Protesters concerned about the treatment of asylum seekers and refugees had their voices heard loud and clear on Thursday.
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About 20 people gathered for a vigil at Leighton Gardens in Moss Vale as a part of refugee week.
The aim of the vigil was to protest Australia’s policy towards asylum seekers and refugees.
The majority of people involved were members of Rural Australians for Refugees (RAR).
RAR convenor Maree Byrne said the gathering was about delivering a message to the community.
“We don’t do it every week, but because it’s refugee week, we want to build on a growing mood in the community of wanting to have a more compassionate response to refugees,” she said.
“We’re certainly not being happy with the indefinite detention of refugees on Nauru and Manus Island. We’re feeling a lot of people in Australia aren’t happy and want things to change.”
Ms Byrne said the community responded well to the protest.
This included an outpouring of from people in cars passing by.
“It was really encouraging and quite uplifting to have so many people honking and waving,” she said.
It was a really lovely experience for us.
- Maree Byrne
“It was a really lovely experience for us. There was no nastiness, a lot of people wanted to read what was on our signs.”