Demonstrators in The Justice for Refugees rally in Sydney, according to Australian media, called for “fundamental changes” in how refugees are treated and the removal of the Indonesian immigration restriction on Afghans, and “an immediate increase to the Afghan intake.”
In support of the campaign to end offshore detention, hundreds of human rights activists rallied in Sydney on Sunday, July 24.
SBS News quoted Ian Rintoul, Refugee Action Coalition coordinator and the protest organizer saying “Our first demand is for permanent visas for all to end offshore detention. We also need an immediate increase to the Afghan intake.”
The former Australian federal government’s policies were denounced by protesters as being “cruel.”
At the Justice for Refugees protest in the heart of Sydney in Sydney’s town hall, according to SBS News, a mass of up to 1,500 people demanded better treatment for refugees and asylum seekers both in Australia and overseas.
Over 7,500 Afghan refugees are among the approximately 14,000 refugees from various countries waiting to be resettled in Australia; some of them have been waiting for resettlement for 13 years.
