V06 - villawood convergence

[rioters bloc]

V06: Villawood Detention Centre Easter 2006: April 14-17

Activists from across Australia will converge on Villawood Detention Centre in SW Sydney to collectively voice our opposition to the Howard government's treatment of refugees. Inspired by previous Easter convergences at Woomera and Baxter, this year we turn our sights on Villawood, where a majority of refugees are now incarcerated: at January 6, there were 263 detainees, 143 of them Chinese. The high rejection rate of Chinese asylum seekers by the RRT (89.6% in 2004-05) is significant, especially with free trade negotiations in train.

Get involved! Convergence specifics are still being decided.

COME to the next V06 planning meeting
Where: UTS Broadway, outside Students' Association (level 3)
When: Mon 13 Feb 6:30pm
Contact: 0402832260 or 0422078376 for info

Rough Itinerary for V06 (this is changeable and by no means exhaustive. For updates, check this site):

Friday 14: 10.30am meet at Jones St next to UTS for convoy to convergence site. Actions on Friday afternoon and evening.

Saturday 15: From 10.30am mass protest at Miowera Rd gate with Chinese community.
3-9pm, multicultural festival (bands, theatre, food, etc).

Sunday 16: 10.30am: direct action at Miowera Rd.
3-9pm, refugee movement conference (workshops TBC).

Monday 17: 10.30am: protest at Miowera Rd. Pack up after lunch.

V06 call to action: Why converge on Villawood?

- to show solidarity with people imprisoned for applying for their lawful right to asylum. Join with the detainees inside Villawood IDC in struggling for their freedom - and for our own.

- to show your opposition to the blatant disregard of human rights perpetrated by the Howard government.

- converge at Villawood to show the Australian government your opposition to the war for oil that has displaced tens of thousands of people from their homes.

- to show your rejection of the free flow of global capital while restricting the freedom of movement of people.

- to show your solidarity with the indigenous peoples of Australia and their continuing struggle for land rights.

- to recognise the extra hardship for women refugees in escaping war and danger (there are 31 women in Villawood).

- to reject the tightening stranglehold on civil liberties, the continuing disregard for the environment and the ever-increasing militarisation of Australia.

[rioters bloc]

bumpin'

[Ian]

It was so weird when I went to villawood years ago, all these Chinese people came in with Christian propaganda and started singing songs and shit with all the detainees

[Black Dagger]

Cool, i'm gonna be in syd on the 12th, and i'll be at villawood on the 14th, 16th and 17th, gonna meet Chris at central, yay! What's the website for this?

[rioters bloc]

dope as BD - you comin to the shitty nda on the 12th? when you gonna be flyin in?


on a tangent, i got the last 2 tickets to michael franti today, april 12 manning bar!!!

[apathy maybe]

I don't think there is a website like there was for Baxter05. It sucks 'cause I was going to put it on a "billboard". Anyway.

I can't come, my parents would get real upset if I skipped another Easter with 'em.

[Black Dagger]

Bad fucking news...

http://smh.com.au/news/national/villawood-...4521260149.html

Villawood to close for asbestos removal

By Dylan Welch
April 10, 2006 - 5:42PM

Villawood immigration detention centre will close for two weeks while asbestos is removed, Federal Immigration Minister Amanda Vanstone told a press conference in Adelaide this afternoon.

The 255 detainees at the centre will be relocated to detention and correctional centres across NSW, Victoria and South Australia, Senator Vanstone said.

Almost 160 will be relocated to Sydney's Holsworthy Army Barracks - but it is not known how near they will be to asbestos which was found in a training area.

The remainder will go to Baxter in South Australia, Maribyrnong in Victoria, and to Sydney's Long Bay prison.

The move comes after a week of debate over the discovery of asbestos in the ground soil of an unoccupied area of the centre.

Police were to be stationed there over Easter during a protest against mandatory detention, but the NSW Police Association put the brakes on when they heard of the asbestos threat, quoting information that Villawood was "riddled" with asbestos.

"The Federal Government must shut this site immediately and relocate the detainees to other sites around the country," Police Association secretary Peter Remfrey said on April 4.

On April 6, a department spokesman said the detainees would not be evacuated from the centre immediately because the asbestos levels were considered "low risk".

The asbestos was still low risk, Senator Vanstone said today, but she now intended to relocate detainees for two weeks while it is removed.

"We are relocating detainees as a precautionary measure that will ensure there is no risk to the safety or health of staff, detainees, visitors, police or local residents," she said.

Spokesman for the Refugee Action Collective Ian Rintoul told smh.com.au moving the Villawood detainees was not good enough.

"We're calling for the detainees to be released, not to be incarcerated in some other place."

The Villawood centre opened in the 1960s as a migrant hostel and was converted into a full-time detention centre in 1976.

- with AAP

[Ian]

strangely convenient

[rioters bloc]

other bad fucking news:


one of my most radical and passionate friends fractured his ankle yesterday playing soccer so hes out for villawood gone back to tamworth to stay at his parents for 2 weeks til he can actually function a little.

i have a feeling villawood's gonna fall flat.

[apathy maybe]

Some of the refugees are not moving. They are refusing to be moved.

I would not be supprised if there were shit loads of cops around and they started beating people up.

[Palmares]

The media is saying that the protest is off, but these corporate fuckwits are in on the plan that the government have explicitly set with this "withdrawal" as it were, of many detainees.

To show the spirit of the movement, and our solidarity with those oppressed, we must venture on and show our indignation!

I encourage people to camp out, we fucking need you!

Oh, anyone know about the meeting on Thursdau at UTS?

[rioters bloc]

fucking hell

after all that, i come down with the flu on the morning of the first day <_<

combination of getting 3-4 hours sleep a night for the last week + mum having the flu and passing it on to me.

if i rest up now i might still be able to go on sunday + monday... but then today will prolly be the biggest.. so maybe i should go anyway.

bah i dont know. fuck it.

:angry:

[Black Dagger]

Today was ok, but we kept nearly a K from where the detainees are being held&#33; Jack shit coverage from what i saw on the ABC news, was bloody hot, and i got into TWO arguments about my fucking Black GST t-shirt It was a good demo though, but much smaller than i expected. That said, we made a lot of noise, some great chants and lots of good speeches, aside from usual people, there were a couple of recently released refugees who spoke. I got photos, will post em up whenever i finish this roll of film... n then a couple weeks after that when i bite the bullet and fork out the cash to get them developed :P

[rioters bloc]

[Ian]

I saw some speaker screaming and crying during her speech on TV. I cringed.

[apathy maybe]

I can&#39;t believe that it was so small&#33; You Sydney people can&#39;t organise a protest in the biggest city in Australia&#33; I mean last years convergance was much better.

Fucking cops&#33;