Welcome to this Newsletter!

This is the first issue of a special Newsletter for members and supporters of Project SafeCom. Because of the celebratory nature of this event we have developed this public edition as an open publication for refugee supporters and 'friends'. We felt that our "other" Newsletter, hosted by topica.com (see the right hand column item) had developed into more a frequent and open 'refugee news and updates service'. To our Association's registered members we have sent a slightly different version, with some additional members-only news items.

NOTE: There are many links to other websites and pages in this Newsletter. All links open a new window in your browser, so your reading is not unnecessarily interrupted.

If you do not want to receive any further Newsletters like this one, simply click here to unsubscribe.

A few months ago our steering committee unanimously endorsed a proposal to fully concentrate on the refugee issues around Australia for at least the remainder of 2002 - also because we planned to launch the "Inside these Walls" project - a plan to lobby refugee action and support groups around Australia create Benefit Concerts inside EVERY detention centre around Australia on Christmas eve, December 24 2002.

Imagine Christmas Eve...

Imagine Christmas evening 2002. Imagine small stages inside every detention centre around Australia. Imagine the Myer Bowl in Melbourne and Sydney's Opera House packed out for a performance by a famous and renowned Australian band.

Imagine "Gigs for Refugees" in every capital city and many towns around Australia. Imagine a TV Crew inside every detention centre as well as in Australia's major venues, filming the events.

Imagine all of them starting at the same time, the starting hour synchronised across Australia's timezones. Imagine satellite link-ups across Australia - your TV screen zooming in on Maribyrnong, then Villawood, then Christmas Island.

Imagine the Concerts starting with a band such as Yothu Yindi. Imagine these Concerts to be Benefit Concerts - assisting refugees on Temporary Protection Visas. Imagine a phone room, and phone numbers rolling across the screen.

Imagine these Concerts all hosted/convened by a senior federal politician who has dared speaking out against the current policy of mandatory detention.

Are you so far with us? Good. Because that's our vision too. We're sending a briefing paper in a week or so to all refugee action, lobby and support groups around Australia. More than 25 artists have already expressed their interest to participate in the events. One politician has already committed to participate. Others have written to us, supporting and endorsing the events. And three producers are prepared to start work on the project.

We need your support for this plan. We can not do this by ourselves: it's only going to work if refugee groups around Australia work with this. Please explore the side columns for several ways to support us - or click here!

Project SafeCom's activities are coordinated from Narrogin in Western Australia, about 170 kms S-SW of Perth - with meetings held in Fremantle and Rockingham. Up till now we have primarily made ourselves audible and visible via the internet, using our website as a starting point.

This Newsletter is partly written and designed the way it is because we're also seeking a substantial number of people to get involved with our work in Western Australia, and amongst those people we need a group of people who are able to be part of our working and action team, which operates from the South Metropolitan area - Fremantle and Rockingham.

We meet every three weeks, at the moment at various venues (looking for a more permanent venue in the Fremantle area!). Please download the Membership application form [click on the WORD image], print it out and send it to us!

What's on the cards? Well, first the Inside these Walls project: there's a lot to do between now and Christmas!

Daybreak in Detention - In the first week of October Australian refugee action and support groups will see further concerted action on the occasion of the first anniversary of the SIEV-X sinking. Action is already planned and we'd like to be part of this action - announced under the name of "Daybreak in Detention". See the announcement here.

Only at the last hour of my busy working week in Port Hedland I find some time to visit the Port Hedland IPRC. Earlier on in the week I had been at the reception counter to register for a visit, and on the Friday morning before the weekend I had popped in to check whether the request had been approved.

The Welcome Sign appeared friendly enough, as did the ACM staff. But the first phrase on the large white metal sign next to the outer entry "....although no formal identification is required for a visit...." could not fool me. Immediately I had to think of the friendly manipulations of what some call 'facts' on the website of Australia's Minister for Immigration: like everyone else, I had to produce a photo ID when registering for my visit.

There were smiles from staff, all of them locals from Port Hedland.

There was hilarity when the lady from Reception, who unlocked the outer gate for me, proceeded to lock herself out in the small courtyard - together with me. Some jokes were made, and staff in the outdoor visiting area smiled: these guys would care about the detainees.

Port Hedland is a friendly detention centre, it appears. Some locals on the residents' committee regularly meet with representatives of detainees and staff; things are on the improve after the removal of the former Centre Manager and the Catering Supervisor - who are reportedly both under investigation - and some detainees can go out for an afternoon with those who regularly visit them.

While I talk with the warm and soft-spoken Sri Lankan who has elected to sign for a voluntary return to his wife and children, three others of the small Port Hedland visiting group I had met earlier on for a barbecue, talk with other detainees at the adjoining tables in the courtyard.

The man I talk with cannot help his tears when he mentions his wife, who is being threatened by the Tamils. He shares the story of an interpreter who stuffed up his chances in Australia's refugee approval process, someone who at a later stage even personally wrote him to apologise for his mistakes - too late.

I see two things confirmed that afternoon.

This detainee would, in a country where the fullness of the UN Convention is implemented, have been welcomed as a genuine refugee, and we would have paid for his family to come and join him; and during the hour-long visit, the sun and the smiles around cannot undo the twelve times that my mind looses its concentration on the detainee's story - whenever I hear a lock being opened or closed, and when I hear the rattling of a bunch of keys, accompanied by heavy footsteps of steel-capped boots.

This is a maximum security prison. And the UN Conventions are firmly and arbitrarily locked out.

Jack H Smit, Coordinator
Project SafeCom Inc.
Narrogin WA

Because Project SafeCom was born in Narrogin in WA country, about 170 km S-SW from Perth, we have a handicap when we think of action, and especially refugee action. While others can more easily garner support from many people in a more physical sense, we have to work twice as hard to be seen and heard. Our friends at RRAN (Refugee Rights Action Network) in Perth have much faster collaborative opportunities because of the larger group of people accessible within the closer proximity of a metropolitan area.

This limitation has also provided us with opportunities to exploit the internet to bridge the tyranny of distance: last month we experienced our 'peak' day, when 256 people visited our website on one day.

When we post a message, not just to our own Newsletter at topica.com, but also through about 23 e-lists, it reaches about 10,000 people within 24 hours.

During the Students & Sustainability Conference at Murdoch University in Perth, held in the second week of August, we had a positive presence with our stall. It was a great opportunity to present our identity amongst the many students from around Australia who attended, and as one of the students commented to us, we were, after all, the "refugee guys". For us many 'email addresses materialised' when we met many people who before we had only known through the internet connections across Australia.

Via our website, we have a strong educational function: feedback from visitors shows how many people not just find documentation on our website on the refugee documentation page, but also how the information provided informs people of the simplicity and openness towards refugee issues when the UN Conventions are applied.

This is especially apparent in our 'rebel visa' - The Australian People's Refugee Visa (click to visit the page). In a simple but effective way we could show how principles of equity and non-discrimination, and applying some of the foundations of the UN Refugee Convention, must lead to acceptance of many refugees who arrive in Australia.

We're forging ahead with courage: for an Incorporated Association which has yet to see its first birthday, we can be satisfied with the progress we made so far.

The Independent Newspaper and online News and Opinion service The Paper published our article "Australian refugee action groups: shifting game positions" in Edition 37, August 2002.

Summary: The time may have come for refugee advocates in Australia to reconsider their positions in the human rights landscape following the latest statements by Immigration Minister Ruddock on the June 2002 Woomera breakout. Read the article here.