Freedom @ Woomera2002 - Aufruf um weltweite Solidarität



Flüchtlinge aus australischem Internierungslager Woomera ausgebrochen

FAX NUMBERS FOR AUSTRALIAN EMBASSIES

A government-sponsored xenophobia disaster is enveloping Australia and WE NEED YOUR HELP.

In contravention of UN conventions on refugees, Australia incarcerates asylum seekers in detention camps around the country, run for profit by American private prison corporations. The suffering of the imprisoned refugees, many of whom are children, is a matter of record. Our government seems to believe that we are so far away from everyone else that they can ignore UN obligations without censure from the rest of the world.

We call upon artists/activists everywhere to help us agitate for change. Let the Australian government know that the world IS watching.

On March 29 we are mobilizing across Australia and your solidarity is requested. We ask you to send the fax donloadable from www.boat-people.org to your closest Australian embassy, and ask your friends and colleagues to do the same. If you have other things to add, please write them on the sheet. Fax numbers for many embassies are at the end of this letter.

BACKGROUND
The past 18 months in Australia have been characterised by government fear-mongering about refugees approaching our shores. Assisted by talk-back radio hosts, racist rhetoric around "illegal migrants", "boat people" and "migration queue jumpers" has taken hold of the national imagination. The "race issue" was a deciding factor in our November 2001
national elections, when the ruling right wing party was returned with an increased majority.

Australia?s 1st centenary of nationhood in 2001 has iconised the 18th century tall ships which first invaded Australia. But they avoid the truth of the people they brought here: poor, diseased British and Irish criminals and refugees- from whom much of the white population is descended. Since then, Australia has been host to millions of migrants from every nation, most recently over 250,000 Vietnamese refugees 1978-1985. Recent official authorisation of racism has exposed non-Anglo Australians to attack and denigration.

Boat-people.org formed to intervene in the malevolent rhetoric that has hardened australians to the humanity of refugees. We use the BOAT PEOPLE phrase with the image of a tall ship to remind the non-indigenous population WHO WE ARE and HOW WE GOT HERE. We seek to counter the demonisation of asylum seekers which fills our media and poisons our hearts.

Some of our spectacles of dissent can be seen at www.boat-people.org

Thanks very much for doing this.

FAX NUMBERS FOR AUSTRALIAN EMBASSIES

Argentina Fax: ??54 114 777 6577
Austria Fax: ??43 1 513 2908
Canada Fax: ??1 613 236 0026 or 1 613 236-4376
Chile Fax: ??56 2 206 4261 or 56 2 208 1707
France Fax: 33 1 40 59 33 10
Germany Fax: ??49 30 2248 9294
Frankfurt Fax 49 69 905 58-109
Greece Fax: ??30 10 644 3633 or 30 10 646 6595
India (New Delhi) Fax: ??91 11 688 7536
(Mumbai) Fax: ??91 22 218 8228 or 91 22 216 2649
Indonesia (Jakarta) Fax: ??62 21 2550 5695
(Bali) Fax: ??62 361 231 990
Iran Fax: ??98 21 871 6223 or 98 21 872 0484
Ireland Fax: ??353 1 661 3576
Israel Fax: ??972 3 691 5223
Italy Fax: ??39 06 8527 2400 or 39 06 8527 2300
Japan Fax: ??81 3 5232 4173
Lebanon Fax: ??961 1 374716
Malaysia Fax: ??60 3 241 4495
Malta Fax: ??356 34 4059
Mexico Fax: ??52 55 5531 9552
Netherlands Fax: ??31 70 310 8241
New Caledonia Fax: ??687 278 001 (ACG
New Zealand (Auckland) Fax: ??64 9 303 2431 or 64 9
377 0798
(Wellington) Fax 64 4 498 7135
Russia Fax: ??7 095 956 6162 or 7 095 956 6170
Singapore Fax: ??65 7351 242
South Africa Fax: ??27 12 342 4222
Spain Fax: ??34 91 442 50 53
Sri Lanka Fax: ??94 1 682 311
Taiwan Fax: ??886 2 2757 6040 (AVS)
Thailand Fax: ??66 2 213 1177
United Kingdom Fax: ??44 20 7465 8218
United States of America
(Washington) Fax: ??1 202 797 3100 or 1 202 797 3040
(New York) Fax 1 212 351 6501
Australian Mission to the United Nations, NY Fax
(1-212 or 1-646) 351 6610
(Los Angeles) Fax ??1 310 277 5620 or 1 310 277 2258
Boston Fax 1-617 426 9236
San Francisco Fax 1 415 536 1982
Atlanta Fax (+1 404) 760 3401