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.

End offshore detention #232

Dear Prime Minister,

While the interminable nightmare of Australia's offshore detention regime torments the men, women and children trapped on Manus Island and Nauru and while it poisons Australia legally, politically and spiritually there are artists and activists striving to create new ways of celebrating the arrival of refugees and sharing their voices.

This is what we need, Prime Minster. Refugees and Australians are in this together and we need an end to the nightmare. We need the people like the Harmony Art Collective and their project of creating large-scale murals with newly arrived migrants and refugees to restore hope and community.

Close the camps and bring them here.

art, activismRuth Halberthope, refugees, change, closethecamps, bringthemhereComment