5 things you can do to support refugees in detention

For too long our Government has chosen to deny refugees a life of dignity and safety, by keeping people locked up indefinitely in offshore and onshore detention. Many for close to eight years.

Right now there are still 1,835 people stuck in limbo in offshore processing and detention facilities across Australia. Some people have been kept apart from their families – separated from their children – for over eight years. They’ve been forced to miss first steps, birthdays and the simple joy of tucking their children into bed at night.

It’s cruel, unnecessary and it needs to end now.

The ASRC has been fighting to uphold the freedom and rights of people seeking asylum for almost 20 years, but to continue this work we need your help.

Together we can help support people while they are in detention and demand their freedom.

Here are five practical actions that you can take to help people in detention across Australia and in offshore processing right now.

1. Add your voice to the #TimeForAHome campaign and sign the petition calling on the Government to immediately release people currently in detention and commit to a plan for their resettlement in a safe, permanent home.
2. Educate yourself on what is happening by reading articles, listening to podcasts or get to know the stories of refugees and people seeking asylum in Australia.
3. Donate to the ASRC – our End of Year Appeal is now closed. Any donations made will go towards funding services and programs of greatest need.
4. Participate by having conversations with people about the devastating human cost of the Government’s punitive asylum policies. We know from other social movements that one-on-one values-based conversations are the most effective way to change people’s minds and shift broader community attitudes. We offer training that can help. Register today.
5. Speak out by calling Alan Tudge and ask him to release people seeking asylum from detention.

Together we can end the barbaric practice of locking people up in indefinite detention, simply because they sought safety.

We won’t stop until they are free. Thank you for being a lifeline to their freedom.