Tasmanian Greens Senator Nick McKim has spoken out against offshore detention after his deportation from Manus Island, PNG
UPDATED: Greens Senator Nick McKim has fronted a rally in Hobart after his deportation from Manus Island, calling on the PM to do more than ‘pray’ for those languishing in offshore detention.
Tasmania
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TASMANIAN Greens senator Nick McKim has addressed a rally in Hobart, just a day after being kicked off Manus Island.
Senator McKim, who was ordered to leave Papua New Guinea on Friday, flew back to Hobart Saturday and went straight to a protest rally where he spoke out against Australia’s offshore detention regime.
He called on Prime Minister Scott Morrison to do more than offer prayers and tears for the refugees.
“There is a man in this country who claims he prays for these people,” he told the rally of about 200 at Parliament lawns.
“There is a man in this country who claims he cries at night when he thinks about these people.
“Well, Scott Morrison, do something about it”.
The Hobart rally was one of many nationwide, organised by community campaign group GetUp! and Amnesty International, to mark six years since Australia reinstated offshore detention for asylum seekers arriving by boat.
Senator McKim travelled to PNG to mark the solemn anniversary and sought to enter an asylum seeker camp on Manus Island.
For the men and women detained on Manus Island and Nauru, it has been #sixyearstoolong pic.twitter.com/FfY5RZNatW
— Nick McKim (@NickMcKim) 20 July 2019
But he was deported from PNG after immigration authorities claimed he “demanded entry” to East Lorengau camp.
He said the experience was “unsettling”, but the story of real suffering was that of the asylum seekers languishing in offshore detention.
DEPORTED: TASMANIAN SENATOR LEAVES MANUS ISLAND
He said there were still 150 men on Manus Island, who had been “exiled and brutalised” for six years.
“It’s time that this dark and bloody chapter in our nation’s history was drawn to a close.”
Senator McKim, whose passport was temporarily seized when he was ordered off PNG, said he was not sure whether his visa had been revoked.
He said the incident showed the “veil of secrecy” that surrounded Australia’s detention centres on Manus Island and Nauru.
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It was Senator McKim’s sixth visit to Manus Island. He was with detained refugee journalist and author Behrouz Boochani in Lorengau when he was confronted by PNG authorities on Thursday.
Hobart doctor Bryan Walpole, who has worked in the detention centres, spoke to the rally about the asylum seekers’ dire state of health.
He said “prolonged detention syndrome” led to feelings of depression and hopelessness, which in some cases led to self harm and suicide.
Dr Walpole said the situation would eventually spark an inquiry to uncover the injustices.
“One day there will be a Royal Commission into this and it will be exposed”.
anne.mather@news.com.au
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