This is a shameful breach of the International human rights conventions
but then again – who cares?

*Sri Lankans attempted to intrude Australia arrested.*
[ Wednesday, 25 November 2009, 03:48.28 AM GMT +05:30 ]
Four illegal boats which boarded migrants yesterday night in the
southern sea area in Sri lanka were captured by the Sri Lankan navy
personnel. All of them were in the intention of travelling to Australia
was according to information.

*Reports states, the boat people were obstructed by the Sri Lankan navy,
and were arrested and had been taken along with their boats to Galle
Harbour and presently they are under investigation. So far, the boats
which were illegally intruding to Australia from Sri Lanka were not
intercepted by the Sri Lankan navy personnel.

But recently visited Australian Foreign Affairs Minister decided to sign
an agreement with Sri Lanka, to construct observation centers in the sea
region. On this basis, the illegal migrants were arrested yesterday
night is according to reports. Another illegal boat captured in Australia. *

*
21. Sri Lanka seizes Australia-bound boats
===============================

ABC Online News
Posted Tue Nov 24, 2009 5:00pm AEDT

Sri Lanka’s navy says it has intercepted two fishing trawlers carrying 60
asylum seekers heading for Australia.

The two boats were detected off the island’s southern coast while they were
moving eastward in the direction of Australia, navy spokesman Athula
Senarath said.

“The people on board had paid large sums of money to people smugglers to
take them abroad,” he said.

“The men and the two boats were handed over to the local police at the port
of Galle for further investigations.”

There has been an increase in the number of Sri Lankans trying to enter
Australia and New Zealand illegally in recent months. Many claim political
asylum when detected by Australian authorities.

Boats take up to three weeks to reach Australia.

However, some travel by air to Indonesia and then take wooden boats from
there to the Australian coast.

Last week, dozens of Sri Lankan asylum seekers left an Australian Customs
ship in Indonesia, ending a month-long protest over their claims for
refugee status.

The Oceanic Viking Customs ship had rescued them when their boat capsized.

The stand-off fuelled an intense refugee debate in Australia and piled
pressure on Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to stem the rising flow of asylum
seekers through Indonesia.

- AFP
–
Pamela Curr
Campaign Coordinator
Asylum Seeker Resource Centre (ASRC)
12 Batman Street Melbourne 3003
Tel 03 93266066/ fax 0393265199/mob 0417517075
http://www.asrc.org.au

“…refugees must routinely rely upon smugglers and even traffickers in order to escape their own country because no state grants refugees legal authorization to travel for the purpose of seeking asylum. The practical imperative to ensure that protection is not denied to refugees who arrive without authorization is formally recognized in Article 31 of the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees (Refugee Convention), which denies States Parties the right to penalize refugees for illegal entry or presence. Yet this binding guarantee is of little practical value when migration control efforts are implemented in an indiscriminate way, precisely the approach required by the antitrafficking and antismuggling treaties.”

— Hathaway, James C. (2008). The Human Rights Quagmire of Human Trafficking. Virginia Journal of International Law

The Blackwater operatives also assist in gathering intelligence and help run a secret US military drone bombing campaign that runs parallel to the well-documented CIA predator strikes, according to a well-placed source within the US military intelligence apparatus…
Read the full article / Leggi l’articolo completo
Excerpt —

Blackwater: Company Non Grata in Pakistan
For months, the Pakistani media has been flooded with stories about Blackwater’s alleged growing presence in the country. For the most part, these stories have been ignored by the US press and denounced as lies or propaganda by US officials in Pakistan. But the reality is that, although many of the stories appear to be wildly exaggerated, Pakistanis have good reason to be concerned about Blackwater’s operations in their country. It is no secret in Washington or Islamabad that Blackwater has been a central part of the wars in Afghanistan and Pakistan and that the company has been involved–almost from the beginning of the “war on terror”–with clandestine US operations.

this weekend the Mullumbimby music festival is on.

Ruby Blue plays there on Sun 7pm.

Check out http://www.mullummusicfestival.com/Nextweekend/ if you’re interested. There’s a program and details of prices etc.

Beautiful place and there’s plenty of good bands playing from the Byron region and Bris and a few from Sydney and Melbourne.

peace and wholesome funk

Peter

He did not get on the bus but went to the Sunshine police station
to ask what was happening and then had to pay for a taxi.

*When I rang and asked the police whether they would advise this young
man to use the bus service with his attacker still driving , I was told

“Well that’s up to him”.

Sita Buslines were contacted on Friday and asked whether the driver
would be suspended pending investigation. Clearly they have decided that
having adriver who attacks a passenger then locks the doors on that
passenger while he calls for friends to join in the attack is not
asuspendable offence.

Please advise any African friends to be very careful when boarding Sita
Buslines. Also remind them that 000 can be rung from any mobile phone
even if they are out of credit and that they should do so if they fear
attack.

This incident illustrates why the Indian students had to resort to
sitting -in at Flinders Street to get attention and protection from
violent assaults.

Driver locked bus and joined in bashing, says refugee— ANDRA JACKSON, November 25, 2009

A 31-YEAR-OLD West African man was attacked by a bus driver and eight
other men after the driver locked him in a parked bus, police were told.

The driver summoned the men on his mobile phone.

They arrived shortly after in two cars, boarded the bus and kicked and
punched the man, he said in a statement to police.

Senior Constable Renee Hulls from Sunshine police has confirmed police
are investigating an attack on a man on a bus at Sunshine station on
Thursday night.

Musu Morris, 24, a care aid worker from Sunshine who witnessed the
attack, said eight men were involved: ”One was a huge fat boy, and he
hit him a blow and another blow. I felt very bad. I couldn’t do
anything. I tried to hold one. They just shoved me off,” she said. READ MORE @ http://www.theage.com.au/national/driver-locked-bus-and-joined-in-bashing-says-refugee-20091124-jhd4.html
–
Pamela Curr
Campaign Coordinator
Asylum Seeker Resource Centre (ASRC)
12 Batman Street Melbourne 3003
Tel 03 93266066/ fax 0393265199/mob 0417517075
http://www.asrc.org.au

Hathaway, James C. (2008). The Human Rights Quagmire of Human Trafficking. Virginia Journal of International Law

A journey of nonviolent resistance, inspired by the struggle of the East Timorese, Ciaron tells the tale of a life dedicated to nonviolent resistance. Ciaron’s ideas are an inspiring challenge to conventional response to injustice. This is a tale of a journey of Australians and Britons awakened by the heroism of the East Timorese people, a people who refused to accept an Indonesian military invasion of their country that was facilitated by the international community.

Ciaron O’Reilly takes us on a nonviolent journey from the boardrooms of Brisbane mining companies to the high tech hangers of British Aerospace, Lancashire. He takes us from coffee with Australian counter terrorist operatives, through the pulpits of the Catholic Church, to attempted infiltration by the British Special Branch. British Aerospace take Ciaron and his colleagues to the High Court while the police arrest them.

Otford. 104 pages, paperback. $20

Contact: Ciaron OReilly

Celtic Fyre came together in 2003 in order to perform and record on the University of Queensland pipe band’s CD “The White and the Blue”. Since then they have continued playing and evolved. With some line-up changes since their formation, they continue to explore many facets of traditional and contemporary Celtic music.

Jumping Fences:

Jumping Fences, the song-writing partnership of Lachlan Hurse and Sue Monk, will be playing their energetic mix of original and Latin American songs. While Ross Gwyther is away overseas, they will be accompanied by Robbie Stewart (lead guitar), Dan Simpson (drums) and James Harper (percussion) along with special guest Leonor Orellana. Their songs extend the folk tradition, and give new insights into the breadth of contemporary life. [website]

We are pleased to have Nayita and Manoli offering their tempting Latin American food as well as Maggie’s wonderful cakes. Tea and coffee available.

Foco Nuevo is a reference to Brisbane’s FOCO Club, a lively and alternative performance space which ran on a weekly basis during the late 1960s.

Looking forward to seeing you there,

Lachlan and Sue

THE GOODWILLS

CELTIC FYRE

JUMPING FENCES

with Leonor Orellana

Friday 30th October

8.00 p.m.KURILPA HALL

174 Boundary Street,

West End Hot Latin American meals, cakes, tea and coffee available

$10 / $7 concession

N.B. BYO

web http://www.foconuevo.org.au

email enquiries:

lachlan@foconuevo.org.au

]]> http://bushtelegraph.wordpress.com/2009/02/21/book-review-the-lemon-tree/#comment-7541 Going Home Sat, 21 Nov 2009 21:43:26 +0000 http://bushtelegraph.wordpress.com/?p=3169#comment-7541 [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmORAG96fVM]<!--more-->

‘A free, family-friendly World By Night festival’ is paid for using public money (Q150) and the developer (Australand) reaps the benefits.

They have only the bones of dead murris and south sea islanders to dispose of and the new age appartments with their scenic views and million dollar price tags will be ready for the monied classes to enjoy.

See Quest article

Ian Curr
November 2009

By BELINDA SEENEY AND ROWENA SMITH

A FESTIVAL of migrant culture will be the final public event at Kangaroo Point’s historic Yungaba building before it is redeveloped. A free, family-friendly World By Night festival featuring contemporary music, dance, food and craft inspired by Yungaba’s migrant and refugee past will take place on Friday from 6-10pm.

On December 15, the State Government will hand over the 1.9ha site, a former migrant depot, to new owner Australand. Ben Langfi eld, of marketing agents Colliers International, said more than 800 prospective buyers had already registered interest in the riverfront apartments planned for the site. Mr Langfi eld said excavation would begin almost immediately.

Long-time opponents of the sale of Yungaba expect the excavation to uncover historic artefacts indicative of the site’s migrant, Aboriginal, South Sea Islander and convict past. Yungaba Action Group spokeswoman Delene Cuddihy said: “We called upon the State Government last year to make sure there was thorough documentation of the site including an archeological dig. We’ve seen no signs of this archaeological dig so expect this excavation will yield significant archaeological finds,” she said.

Brisbane Multicultural Arts Centre (BEMAC), which operates from the historic Yungaba building, is hosting the World By Night which is a Q150 / B150 event. Director Jo Pratt said Friday’s event would be tinged with sadness but would be mostly a celebration of culture. BEMAC administration will be based at Yungaba until late 2011 or early 2012.

The $160 million project features 167 apartments across three buildings with the fi rst tower, Promontory, planned for a September 2010 start and settling early 2012. Sales are expected to top $2.2 million for Promontory.

Good news!

Some days ago, our friend Samieh Jabbarin was released from the house-arrest he had been held under for nearly ten months.

He is back into his own life-routine, and to the ongoing struggle at court, where he is to be tried for the fabricated charges of assaulting a police officer at Um Al Fahm on the Knesset Election Day, February 2009.

His trial opens in January 2010.

Hebrew:

בשורות טובות: לפני זמן לא רב שוחרר חברנו סמיח ג’בארין ממעצר-הבית שבו הוחזק בעשרת החודשים האחרונים. הוא חזר לשגרת חייו וממשיך להיאבק על חפותו בבית-המשפט, שם תלויה ועומדת נגדו האשמה מופרכת של תקיפת קצין משטרה באום-אל-פאחם ביום הבחירות לכנסת ישראל בחודש פברואר 2009.
משפטו עתיד להתחיל בחודש ינואר 2010.
מצורף לכם בזאת מכתב מסמיח.

I will pay the fine so that I do incur further costs as threatened in the notice from the BCC.

This fine is unfair. As a supporter of ‘Justice for Palestine’ I reject the council’s hardline approach.For details of how the fine was imposed see Limits to Democratic Rights: harrassment at Al Nakba rally.

In the end I was left to defend myself. I did that to the best of my ability.

I will be taking steps to prevent any such harrassment again.

The Builders Labourers Union [BLF] is waging a campaign to prevent their members from being fined by the BCC in the city. These fines are being imposed on ordinary working people for simply attending work with their utes and tools.

All political groups should support the BLF in this.

Solidarity,
Ian Curr
Nov 2009

I found out this morning by way of text message,
there is only a little piece in the SMH. Keith deLacy & I have contacted Paul Syvret (courier-mail) & he is writing a piece. I have a review of his book ‘Many Ships to Mt Isa, published in the Qld Journal of Labour History.
I am presently at Griffith but can send it through when i get home. I am speaking on Pat & the Mt isa dispute at a Q150 IR conference on Fri 11 Dec in Brisbane –
Jack Mundey is seeking to get some publicity in Sydney
- Greg Mallory

See new heading for Meetings, Rallies & Pickets on the right hand side (of the blogroll) at the top. Just click the hyperlink and it will take you to the relevant meeting.

Thanks for the tip.

If people wish to advertise Meetings, Rallies & Pickets send email to:

Ian Curr
Ph: 07 3398 5215
Mob: 0407 687 016
Email: iancurr@bigpond.com
Web: Workers BushTelegraph.

Noel

Today all phones in the Macassar Immigration prison are responding “disconnected”. Even phones which are never turned off and whose owners were not on the boat.

However a text message from a 17 year old Afghan boy who was on the boat tells us what happened.

SMS 8PM Saturday “My Name is Axxxx son of Mxxxx 17years. This not my mistake to get on boat- its unhcr who make me- Y (Why) they announce my refugee status they promised that the complete process wont take more than six months but now its one year-i got no result- i cant tolerate anymore in detention centre.

Then finally i came with 61 people on boat after 5 nites we got on international water -they intercepted us- then they request 4 bribe -we gave them 50,000$ – after some minutes another boat came to stop us – we didnt-then they start shoting- after one hour conflict two of us got bollet injury – right now they r n hospital- dont know wether they r alive or no”

The Indonesia police and miliatry have not previously resorted to force against asylum seekers. The shooting of two asylum seekers is a dangerous and frightening escalation. It comes on the back of increased pressure from the Australian government to stop the boats. The Howard government used cannon fire over the bows of boats to frighten asylum seekers. The Australian navy broadsided boats and fired repeated vollies over their bows but did not actually shoot at them.

The Indonesian solution is imploding. It has been in place for over 8 years now through two Australian governments. There is now a grave risk that people will die as the Indonesian military feel increasing pressure from their political masters in Jakarta and Canberra to stop the boats.

Last year Australia resettled 35 people from Indonesia.

Currently there are 560 Card Carrying refugees, assessed by UNHCR who have no place to call home. They are sitting and waiting for Australia to open the door. Most have family members here waiting to welcome them and embrace them back into their family.

There are a further nearly 1400 people registered with UNHCR whose claims are not being processed becasue there is nowhere for them to go. These people have fled horrific violence, seen family members killed and some are unaccompanied children.

Next week consultations begin on resettlement intake for next year. We urgently need 2000 places allocated to the refugees being warehoused in Indonesia. This will stop the boats more decently and surely than shooting them. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH.

http://www.skynews.com.au/topstories/article.aspx?id=394016

–
Pamela Curr
Campaign Coordinator
Asylum Seeker Resource Centre (ASRC)
12 Batman Street Melbourne 3003
Tel 03 93266066/ fax 0393265199/mob 0417517075
http://www.asrc.org.au

You can find notification of such meetings under Bulletins/Comments section on the right of the WBT webpage.

Please let others know about this.

The convenor of the meeting told me beforehand that the forum was open to ALP and Union members. It was not till after the meeting that he advised that exceptions were made to include other sections of the community i.e. Palestinian and Jewish people.

Editor,
Ian Curr
Ph: 07 3398 5215
Mob: 0407 687 016
Email: iancurr@bigpond.com
Web: Workers BushTelegraph

It was in the days of Bjelke-Petersen and they just took the land and rural businesses off the owners and gave them virtually nothing in compensation. (This was in National Party heartland and only a land/ business owners were affected)

Bligh probably wishes the good old days were still here.

Of course the great irony today is the National Party is opposed to Labor’s privatization.

If you look closely at the material coming out of the White House, Obama appears to be on the point of cracking.

Firstly, Obama has to deal with the racism of the US military (that racism cracked Major Nadal Hassan at Fort Hood).

Then Obama must deal with the intransigence of his secretary of state, Hilary Clinton.

Clinton wants 30,000 more US troops be sent to Afghanistan – in her desire to transplant to Afghanistan the work of her husband in places like Eritrea, Somalia and Sudan

Given a chance, Clinton may become the US pariah in Asia that Kissinger was in Indo-China.

As we are slowly finding out from facts on the ground, the great white hope has made such a good job in all these places.

I think not.

All we can do is support the people on the ground who resist the oppression coming from our own ‘first world’ countries.

As with Vietnam, it is not us who will change the developing countries, it is the people who stay and resist.

Ian