Welcome refugees balloons Broadmeadows 2012

Refugee Action Collective (Victoria) or RAC, are a

grassroots A grassroots movement is one that uses the people in a given district, region or community as the basis for a political or economic movement. Grassroots movements and organizations use collective action from the local level to effect change at t ...

group of activists concerned with

refugee A refugee, conventionally speaking, is a displaced person who has crossed national borders and who cannot or is unwilling to return home due to well-founded fear of persecution.

rights operating in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a me ...

, Australia. RAC has organised around issues they deem inhumane by the

Australian Government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Like other Westminster-style systems of government, the Australian Government ...

in relation to

asylum seekers An asylum seeker is a person who leaves their country of residence, enters another country and applies for asylum (i.e., international protection) in that other country. An asylum seeker is an immigrant who has been forcibly displaced and m ...

, such as organising protests and vigils"Refugee activists converge on Baxter"
''ABC News'', 25 March 2005. Accessed: 17 November 2009. as well as being involved in more

militant The English word ''militant'' is both an adjective and a noun, and it is generally used to mean vigorously active, combative and/or aggressive, especially in support of a cause, as in "militant reformers". It comes from the 15th century Latin " ...

action such as breaking out and hiding detainees."Woomera escapees force split among activists"
''ABC'', 28 June 2002. Accessed: 8 May 2010.

History

RAC was set up in late 2000 by a range of activists in response to the former Howard Government's policies toward the

mandatory detention Immigration detention is the policy of holding individuals suspected of visa violations, illegal entry or unauthorized arrival, as well as those subject to deportation and removal until a decision is made by immigration authorities to grant a vi ...

of refugees and the issuing of

temporary protection visa A Temporary Protection Visa (TPV) is an Australian visa category issued to persons who had been recognised as refugees fleeing persecution. TPVs are issued to persons who apply for refugee status after making an unauthorised arrival in Australia, ...

s which they branded as

racist Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonis ...

."Mission Statement"
''Refugee Action Collective (Victoria)'', 24 December 2000. Accessed: 17 November 2009. RAC activists were involved in breaking out detainees from the

Woomera Detention Centre The Woomera Immigration Reception and Processing Centre (IRPC) was an Australian immigration detention facility near the village of Woomera in South Australia. It was opened in November 1999 in response to an increase in unauthorised arriva ...

in 2002, protesting outside the Baxter Detention Centre in 2005 and protests against the Tampa incident of 2001, where 438 asylum seekers were denied entry into Australia by the government.

Recent years

By 2009, RAC began focusing their attention on the Rudd-Gillard Government's position on

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nati ...

asylum seekers. In 2010, RAC were amongst a coalition of groups calling on the government to "end the freeze on asylum seeker claims" and opposing what they call "another

Tampa Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and the seat of Hillsborough Co ...

election". The move followed the government's decision to freeze processing of all claims by asylum seekers from

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bord ...

and

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

, and the re-opening of the Curtin Detention Centre. RAC also protested outside the Maribyrnong Detention Centre in 2010 after a Tamil detainee went on

hunger strike A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance in which participants fast as an act of political protest, or to provoke a feeling of guilt in others, usually with the objective to achieve a specific goal, such as a policy change. Most ...

after his refugee claim had been accepted but still awaits security clearance from the

Australian Security Intelligence Organisation The Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO ) is Australia's national security agency responsible for the protection of the country and its citizens from espionage, sabotage, acts of foreign interference, politically motivated vi ...

."Protesters support refugee hunger striker"
''Socialist Alternative'', 5 October 2010. Accessed: 7 October 2010.

Notable affiliate individuals and organisations

*Judith Bessant, Head of

RMIT University RMIT University, officially the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology,, section 4(b) is a public university, public research university in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1887 by Francis Ormond, RMIT began as a night school offering cla ...

Global Studies, Social Science and Planning Department *Eve Bodsworth, former President of the

University of Melbourne Student Union The University of Melbourne Student Union (UMSU) is one of two student organisations at the University of Melbourne, Australia. UMSU, incorporated as University of Melbourne Student Union, Inc. (UMSU) provides representation and services for all ...

*Chris Chaplin, State Secretary of the

Australian Greens The Australian Greens, commonly known as The Greens, are a confederation of Green state and territory political parties in Australia. As of the 2022 federal election, the Greens are the third largest political party in Australia by vote and ...

(Victoria) *Tahir Cambis, filmmaker and activist *Kate Davidson, former National Education Officer of the National Union of Students *Judy McVey, of

Solidarity ''Solidarity'' is an awareness of shared interests, objectives, standards, and sympathies creating a psychological sense of unity of groups or classes. It is based on class collaboration.''Merriam Webster'', http://www.merriam-webster.com/dicti ...

*Michal Morris, of the Ethnic Communities' Council of Victoria *Michele O'Neil, Secretary of the Textile, Clothing and Footwear Union (Victorian Branch) and Vice-President of the

Victorian Trades Hall Council The Victorian Trades Hall Council (VTHC) is a representative body of trade union organisations, known as a labour council, in the state of Victoria, Australia. It comprises 43 affiliated trade unions and professional associations, and eight reg ...

*Brian Pound, Secretary of the

Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance The Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance (MEAA), also sometimes referred to as the Alliance, is the Australian trade union and professional organisation which covers the media industry, media, entertainment industry, entertainment, sports and a ...

(Victorian Branch) *Nabil Sulaiman, of the Australian Arabic Council *Fleur Taylor, of Socialist Alternative

References

{{Reflist, 40em

External links

Refugee Action Collective (Victoria)
Organizations established in 2000 Refugee aid organisations in Australia Organisations based in Victoria (Australia)