Refugees
Risking all in search for human rights
ACSJC Resources:
Action Leaflet & Prayer Card
The Ten Steps Towards Welcoming Asylum Seekers Action Leaflet contains suggestions for simple actions that can be taken by individuals or small groups. The accompanying prayer card is perfect for private prayer or use in classrooms or small groups. Contact the ACSJC Secretariat to request copies. Donations towards the cost of printing and postage would be appreciated.
Media Releases
ACSJC Media Release: Bishop Highlights Asylum Seekers in Australia Day Message (25/01/02)
ACSJC Media Release: Pope’s Challenge To Welcome Asylum Seekers And Refugees (06/03/00)
Catholic Social Justice Series Paper
Catholic Social Justice Series No 44, The Call to Hospitality: Catholic Teaching and Refugees, by Sandie Cornish can be ordered from the ACSJC Secretariat or via the Publications page of this website.
Position Papers
The ACSJC Position Paper on the “Pacific Solution? sets out the reasons for the ACSJC’s opposition to the ‘Pacific Solution?. It can be downloaded from the Position Papers page of this website.
The ACSJC Position Paper on 'People Smuggling' (01/02/00) can be downloaded from the Position Papers page of this website.
Background Paper
ACSJC Background Paper: The Unwelcome Stranger? Asylum Seekers in Australia by Kerry Murphy can be downloaded from the Position Papers page of this site and you can order printed copies from the ACSJC Secretariat for $2.20 plus postage. It updates the ACSJC Background Paper Are We Welcoming The Stranger? (16/08/01).
Submissions
The ACSJC Submission to the Human Rights & Equal Opportunities Commission Inquiry into Children in Immigration Detention (03/05/02) is available from the ACSJC Secretariat on request.
The ACSJC Submission to the Senate Inquiry into a Certain Maritime Incident (28/03 /02) is available from the ACSJC Secretariat on request.
Church Teaching:
The text of the March 2002 Australian Catholic Bishops? Conference Pastoral Statement on Refugees & Asylum Seekers can be accessed from www.catholic.org.au
The text of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants & Itinerant People & the Pontifical Council ‘Cor Unum? document, Refugees: A Challenge to Solidarity can be accessed from www.vatican.va .
Bishop Kiapseni from Papua New Guinea issued a Media Release on the ‘Pacific Solution?. The text can be found at www.catholic.org.au
World Migration Day Messages are posted on http://vatican.mondosearch.com/cgi-bin/MsmFind.exe?query=world+migration+day&CFGNAME=MssFindEN.cfg&en=x
Liturgy & Worship:
Refugee and Migrant Sunday
Each year on the last Sunday in August, we celebrate Refugee and Migrant Sunday. Resources are available at the Australian Catholic Migrant and Refugee Office website: www.acmro.catholic.org.au or contact their office on 02 62019848.
To order the ACSJC prayer card on asylum seekers, contact the ACSJC Secretariat.
For other liturgy and worship materials, visit the spirituality page of this website.
Alternatives to Detention:
The Refugee Council of Australia has developed an Alternative Detention Model that is described at www.refugeecouncil.org.au
Fr Mark Raper, Director of Uniya and a former International Director of the Jesuit Refugee Service, outlines alternatives to the mandatory detention of asylum seekers in his paper Is there not a Better Way? At www.uniya.org.au
More Resources:
Justice for Asylum Seekers (JAS) is an alliance of over thirty national church, welfare and community organisations, founded in Melbourne in 1999 to achieve just treatment of people claiming asylum in Australia while acknowledging the need for border management and sound migration processes. The booklet: The Better Way: refugees, detention and Australians , is based on the JAS proposed alternative approaches to asylum seekers: Reception and Transitional Processing System (JAS, June 2002). Download the document at: http://www.thebetterway.info The Edmund Rice Centre has produced two leaflets debunking myths about asylum seekers. They can be downloaded from www.erc.org.au
The Human Rights & Equal Opportunities Commission has produces a booklet called Face the Facts which provides simple, current information to counter the myths and misinformation behind much racial intolerance in Australia. There are sections on migrants, immigration & multiculturalism, asylum seekers and refugees, and on Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islanders. Download Face the Facts from www.humanrights.gov.au
Useful Websites:
Australian Catholic Migrant & Refugee Office www.acmro.catholic.org.au
Human Rights & Equal Opportunities Commission www.hreoc.gov.au
National Council of Churches in Australia Program for Refugees & Displaced People www.ncca.org.au
Refugee Council of Australia www.refugeecouncil.org.au Refugee Review Tribunal www.rrt.gov.au
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees www.unhcr.ch
Organizations Working with Refugees & Asylum Seekers:
Click on the download PDF link below for a list of organisations working with refugees and asylum seekers.
Download PDF copy
Download PDF copy 2
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