May 15 Newsletter

Hi Redlands for Refugees folk,

We had a lively and interesting meeting last night – thanks to those who attended. Here’s a summary of key decisions and developments.

HOSPITALITY DAY POSTPONED – NOW JUNE 28

Regrettably, we’ve had to postpone our next Hospitality Day – complications in the availability of some key people meant we could not continue with Saturday, May 31. Sincere apologies to the 28 of you who had advised that you were able to help on that day. The new date is Saturday, June 28, and it will be at the lovely waterside Beth Boyd Park, at John St and Mooroondu Rd, Thorneside. This will be the first weekend of the school holidays, so we look forward to including families with children among the asylum seekers and hosts alike. I’ll start a new Host List for that day – please email me if you can come and help.

SOCIAL PICNIC

The meeting didn’t want to pass up the last weekend in May altogether, so we decided to have a social picnic for R4R people and their families and friends. This would help us get to know each other better, include people who can’t come to our meetings, and also give us a chance to check out the June 28 venue. It will be on Sunday, June 1, from 12 noon, at Beth Boyd Park. Please bring food for your lunch plus something to share. There are BBQs. Seats and/or blankets would also be good. No RSVP – just turn up if you can.

COMMUNITY EDUCATION – FILM NIGHT

We decided on a film and discussion format, perhaps with a small component of live music. This will be held on Friday, June 13, 6:30 for a 7:00 pm start. Venue is to be confirmed but we’re hoping for Mary MacKillop Catholic Church hall, 12 Hardy Rd, Birkdale (just down the road from Trinity UC). We propose to screen the film, Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea, and Rebecca Lim from Romero Centre has kindly agreed to take questions in the discussion afterwards. The event will conclude with supper. We will email you with a notice and flyer and put a piece in the Bayside Bulletin once the venue is confirmed. It would be great to have a strong turnout from R4R folk, and be encouraged to invite your friends and family. Details of the film are here: http://deepblueseafilm.com/about/ . I have ordered a copy of the DVD for R4R to keep as a resource – if you can’t make the screening, you can borrow it!

  

REFUGEE WEEK EVENTS

·        Romero is hosting a Refugee Conference and Film Festival, State Library of Qld (South Bank), on Friday, June 6, 9:00 am to 4:00 pm. A second day on Saturday, June 7, will be a family day of activities and workshops showcasing cultural diversity. Contact the Romero Centre for details: 3013 0100.

·        The annual Lantern Parade for Refugees will be held at South Bank on Friday evening, June 6(which is also Queensland Day). Gather near the Wheel of Brisbane from 5:00 pm. This includes a procession along the River Walk, ending with a concert at the Courier-Mail Piazza.

·        Refugee Week this year runs from June 15-21. The national web site is here:http://www.refugeeweek.org.au/

·        A rally for refugees and asylum seekers is being held in Brisbane city on Saturday, June 21. A planning meeting tonight will continue the planning. More details to be advised.

·        An ecumenical prayer service for World Refugee Day will be held on Friday, June 20, 6:00 for 6:30 pm, at St Stephen’s Catholic Cathedral, Elizabeth St, City. (They are basing this service on what we did for our prayer vigil on April 11!)

David Busch

Forthcoming Activities and Meeting

NEXT HOSPITALITY DAY

Our next hospitality day is Saturday, 31 May 2014. Hospitality days are organised and hosted by members of Redlands for Refugees and are not public events as such. If you’re a member of Redlands for Refugees, please respond to the emails seeking confirmation of people’s availability. If you’re not a member of Redlands for Refugees but interested in being part of our hospitality team, please email David Busch.

NEXT MEETING

Tuesday, May 13, 5:00 pm at Trinity Uniting Church, 47 Marlborough Rd, Wellington Point. A key item for discussion will be the May 31 hospitality day, so if you’re planning to come to that day it would be great if you could make this meeting. Rebecca Lim from Romero will be there too (emergent crises permitting).

ADVOCACY TRAINING

Following up an idea raised at Tuesday’s meeting, we have been able to confirm that Frederika Steen and Rebecca Lim will be available to lead a special session on effective advocacy (e.g., writing letters to politicians, etc). Freddie and Rebecca are seasoned campaigners and will bring great tips, stories and resources. This will form the second part of our May 13 meeting – starting around 6:15 pm. If you’re keen to learn more about strategies and techniques to advocate on asylum seeker issues, please come to this session. It means our whole meeting might finish around 7:15 pm.

REFUGEE WEEK EVENTS

Refugee Week runs 15-21 June 2014. Our meeting on Tuesday was keen to know what was planned.

• The annual lantern parade for refugees at South Bank will be on Friday evening, June 6. This is a large, colourful and inspiring event, and it would be great for R4R to have a visible presence there. Details TBC, but usually it starts about 6:00 pm from in front of the Cultural Centre.
• Romero is running its annual Refugee Week Film Festival on Friday-Saturday, June 6-7, at the State Library of Qld. The Friday will include a conference  panel session and film screenings; then adjourn to the Lantern Parade. The Saturday is a family day hosted by the Stater Library for Romero.
• The Refugee Action Collective is planning a Refugee Week rally – tentative date is Saturday, June 21.

These dates will help us to plan our community education event in June – the thought was we’d hold an event in mid-June which could also encourage interested people to participate in a city-wide event.

David Busch davidbusch@bigpond.com

R4R JOINS IN BRISBANE RALLY FOR REFUGEE RIGHTS

Group members gather with their placards under the
 Redlands for Refugees banner in King George Square, 
Brisbane, on 12 April 2014.

About 10 members of Redlands for Refugees participated in Brisbane’s rally and march for refugee and asylum seeker rights on Saturday, 12 April 2014.

It was the first time the R4R group participated as a body under its own banner at a public event of this kind.

Group members held placards which had been used at the prayer vigil for asylum seekers the previous night. These placards had a Christian theme, with quotes from the Bible and from statements of concern made by Australian church leaders and agencies.

The Redlands for Refugees banner was prominent in the
 march through Brisbane city streets.

The rally, organised by the Refugee Action Collective, drew over 500 people from a wide range of groups, who gathered for an hour of speeches in King George Square before a march through city streets. Two speakers at the rally, Rev. Dr Peter Catt and Rev. Kaye Ronalds, had spoken at R4R’s prayer vigil the night before.

The Brisbane event was the first in a weekend of rallies and marches for refugee rights in cities across Australia.

David Busch