Immigration Department Targeted with ‘Pram Jams’
Pram Jam in Melbourne
URGENT MEDIA RELEASE
Friday November the 6th
Friends, Families, and Feminists Against Detention threaten Pram Jams across the country if refugee Golestan isn’t brought to Australia for immediate neonatal care.
Friends, Families, and Feminists Against Detention, who this Wednesday the 4th of November were evicted by police after organising a ‘pram jam’ at Department of Immigration and Border Protection in Melbourne, are calling on refugee supporters to organise pram jams across the country in response to government negligence in their responsibility to look after Golestan, a refugee in Nauru in critical need of neonatal support in Australia.
Jill Sparrow, the mother of a 22 month old child who was removed by police at DIBP while still breastfeeding on Wednesday, said “ The treatment of Golestan echoes the same negligent attitude shown towards Abyan. Nauru does not have the facilities to keep this woman safe during birth, Australia does. She needs immediate transferal with her family to the Australian mainland as a matter of urgency. The government has allowed continued child abuse and sexual violence to occur under its watch. We are saying no more. Children need safety, and women need to be respected. Bring her to Australia now!”
The ‘pram jam’ on Wednesday consisted of parents, bubs, and feminists grounding elevators in the DIBP by lodging prams inside and then peacefully sitting on the floor to have a picnic. Their demands were for the permanent resettlement of Abyan in Australia, an end to sexual violence to refugees, and for the closure of all offshore processing facilities. While some protesters left voluntarily, others were evicted by Police who carried and dragged them out.
Jill said “If the government won’t act on this, we will. We are calling on pram jams across the country for Golestan. We must be resolute in our commitment where the government is not for the safety and well being of refugees that sought asylum in Australia. We stand strong with the Australian Medical Association which has called for her transferal here. We will accept nothing less.”
Read more about Golestan’s situation here:
http://www.theguardian.com/…/doctors-plead-for-pregnant-ref…