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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 #50

Dear Prime Minister,

What is your response to the call by Chitralekha Massey, the Pacific representative of the United Nations human rights office, to show "political courage" and end the "unsustainable ... unnecessary detention of asylum seekers on Nauru"?

The 50th asylum seeker is Mamud, a stateless refugee from Burma, only 20 years of age. He was a boy when he was locked up on Manus Island. His detention is arbitrary and inhumane: "a violation" as Chitralekha Massey said. Close the camps and bring the detainees to Australia.

Yours faithfully

Ruth Halbert