Dear Ms Andrews,

I am a friend of the Centre for a Compassionate Society, which is based in the electorate of Melbourne. I live in the electorate of ***. We have committed to writing a letter to your government every week until all refugees and asylum-seekers who remain on Nauru and in PNG under Operation Sovereign Borders are appropriately re-settled. We also seek humane treatment for refugees and asylum seekers on-shore. We are copying this letter to the Prime Minister, the Minister for Immigration, the Shadow Minister for Home Affairs and Immigration, and to our local members of parliament.

On Friday the world community celebrated Human Rights Day. We note that your government announced this week a diplomatic boycott of the Winter Olympic Games, in protest at China’s poor human rights record. Minister, Jesus teaches us to first take the log out of one’s own eye, before attempting to remove the speck from a brother’s eye. We are astonished that your government sees fit to criticise another government on their admittedly egregious human rights violations, while you keep innocent people in indefinite detention on- and off-shore.

Will you listen with an open heart to the pain of one detainee in the Park Hotel, spoken to an assembled crowd on Human Rights Day?

I would like to tell you Australia government: 9 years is enough, please enough is enough. The Australian government torturing us, paid for by your taxes. Please pay attention, coz today is our human rights day. Is there anyone can tell me who can give back our 9 years? When I came to Christmas Island in 2013 I was a young man, I had dreams, I wanted to build up my career. I wanted to make a beautiful family; but my dream never come back. Coz everything was ruined and finished… Who can give back my dream? my beautiful life? our 9 years? Is there anyone who can give back our 9 years? Mr. Morrison government could you please give back our young life, those 9 years. Please tell us. We want those 9 years back. My only demand to the government of this beautiful country was freedom and safety. What we found is that the prison has been torturing us for 9 years, without any reason.

Today we want justice

Please we want help 

Please we want support

Please set us free 

Please we want to be free 

Please we want freedom 

Please open the windows 

Please open the doors …

Yours sincerely,

*

Send your letter to Ms Karen Andrews: karen.andrews.mp@aph.gov.au (Minister for Home Affairs).
You could cc it to Ms Kristina Keneally: senator.keneally@aph.gov.au (Shadow minister for Immigration and Home affairs), and to your local Federal MP.

Send the text to the Prime Minister via their website HERE, and to the immigration minister, Alex Hawke, HERE.