they were allowed to pass hot food to the men inside. 

‘The government refused, and instead of passing over the meals, decided to arrest dozens of people,’ he wrote on Facebook at the time. 

A group of protesters blocked traffic outside the Kangaroo Point Hotel in support of the asylum seekers detained 

‘Ironically, the protest organisers had made a deliberate decision not to block Main St this week in order to minimise traffic disruption, but in the end, Main St was fully blocked off not by protesters but by police cars that were queuing up to take people to the watch house.’

Ms De Leon said people were arrested after asking to pass hot food to the men inside.

‘We were sitting on this road, right there singing songs, listening to poetry and we were sharing a meal and we thought it would be nice if our friends inside could share a meal with us,’ she told the Seven network.

‘It wasn’t long after that until police started moving everyone off the road and dragging people away.’

She said about 600 protesters were there and it would have been impossible for them to fit on the footpath so they chose a quiet side street to sit down.

‘We thought this was just a little bit over the top – over curry.’