Prayer vigil sit-in at Joe Hockey's North Sydney office : 無料・フリー素材/写真
Prayer vigil sit-in at Joe Hockey's North Sydney office / lovemakesaway
| ライセンス | クリエイティブ・コモンズ 表示-継承 2.1 |
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| 説明 | Six Christian leaders including a nun have been arrested after holding a prayer vigil at Treasurer Joe Hockey’s electorate office in North Sydney. The group entered Mr Hockey’s office at 10:30am today and refused to leave, they calling for a timetabled commitment that all children will be released from immigration detention centres.The group have been removed from Joe Hockey's office by police, and released without charge.The protest follows a series of prayer-centred sit-in actions that has sparked a nationwide Christian movement called Love Makes A Way. Forty five religious leaders from a wide range of denominations have been arrested over the past four months after holding prayer vigils in offices of MPs from both major parties. All the prayer vigil participants have previously been involved in advocacy for asylum seekers. The participants of today’s action feel moved to participate in nonviolent direct action in light of the complete failure of both major parties to protect the wellbeing of people seeking asylum. Prayer vigil participant and Josephite Sister Jan Barnett said: "It is after great contemplation that I risk arrest here today, I feel I can't leave without a commitment from the Government to release all children from detention and to resettle them in a safe and nurturing environment." "All people fleeing persecution have a right to seek asylum, it is legal to do so, and the Australian Government has both a legal and moral duty to care for asylum seekers, especially children," she said. Matt Anslow, another participant in the prayer vigil said: "Mr Hockey told the federal parliament in 2012 during debate over the so-called Malaysia plan, ‘I will never ever support a people swap where you can send a 13-year-old child unaccompanied to a country without supervision. Never. It will be over my dead body’." Mr Anslow described how the prayer vigil sought to appeal to Mr Hockey’s own values: "Mr Hockey’s denunciation of the Malaysia plan shows us he has heartfelt concern for children fleeing persecution. We ask that Mr Hockey use his influence to advocate for the freedom of children from Australia’s detention centres." Retired nurse Margaret Coffey said: "I’m risking arrest today because working as a nurse meant I saw first hand the devastating mental health consequences of locking young people in detention centres." "We are robbing children of their childhoods and doing irreversible damage to the health of young people with the Immigration Department’s most recent figures showing the average period of time we are locking up asylum seekers in detention facilities is steadily increasing to 349 days. "The Australian Churches Refugee Taskforce recently described the Federal Government’s treatment of unaccompanied children seeking asylum as ‘state-sanctioned child abuse’ and as Christians we cannot stand idly by while vulnerable people suffer at the hands of our government," she said. A deal to allow Australia to send refugees to Cambodia for resettlement is imminent and may be signed as early as this week, Fairfax Media reports. Prayer vigil participant Kylie Beach said: “As a mother I feel that sending vulnerable children to Cambodia is dangerous and unconscionable because the Australian Government cannot guarantee their wellbeing or safety there. We should be welcoming these precious children into our communities, not exporting them to developing nations.” |
| 撮影日 | 2014-08-12 11:35:24 |
| 撮影者 | lovemakesaway , Australia |
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