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NEWLY formed Rural Australians for Refugees Queanbeyan branch will stage an awareness dinner this Saturday night, followed by the screening of a documentary Mary meets Mohammad.
Saturday June 20 marks World Refugee Day as part of World Refugee Week and the dinner will promote themes that include “Restoring Hope” and “With courage let us all combine”, the latter an extract from verse two of the national anthem.
“It’s about getting like minded people together and letting them know we exist,” said one of the group’s newest members, Carolyn Brooks.
“We also want to do more to put pressure on our local politicians.
“The aim is to influence public policy towards compassionate, timely and humane treatment of refugees and asylum seekers.”
Rural Australians for Refugees’ (RAR) Queanbeyan flyer highlights short key facts under headings Asylum seekers are not illegal, Australian policy is unique, Australia is not especially generous, We are not being swamped, Government policy is more expensive than a humane alternative, and We used to do it differently.
World Refugee Week is an annual event to inform the public about refugees and celebrate their contribution to Australian society.
The film Mary meets Mohammad follows the opening of Tasmania’s first detention centre through the experience of Mary, a local Christian woman and knitting club member and Muslim Afghan Hazara asylum seeker Mohammad, detained inside the centre, who connect through the gift of a knitted beanie.
Dinner from 7pm at the Uniting Church in Rutledge Street will be a hearty casserole, cooked by local RAR group members and the documentary will screen at 8pm.
The $10 entry fee at the door is to cover costs and enable RAR to pull together promotional material for an information tent at their next event at Queanbeyan River Festival.
To help with catering, book with marleneeggert@bigpond.com or Carolyn Brooks, 0408 411 026.