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.

Letters to Tyranny #15

Dear Prime Minister,

This letter is written on behalf of the fifteenth asylum seeker on Manus Island, Mr XXX XXX. The situation of Mr XXX and all the other detainees on Manus Island and Naura "has become increasingly dire and untenable, exacerbated by the indefinite nature of their time [there]." This urgent language is not mine, but that of a spokesperson for the UN high Commissioner for human rights, Ravina Shamdasani.

How quickly can you address the UN's concerns by settling the asylum seekers in Australia? Or is Australia to continue on its way to becoming a pariah state?

Yours faithfully

Ruth Halbert

politicsRuth Halbertrefugees, asylum, United Nations, Manus IslandComment