RISE: Refugees, Survivors and eX-detainees the FIRST self-determined advocacy and welfare organisation in Australia run by Refugees for Refugees makes a public call for a boycott of “Australia Day”, for the seventh year in a row.
We eX-detainees, Asylum Seekers and Refugees from RISE condemn any group or individual who claims to be pro-refugee but celebrates “Australia Day” on the 26th of January 2019. Instead, RISE encourages all Refugees, eX-detainees, Asylum Seekers and allies to support First Nations peoples in their actions against “Australia Day”.
RISE represents over 30 refugee community groups in Australia and is the first (and one of the few) self-determined, registered, non-profit refugee organisations in Australia governed and managed by eX-detainees, Asylum Seekers and Refugees. As eX-detainees, Asylum Seekers and Refugees in Australia, we acknowledge that the land we seek protection on is the land of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples whose sovereignty was never ceded. ‘Always was, always will be Aboriginal land’.
We believe the systemic abuse of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples is a result of over 200 years of discrimination as part of the white colonial genocide strategy that continues to this day and this template is now being used against our own refugee communities. How can we dismantle the white Australian government’s refugee torture camps built within and outside its colonial borders without addressing the root cause of this criminal abuse.
RISE fully supports Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples sovereignty and self-determination and stands in solidarity with them every day in our commitment to fighting for justice on this land on their terms.
Nationwide actions are being organised by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Activists. Below are the list of actions happening around Australia:
- Narrm (Melbourne) https://www.facebook.com/events/218569075761924/
- Sydney https://www.facebook.com/events/1750661138392701/
- Adelaide https://www.facebook.com/events/1032566290234042/
- Brisbane https://www.facebook.com/events/2199768573624040/
- Perth https://www.facebook.com/events/2360219407361724/
Donate / Amplify Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples-led movements and organisations
- Black Rainbow Living http://www.blackrainbow.org.au/
- Curtain the podcast https://curtainthepodcast.wordpress.com/
- Djirra https://djirra.org.au/
- First Nations Telegraph http://www.firstnationstelegraph.com/
- Grandmothers Against Removals http://stopstolengenerations.com.au/
- Hey Sis, we’ve got your back http://www.heysis.com.au/
- IndigenousX http://indigenousx.com.au/
- Warriors of the Aboriginal Resistance WAR https://www.facebook.com/WARcollective/
The above list was given to us by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community members who support/work with RISE. If you would like to add any Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples-led organisations to this list please email admin@risrefugee.org
Finally, we thank the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples across Australia who have been supporting refugee self-determination and standing in solidarity with our community groups every day.
Read our Invasion Day 2016 translations in Arabic, Burmese, Oromo, Tamil and Vietnamese here
With Solidarity
RISE : Refugee Survivors and Ex-detainees
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