Close Menu
Honi Soit
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
    Trending
    • 2025–2026 State Budget Unpacked
    • Antisemitism review puts universities, festivals, and cultural centres under threat
    • Macquarie University axes Sociology, cuts more jobs & courses
    • UTS elects new Chancellor
    • Out of the Deep: The Story of a Shark Kid Who Dared to Question Fear
    • Prima Facie: Losing faith in a system you truly believed in
    • Jason Clare seeks replacement for ANU Chancellor Julie Bishop after $790,000 expense report
    • ‘If you silence someone or shush someone, you can get out’: SISTREN is an unabashed celebration of black and trans joy. Is Australia ready?
    • About
    • Print Edition
    • Student Journalism Conference 2025
    • Writing Comp
    • Advertise
    • Locations
    • Contact
    Facebook Instagram X (Twitter) TikTok
    Honi SoitHoni Soit
    Saturday, July 12
    • News
    • Analysis
    • Culture
    • Opinion
    • University
    • Features
    • Perspective
    • Investigation
    • Reviews
    • Comedy
    • Student Journalism Conference 2025
    Honi Soit
    Home»News

    Hundreds gather in Sydney demanding justice for refugees

    The rally happens annually at the start of Holy Week.
    By Amelia RainesMarch 28, 2021 News 3 Mins Read
    Photo credit: Amelia Raines
    Share
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Email

    Activists gathered at Belmore Park on Sunday in support of the Justice for Refugees rally. 

    The rally, organised by AMSA Crossing Borders and Palm Sunday Rally Sydney, demanded the release of Medevac refugees trapped in Australian hotels, as well as refugees in offshore detention centres. 

    It also demanded that refugees in Australia be granted permanent visas. Organisers criticised temporary and bridging visas for creating barriers to accessing work and facilitating cycles of poverty. 

    A diverse array of contingents attended the rally, including the National Tertiary Education Union, Labor for Refugees, Grandmothers Against Detention of Refugee Children, Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, Refugee Action Coalition, the Uniting Church, and Catholics for Refugees.

    Aboriginal Elder Aunty Rhonda Dixon-Grovenor delivered the Welcome to Country, declaring: “We stand here in solidarity with all refugees.”

    Aunty Shirley continued the Welcome to Country, making links between her experience as a member of the Stolen Generations and the plight of refugees seeking asylum in Australia.

    “I’m sorry how your people are being treated,” she said. “They’re doing the same to you as they did to us.”

    Margot Pearson, the Vice President of the Australian branch of Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, criticised Australia’s active role in the refugee crisis due to its close military ties with the US. 

    The crowd also heard from Thanush Selvasa, a Sri Lankan Tamil refugee who had spent eight years in the detention system, moving between Manus Island, Christmas Island and Papua New Guinea before being moved to Melbourne. 

    Selvasa spoke of the struggle of finding work on a temporary visa, referring to this as one of the many “challenges” of adjusting to life in Australia. “Eight years of my life [were] taken from me,” he said. 

    Sarah Dale, a Principal Solicitor at Refugee Advice and Casework Services, spoke to her experience working in a number of refugee cases. She criticised the precarious nature of bridging visas, noting that 26,000 people are living on temporary visas, “despite being found to need Australia’s protection.”

    Other speakers included Mark Northam, Secretary of the Independent Education Union of Australia for NSW, Amnesty International Coordinator Dr Graham Thom, and Uniting Church minister Reverend Tara Curlewis.

    Protesters then marched down Broadway to Victoria Park, with chants including “Free, free the refugees!” and “Say it loud, say it clear: Refugees are welcome here.”

    At Victoria Park, Renuga Inpakumar then spoke on behalf of the Tamil Contingent, demanding the government to “#ReleaseRajan”, a refugee who is battling leukemia and has been in detention for eleven years.

    The rally concluded with Ian Rintoul thanking the crowd and demanding justice for detained refugees, adequate healthcare access, and for their immediate release.

    “You can judge a government always by how they treat the most vulnerable in society,” Refugee Action Collective founding member Ian Rintoul told Honi during the protest. 

    “We want all the people out of detention and out of the hotel prisons in Australia, we want all the people who are on Nauru and Manus Island brought to Australia where they can get care and protection.”

    Honi also spoke to Thom, who noted the variety of ways to support the movement: “online petitions, Twitter actions, postcards to MPs… It does make a difference. We are setting people free… it’s the only way to change policy.”

    activism palm sunday rally Refugee rights

    Keep Reading

    Antisemitism review puts universities, festivals, and cultural centres under threat

    Macquarie University axes Sociology, cuts more jobs & courses

    UTS elects new Chancellor

    Jason Clare seeks replacement for ANU Chancellor Julie Bishop after $790,000 expense report

    NTEU wins wage theft case against Monash University

    USU June Board Meeting: Goodbye, Goodbye, Goodbye

    Just In

    2025–2026 State Budget Unpacked

    July 12, 2025

    Antisemitism review puts universities, festivals, and cultural centres under threat

    July 11, 2025

    Macquarie University axes Sociology, cuts more jobs & courses

    July 11, 2025

    UTS elects new Chancellor

    July 8, 2025
    Editor's Picks

    Part One: The Tale of the Corporate University

    May 28, 2025

    “Thank you Conspiracy!” says Capitalism, as it survives another day

    May 21, 2025

    A meditation on God and the impossible pursuit of answers

    May 14, 2025

    We Will Be Remembered As More Than Administrative Errors

    May 7, 2025
    Facebook Instagram X (Twitter) TikTok

    From the mines

    • News
    • Analysis
    • Higher Education
    • Culture
    • Features
    • Investigation
    • Comedy
    • Editorials
    • Letters
    • Misc

     

    • Opinion
    • Perspective
    • Profiles
    • Reviews
    • Science
    • Social
    • Sport
    • SRC Reports
    • Tech

    Admin

    • About
    • Editors
    • Send an Anonymous Tip
    • Write/Produce/Create For Us
    • Print Edition
    • Locations
    • Archive
    • Advertise in Honi Soit
    • Contact Us

    We acknowledge the traditional custodians of this land, the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. The University of Sydney – where we write, publish and distribute Honi Soit – is on the sovereign land of these people. As students and journalists, we recognise our complicity in the ongoing colonisation of Indigenous land. In recognition of our privilege, we vow to not only include, but to prioritise and centre the experiences of Indigenous people, and to be reflective when we fail to be a counterpoint to the racism that plagues the mainstream media.

    © 2025 Honi Soit
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms
    • Accessibility

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.