Tweet your MP
Most are on twitter and it's a very public way for them to respond or notably ignore you. If they start getting many messages on the same topic, it will be noticed. Keep messages polite and follow @chiloutrevived for latest stats, issues in the media etc
A few questions for your MP, Senator or the Immigration Minister:
I'm no refugee expert, I couldn't discuss these things with a politician. Yes you can. With the very rare exception none of them have expertise in this area. Speak to your MP as a citizen, a parent, an uncle, someone who cares. The more meetings they have on this issue the better, Simply letting them know that these matter to you is a BIG and important step. You could ask...
- Do you support locking up children and pregnant women?
- Do you think PNG or Nauru can really support refugees for ever?
- Do you think spending billions of dollars on a few thousand people is wise for the country as a whole?
- How do you plan to protect the rights of children who arrive with no parent or adult family members?
- How can it be in the best interests of any child to be sent away from Australia and into remote, indefinite detention with no certainty around resettlement even if the child is a refugee?
- If it's an opposition MP and they say "it's not my fault" ask what they are doing about it. Why are they not moving legislation that would protect children? And note, they are the ones who reintroduced offshore 'processing' for refugees and asylum seekers.
If you get told 'it's about saving lives at sea', then you can ask...
- Should one child be punished in the hope of helping another?
- What about the suicides, physical and mental harm caused by indefinite, remote detention?
- If we don't increase the number of refugees we take we're not saving any lives, they're just not dying in our ocean near our media. They remain home and die or are completely unsafe and in limbo between their homes and Australia.
- If we deny refugees family reunion we are actually going to encourage whole families on boats not just fathers / husbands.
Share these images
There is a complete lack of transparency at present on issues of detention, asylum seeker policy. We understand the need for privacy in individual cases but we also demand public information. Where possible we will share images, we will always share facts and when permission is granted - people's own accounts of their journey. It's up to you how far and wide this information goes, please share from our gallery.
Schools taking action: Detention for detention
This pack has all you need to run an informative, interactive action at your school, community group etc.. Be sure to share the pics #d4d or share them with us; [email protected]
Here's just one school who stood in solidarity with their peers who are locked up.
Donating Goods
Many of you ask if it is possible to send toys and clothing to the children in detention. Due to the ongoing changing nature of where children might be detained and the costs involved with the logistics, organisations located close to detention centres as well as ChilOut recommend donating funds instead. Please see our donate page as well as our supporting asylum seekers page for a list of organisations Australia-wide.