AIRAR’s letters for refugees win national award

RURAL Australians for Refugees (RAR) have recognised the efforts of letter writers in Aireys Inlet with a national award.
The national refugee advocacy organisation presented Aireys Inlet Rural Australians for Refugees (AIRAR) with its “Unsung Heroes Award” for June.
The award pays tribute to people in the community who have shown strength, courage and resilience in helping and advocating for refugees and asylum seekers. These are the “unsung heroes” of the movement.
The letter writing group started in July 2014 when AIRAR was re-established, and was inspired by Amnesty International’s letter writing campaign.
Dr Cecily Mason, a mainstay of the group, recalled her time in England in the 1970s when Amnesty used letters from people across the world to fight injustice and highlight persecution.
“It was a very effective way to bring about change, and I always remembered the impact it had,” she said.
The group has compiled 66 letters. Their first highlighted children in detention on Nauru, and since then issues have included the cost of detention, the Medevac legislation, occupational health and safety infringements in onshore and offshore detention; and the need to find resettlement options for refugees detained on Manus Island and Nauru.
They worked closely with Father Giorgio Licini, a senior priest in Papua New Guinea, who asked for assistance to help get refugees released from the Bomana Immigration detention centre in Port Moresby.
The final 18 men were released in January this year.
The small but enthusiastic group brings together a skilled band of retirees and workers from a range of backgrounds including education, engineering, science, law and international development.
“The letters document what is happening and seek change, but are also a tool to educate and inform the broader community,” group member Laurie Mason said. “We led an early campaign on the terrible treatment of the Rohingya people, well before most people were aware of it.”
Each month, the letter writers research a relevant issue, then prepare and send a letter to parliamentary leaders, politicians, and bureaucrats.
This letter is then used as a template by the hundred other RAR groups.
About 60 groups across Australia have signed on to be part of the letter writing campaign, including the Australian Refugee Action Network, Amnesty International Tasmania Southern, Canberra Refugee Action Campaign, Presentation Sisters of Wagga Wagga and the Newcastle Grandmothers against Detention of Refugee Children.