Bowral-based refugee supporters gathered in Corbett Plaza on the evening of July 19 to protest four years of off-shore detention.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The vigil attracted about 30 Highlanders who came together to mourn the deaths of refugees on Manus Island and Nauru and voice their frustration with Australia’s off-shore detention policy.
Rural Australians for Refugees (RARs) and Amnesty International organised the event (one of about 55 around the nation).
It commemorated four years since former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd declared that people arriving by boat to seek asylum in Australia would be detained in centres on Manus and Nauru.
One local protester in attendance, Ascenta, said she was lighting a candle in solidarity with the refugees and asylum seekers “left adrift” in detention.
“I think we all need to place ourselves in the shoes of these people,” she said.
The vigil comes as more than 2000 refugees and asylum seekers, including 169 children, are still stranded in off-shore detention.
