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.

Australia's hypocrisy

Dear Prime Minister,

PNG's grand chief, founding Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare, calls us astounding hypocrites, we who are descendants of people who arrived by boat yet now oppose refugees for also coming by boat. Australia no longer shows even a pretence at acting according to the UN Refugee Convention. Australia's international standing and credibility are destroyed by our actions on Manus and Nauru.

'To exploit the vulnerabilities of neighbours like PNG and Nauru is disgraceful' 

Australia acts with racism and colonialism towards our neighbours, for our own ends and regardless of the damage it does to PNG and Nauru. Surely many other nations can no longer trust us nor want to engage with us in business or international affairs. We are a bully.

Prime Minister, your government will be held to account for the illegal imprisonment, the damage to health and the deaths inflicted on the refugees on Manus and Nauru. Act now to immediately resolve the situation humanely, before more damage is done.

Ruth HalbertComment