Medevac eX-detainees need long term sustainable support services from those who started the “Medevac Campaign” not lip service or feel good statements
Last week over 30 medevac eX-detainees were “released” from detention centres to community detention or given bridging visas. If you are a white saviour or non-eX-detainee who is celebrating or self-congratulating yourself for achieving this goal, then do your research on community detention. You should be ashamed at this paltry outcome rather than feeling good about yourself.
We eX-detainees have repeatedly condemned the role of those who collected hundreds and thousands of dollars to advocate for medevac and left our community in limbo for many years and added more trauma and torture to our lives and we continue to speak out about this appalling state of affairs. You are adding an additional layer of oppression to our community with your ad-hoc campaigns. Celebrating refugees being granted bridging visas or being placed in community detention and giving them a token amount of $1000 which will not even pay for secure and safe accomodation for a month – simply validates the views of those who believe that our community is not entitled to the bare minimum, including freedom of movement.
The white saviour organisations and campaigners like ASRC, Human Rights law centre, Save the children, Getup, Australian Refugee Council etc. who advocated for Medevac must be held accountable, and they should stop vulture careerism through our bodies. Groups like these run campaigns and run away from responsibilities but we don’t have any escape – we are still here – it is about us, our lives and our future. These groups should sustain ALL Medevac eX-detainees for the long term rather than passing the ball to others and feeling good about themselves. Community detention and bridging visas with no rights is another form of torture. This is the reality of the Medevac Bill and its failures – and now we are living with the effects.
RISE eX-detainees demand that the minimum standard for services provided to Medevac refugees by all those funded to assist them be set as follows:
- Make sure all Medevac Refugees are released from detention
- Ensure immediate long term health support – regardless of visa status
- Ensure the entire process of visa application has been supported till they get permanent protection and provide continued legal and advocacy support with family reunion.
- Education including proper pathway and training programs
- Long term housing with rental assistance and case management
We should not only hold the government accountable, but also the ‘nonprofit” industry governed and run by non-eX-detainees that continuously demoralises us and perpetuates the severe discrimination we face in our daily lives.
RISE eX-detainees