Set Them Free

Religious leaders of Australia call for the release of refugees illegally detained in Melbourne's Park Hotel and Maygar Barracks. Spoken by Tim Costello on behalf of Anglican Bishop Philip Huggins, Imam Alaa Elzokm, Rabbi Shamir Caplan and Harold Zwier, and more than 30 other Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Hindu and Sikh leaders.

#SetThemFreeDirector: Richard Keddie

Editor: Sebastian Broadbent

Watch this short but powerful video here.

Freedom Street Film Presentation

 

Buy tickets here!

Event description

14000 Refugees are trapped in Limbo; caught in the crossfire of Australia's Border Policy and Indonesia's Indifference

Trailer:

We are delighted to invite you to Freedom Street Documentary's World Premiere. 

Due to the ongoing escalation of the COVID-19 situation, we have decided to change the event to a zoom event. Please see the new updates below for further information.

When: Saturday (Jan 29, 2022) 6:30pm for 6:45pm start

Where: Zoom Conference (Link to join the room will be sent prior to the event)

This is an opportunity for us to learn the entire context behind Australia's cruel deterrent policies, as well as an opportunity for discussing the upcoming Federal Election and explore the ways you can take action in demanding justice for refugee rights in our region

Booking is essential! Limited space only for this conference

Tickets: $15   

Buy tickets here!

Hosted by People Just Like Us   

About Freedom Street Documentary: 
Freedom Street Documentary explores the harrowing plights of Joniad, Ashfaq and Azizah, three refugees who are affected by the consequences of Australia's policies who are trapped in Indonesia. This feature-length documentary tells their moving stories whilst deconstructing Australia’s cruel border protection policy in a series of conversations with various experts, illuminating the issue in its entire (dark) historical and contemporary context. 

No documentary about refugees in Australia has ever talked about the full context of our refugee policy in the last 20 years. The experts I interviewed have provided context of our immigration history as a nation from the colony to today and relate it to today's cruel refugee policy. 

To Find out more about the film

Websites:

www.freedomstreetfilm.com - Main website

https://documentaryaustralia.com.au/project/freedom-street/ - Fundraiser, Trailer & Explainer

https://www.freedomstreetfilm.com/documentary-mentions - Links to our various podcast interviews and articles for the film background.

Social media links to our film:

https://www.facebook.com/freedomstreetfilm - Freedom Street Documentary Facebook

https://www.instagram.com/freedomstreetfilm/ ' Freedom Street Documentary Instagram

https://twitter.com/FreedomStreetD1 - Freedom Street Documentary Twitter

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUF7xyVN_pHC2_0TpIQ08Xw - Freedom Street Documentary Youtube Channel

Afghanistan

This is a message from Rural Australians for Refugees President Louise Redmond on the dire situation for many in Afghanistan.

In Afghanistan’s Uruzgan Province the Taliban shot a man in a village two days ago (Friday 3 September).  His crime: he had worked with the Australian Army.  

At a nearby village the Taliban took four children hostage, demanding their fathers surrender.  The villagers negotiated their release but the fathers did not offer themselves up, so the Taliban ransacked the village.  Executions are happening daily.  

These stories, and many more like them, are being relayed via Afghans living in Australia as well as former employees of Not-for-Profit Aid organisations, now working outside of Afghanistan.  
The Taliban’s lofty promises not to take revenge are daily being proved treacherous and cynical.  
In this remote area of Uruzgan local people who have worked with the Australian troops have been abandoned by the Australian government.  

 
Smart phones enable international sharing of photos of victims, bullet wounds, bruised and welted bodies, people hiding in caves.  

These stories are finding their way back to a small group of rural Australians who are frantically sponsoring and lodging applications with the Immigration Department for Offshore Humanitarian visas for terrified Afghans.  

Rural Australians for Refugees, an organisation made up of volunteers spread around five states, is coordinating the lodgements, and report that they have no shortage of people stepping forward to complete the paperwork, work through a sometimes baffling online system, and commit to provide material support for the potential refugees they are sponsoring.   

All of the applicants are from the Hazara minority, persecuted under the previous Taliban regime, and they have all worked in roles that make them targets of the Taliban’s warped and venal brand of Islam. 
The RAR group is also urging the relevant federal Ministers to increase Australia’s intake of Afghan refugees to 20,000.