Refugees on Hunger Strike in Melbourne

The Australian Tamil Congress (ATC) is deeply concerned about the physical and mental well-being of the Tamil refugees currently on hunger-strike in Melbourne. Two men on hunger-strike were admitted to hospital yesterday, one with internal bleeding and another who is diabetic but is declining medical treatment.

"The act of indefinite detention is soul-crushing. It squeezes out any hope of a normal life and leads to severe mental health issues. It is utterly inhumane and many of these men, women and children who have already experienced trauma in their home countries do not deserve to be mentally tortured even further," said Mr. Bala Vigneswaran of the ATC.

"It is time to question one's conscience and make policies that are humane. We call on the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship and the Attorney General to act as matter of urgency to bring an amicable solution immediately for those on the hunger-strike and a just solution for all in indefinitely detention. The ATC will be ready to provide any assistance to the Department and the genuine refugees so as to avoid any further deterioration in the physical and mental well-being of these people," he added.

There are nearly 60 recognised refugees in Australia detained indefinitely following adverse security assessments by ASIO. Most of them are Tamils. There are four women and seven children among these long-term detainees. Two women have delivered children while in detention, and two women lost their husbands who were killed in the final stages of the war in the island of Sri Lanka. All their children, who are also in detention with them, are less than 10 years of age.

(Australian Tamil Council - Australia)

What has the Australian Government Promised?

In the year 2000, all the nations of the world, including Australia, came together and for the first time in history they all agreed on 8 global goals to help end poverty. These 8 goals are known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). By 2015, the MDGs aim to:

1. Halve Extreme Poverty and Hunger
2. Primary Education for All Children
3. Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women
4. Reduce Child Deaths
5. Improve Maternal Health
6. Combat HIV/AIDs, Malaria and other Diseases
7. Environmental Sustainability and Clean Water/Sanitation
8. A Global Partnership, including more and better aid

As a wealthy country, Australia has promised to help fund the MDGs and help end poverty. Along with other wealthy nations, Australia has repeatedly agreed that our ‘fair share’ is to give 0.7% of our national income towards fighting global poverty. That’s just 70 cents in every $100. Many other wealthy nations are already giving 0.7% – including the UK who have kept their aid promises despite a struggling economy. Australia has the strongest economy of all the wealthy nations, and yet the Australian Government is one of the least generous and is falling far behind on its aid promises under the MDGs.

This year is the last Australian Election before the MDGs finish in 2015. Now is the time to hold our political leaders accountable to delivering the promises they have made to the world’s poor.

 

MOVEMENT TO END POVERTY is a joint petition of the Make Poverty History and Micah Challenge coalitions. Collectively, the aid sector is aiming to get 500,000 signatures by September to demonstrate strong public support for increased aid. I encourage you to sign the petition and share it with your family and friends. Let's try and hold government to one of the promises!

When Hope Blooms again...

It is school holidays for Pavithran (7) but the little boy cannot be separated from his school books. Every morning he spends time studying and learning with a teacher – a university student – who helps him revise lessons and be prepared for the new school year.

Watching him study is a dream come true for Subhashini (25) his mother. Nothing makes her happier than to see him with his books. “My favourite subject is math,” Pavithran smiles shyly as he turns page after page covered with sums he has completed.

Growing up at the heart of war, education was not a choice for children in Kilinochchi; survival was. As the war became intense education slipped further away from them into a blurry dream. “Schooling was interrupted all the time,” says Subhashini who was in school at that time, “We all had a thirst to study and just like other children we had dreams. I wanted to become a Math teacher.”

Even with roofs damaged by shelling and bullet-holes in the walls children went to school whenever possible until the schools were too damaged to function or had to house displaced families. But there was also another reason why children in Kilinochchi stopped schooling.

They had to get married to avoid recruitment into the armed group. Subhashini (then 16) made the same choice. Subhashini could never imagine Pavithran or any child in her village would ever know education for she didn’t know if anyone would survive the brutal war. But her family survived and many others did too. Though they were broken and traumatized, they returned ‘home’ to rebuild their lives right from the beginning.

World Vision together with other organizations and the government supported their return and assisted them through the resettlement and rehabilitation, catering to their immediate needs. “World Vision provided us with goats to support livelihood recovery and I trust I will be able to get a stable income from it,” she said.

Today, the young mother of two is hopeful once again. “My only dream is to see my children have a good education and be able to achieve their dreams. Education is becoming expensive for us and it will become more difficult to afford when my two-year old also starts with preschool. I am hopeful World Vision would support my children’s education,” she beams.

“I feel very proud and happy when I go through my son’s school books,” smiles Subhashini, “I can see that he excels in Math. That was my favourite subject too.” Helping children return to school was a priority for World Vision and immediate action was taken to renovate and rebuild their damaged school buildings providing them a safe place to study once again.

While World Vision’s work in Kilinochchi is moving from relief mode to an Area Rehabilitation Programme, there will be a lot more work to help children continue schooling and catch up on the studies they missed.

Hopefully Pavithran and his brother or any child in Kilinochchi will never have a reason to give up schooling.

(World Vision Lanka Newsletter - Kathika)