The St Vincent de Paul Society is urging Australians to march for refugee justice on Palm Sunday, with rallies to be held across the country this weekend.
“Justice for Refugees Palm Sunday rallies are an important opportunity to highlight community concerns about the Australian Government’s cruel and harmful refugee and asylum-seeker policies,” national president Mark Gaetani said.
“The society has a long history of assisting vulnerable people and believes that all people seeking protection as refugees need to be treated fairly and with compassion.
“It was on this day that Jesus entered Jerusalem to complete his mission to ‘bring good news to the poor and to set captives free’, through his suffering, death and resurrection,” Mr Gaetani said.
The charity has welcomed the Albanese Government’s announcement to end temporary protection for more than 19,000 visa holders, enabling those on Temporary Protection Visas or Safe Haven Enterprise Visas to apply for a permanent Resolution of Status Visa.
“While Resolution of Status Visa holders will be able to apply to sponsor family members through the migration program, restrictions are still in place for applications through the Special Humanitarian Program,” Mr Gaetani said.
“And the pathway for those still involved in the unfair ‘fast track process’ remains uncertain.
“More action is needed for about 10,000 people under Australia’s care, who’ve been seeking our protection for a decade and who are still unable to do so in a fair and timely manner,” Mr Gaetani said.
Justice for Refugees Palm Sunday rallies will be held across Australia, with their locations and times shown on the Australian Refugee Network website.
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Vinnies urges support for refugee justice on Palm Sunday (St Vincent de Paul Society)
