En Passant

On 19 December last year the Australian Government tried to deport asylum seeker Wei Lin from Australia back to China on an Air China flight. After Wei Lin protested on board, some passengers refused to cooperate when they found out what was happening and Wei Lin was saved from being sent back. His future is very uncertain. Green Left’s story explains the background and how activists and Wei Lin together with a number of passengers prevented his deportation. Why is he seeking asylum? As Simon Santow from ABC radio program AM put it: Advocates say Wei Lin had been harassed in China because of his knowledge of the use of performance-enhancing drugs in Chinese sport. One of the brave passengers’ reports can be found here. This is Wei Lin’s harrowing story in his own words.

This is from Julian Burnside, prominent refugee advocate and human rights lawyer rebutting the Liberal lies about lives saved at sea because of the brutalisation of refugees on Manus Island and Nauru.  

Great Aboriginal rights activist Faith Bandler has died.   Here are two snippets from a farewell in Red Flag by Cathy Lewis. Faith Bandler was a member of the Communist Party, the Union of Australian Women, the Aborigines Progressive Association, the Australian Aborigines League and co-founder of the Australian Aboriginal Fellowship. Her activism in the […]