The controversial events surrounding the Tampa 10 years ago today gave many Australians a reason to help asylum seekers build a new life. ON AUGUST 26, 2001 the Norwegian freighter Tampa, en route to Singapore from Fremantle, responded to a May-Day call issued by Australia’s Rescue Coordination Centre. Changing course, the freighter made its way
Read moreby Pamela Curr, campaign co-ordinator at the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre On the flight from Cairns to Weipa, a burly young bloke boarded wearing his “WE BUST OURS so WE CAN BUST YOURS” T-shirt with attitude. We were later to recognise him as a guard at Scherger Immigration Detention Centre in north Queensland. The drive
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They wept, they wrung their hands, they swore not over their dead bodies as they declared their mission to prevent further loss of life at sea. They then supported a solution which requires asylum seekers to get into dangerous, overloaded, fishing boats and to set off into the vast ocean with the hope that the
Read moreSarah* arrived at Tullamarine with her 10-month-old baby late on a Sunday night. She had a valid passport and a valid visa. She came from one of the North African countries where people are protesting for western style democracy against a dictatorship. A house raid and threats to her safety forced the decision to leave
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