A message from Michelle Dimasi, on Christmas Island. She is doing a great job to help asylum seekers put there by the Rudd government:
Asylum seekers need assistance in various ways. The situation has
deteriorated here as North West Point (the maximum security centre)is
severely overcrowded. Some asylum seekers have been detained for over
6 months now while others are being held in the isolation compound
called Red Block. Here is a link to an article about Red Block:
At the moment quite a diverse group of asylum seekers exists: Afghan
Hazaras, Iraqis, Kurds, Palestinians, Vietnamese, Iranians, Burmese
Rohingyas and Tamils and Sinhalese from Sri Lanka. If anyone has
contact with organisations or mainland communities who could assist
specific ethnic groups please let me know. There is a need for things
like dictionaries, music, magazines, and books in detainees' own
languages.
The ASCI website address is www.asylumseekerschristmasisland.com It is
still under construction and I will let everyone know when it is up
and running. There were a few hiccups earlier today in setting it up
so sorry if you did receive some strange emails!
Thank you to everyone involved with the letter writing project.
Communication now for letter writing is:
letters@asylumseekerschristmasisland.com
Could everyone please email the above address and let me know who is
writing to which detainee. If you do not have someone to write to and
would like someone, please let me know. There are plenty of people who
would like to receive letters. Any queries about letter writing now go
to this address rather than my personal email.
Ian Rintoul from the Refugee Action Coalition is doing an amazing job
organising mobile phones for people in detention. If anyone would like
to donate a phone to a detainee, help out with supplying prepaid
credit or have questions about this please contact Ian at:
irintoul@ozemail.com.au
Finally, if anyone would like to volunteer their time to assist in
running ASCI or financially donate to help with costs of running this
NGO please feel free to email me at:
michelle@asylumseekerschristmasisland.com