BY JESS MELVIN
MELBOURNE — It is the day before Australia Day. Matt Rich, Tim Doughney, Rachel Evans, Kim Halpin, James Crafti and myself — all members of the socialist youth group Resistance — are standing on the doorstep of the Maribyrnong detention centre. We have been on hunger strike since yesterday, in solidarity with the refugees imprisoned inside, some of whom have been on hunger strike for four days.
We know that the detainees' protest is a desperate plea to the people of Australia to support their struggle for freedom. We know that those of us on the outside must match the courage of the refugees, who are putting themselves on the line.
Beside us outside are two Vietnamese men, one holding a plastic bag containing small containers of cooked rice and vegetables. They look tired and concerned. They have a relative and friends inside — one of them has been there for eight years — and don't know if any or all of their friends have joined the refugees' hunger strike. They have to hand over the food to the Australasian Correctional Management (ACM) guards before they are allowed to enter.
We want to visit a refugee named Hossein Iran who has been imprisoned for 18 months. We have rung the bell several times, but there is no response from the guards. ACM knows we're here — they just don't want us to be.
Suddenly five guards emerge behind us. They ask us what we are doing and we tell them that we are here to see a friend, and that we made an appointment to do so yesterday.
One of the guards asks us to spell Hossein's name and then replies that there is no-one by that name in the centre. He is lying: we spoke on the phone to Hossein last night.
The guards then announce that we are trespassing and if we don't leave they will call the police. We discuss what we will do.
Matt points out: "They won't let us in because they don't want the detainees to know that there is community support for their protest. They don't want the refugees to have any hope, and we owe them that. We have to stay." We all agree and Kim rushes off to call the media while the rest of us sit down to wait.
The police, when they arrive, seem a bit bemused about what to do with us. When they ask us to leave, we refuse politely, explaining that we are trying to visit a friend. Their bemusement soon turns to anger, however, as they realise that if the media turn up the story will be hot.
We stay put. When we ask for some water, we are refused with taunts of, "Would you like a soft serve too? There's a shop just down the road."
The police remove their identification badges, claiming that this is for our safety as the edges might hurt us in a scuffle. They call us "sheep" who "just want to get your faces on telly".
The media arrive just in time to do several interviews through the three wire fences that surround the prison before we are told that we are going to be arrested. We link arms, sit down and begin chanting "Free the refugees!".
Over the next few minutes we are pulled apart one by one and arrested. Three policemen dragged each one of us off ACM property. Pressure point holds were used and nearly all of us are bruised.
The heavy media presence prevents any of us from being charged, but our names and details are taken by police. Tim expresses what we are all thinking: "If they do this to us in front of the media, what do they do to the detainees inside? We must break the silence."
That night the arrests were reported on every news program, along with snippets of our interviews. We feel we have achieved something: the government is increasingly on the back foot on the refugee issue because of the intense media focus on the detention centres and the growing public support for the refugees.
Resistance will continue to step up the pressure on the government. We will keep urging and organising people to join the campaign and come onto the streets in our hundreds and thousands. Together, we can force the government to change its brutal and racist policy. The detention centres will be closed down and the refugees will be freed.
From 91×ÔÅÄÂÛ̳ Weekly, February 6, 2002.
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