Ruth Halbert
artist, weaver
Paper boat Rud.jpg

Blog: Dear Prime Minister

On July 30 2016 I started writing letters to the Prime Minister of Australia to protest against the imprisonment and torture of the asylum seekers in the offshore detention centres of Manus Island and Nauru. I started with the intention of writing a letter a day for every person in detention until they are all freed. There are more than 1800 asylum seekers in off shore detention. These are those letters and any response from Mr Turnbull.

For the 212th man on Manus Island

Dear Prime Minister,

This is an excerpt of Hani Abdile's poem "The Fence", published in "I Will Rise"

“The only thing your want right now
is to keep them in detention forever
and damage their little remaining hope.
No home, no education, no future for them.

It’s time Australian people knew.
It’s time to blast their silence.
I am sure they want to know
what you are hiding behind the fence.”
— The Fence, by Hani Abdile

Hani has dedicated her poem to "the little kids behind the fence." What is the worth of our country if it demands the cost of thousands of lives in detention?

Close the camps and bring them here.

art, activismRuth HalbertHani Abdile, poetry, illegal detention, closethecamps, bringthemhereComment