Brisbane – (Story To Tell) Vegan curry, musical instruments and protesters speaking into walkie talkies, can be heard and smelt outside the Kangaroo Point Central Hotel and Apartments, where 110-120 refugees are being detained.
The Hotel in Lockerbie Street, Kangaroo Point, Brisbane has housed refugees from Iran, Iraq, Sudan, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka and Burma for the past 12 months. They have been transferred from off-shore processing centres to Australia under the Medevac Laws.
(The men who have been locked inside of the hotel have been detained for 8 years between offshore detention and mainland detention)
The Medevac Law allowed refugees from offshore detention centres, at Nauru or Manus Island to receive medical treatment in Australia. The bill was bitterly opposed by the Federal Government but came into law in 2018 through a of unified Opposition of Labor, Greens and Independents.
The consensus between the men in the hotel is, that the only way of getting out of Nauru or Manus is to cut yourself, hang yourself or burn yourself with petrol.
You can trace the refugees who have taken this route by the names and faces which have been plastered on the wall of the complex.
Fariborz Karami from Iran, Salim Kyawning from Myanmar, Jahingir from Bangladesh, Rajeev Rajendran from Sri Lanka, Hamed Shamshiri from Iran, Faysal Ahmed from Sudan, Kamil Hussain from Pakistan, Rakib Khan from Bangladesh, Omid Masoumali from Iran, Hamid Kehazei from Iran, Sayed Ibrahim from Pakistan, and Reza Barati from Iran.
Most of the men inside the complex have mental health issues. They are often awake at night and asleep during the day. These men have few liberties. One of them is the use of mobile phones.
The Department of Immigration and Border Protection is trying to prevent the men from using phones, as they believe the men are trying to smuggle contraband into the hotel.
Australia’s immigration policy has always been controversial, with hard-line legislation coming from both sides of politics.
The White Australian Policy was the cornerstone of Australia’s immigration policy from 1901 to 1973, which meant non-Europeans were ineligible to immigrate to Australia.
Sympathetic treatment of refugees by Whitlam 1972 and Frazer 1975, post the Vietnam War evaporated with Keating 1992. Offshore detention of refugees, initiated by Howard 2001, has received bi-lateral support to the current day.
Apart from being controversial on humanitarian grounds, the cost is exorbitant. In 2018-19, the annual cost per person, to detain and/or processes refugees offshore was $346,000. The current price for an asylum seeker to live in community detention in Australia is $103,343.
Some refugees have been resettled to the United States, under the Turnbull and Obama Government agreement of 2016. According to The University of New South Wales, as of March 2020, only 702 refugees have resettled to the United States.
Resettlement is not available to those from Iran or Sudan. They are stuck inside the hotel, destined for a life of packed lunches, Winfield Blue cigarettes, and English Breakfast Tea because of the 2017 Trump travel re-settlement ban.
Hotel surrounds have been under occupation by the Refugee Action Collective (Qld) and Refugee Solidarity Meanjin for around a month. The group is made up of indigenous and anti-refugee detention advocates.
Brisbane Solidarity’s aim is to challenge the implementation of the Medevac Law and have the refugees released into the community.
The protest has quickly gained momentum. The protest started with the men inside the Hotel and now has an estimate of five thousand supporters behind them.
The movement is being supported by the well-known rainbow scarf wearing, Greens politician Jonathan Sri; known for his for social justice causes and outspoken criticism of Government policy.
(Jonathan Sri (in the black cap) and Refugee Solidarity Meanjin protesters gather outside Main Street, Kangaroo Point to talk strategy)
He co-host’s spoken-word events and musical performances, where members of the public can perform to the men who are inside of the Hotel.
Jonathan’s detractors see him as an anarchist with a hipster fashion sense who lives on a boat with his partner. However, he has recently been re-elected as a Brisbane City Councillor and is clearly a part of mainstream politics.
However, when Jonathan speaks during rallies his controversial views, place him outside the Labor-Conservative consensus on refugee policy and “law and order”.
When a refugee named Sayif spoke about wanting to be with his family, a near riot occurred. Jonathan responded.
“Everybody relax and (police) get your hands off your guns and tasers. This is on you Queensland Police, you have the choice to de-escalate or escalate the situation,” Jonathan said.
The relationship between Queensland Police and the protesters is constantly hostile.
On the 28 June, during a rally up to 40 members of Brisbane Solidarity were arrested.
After the arrests, a protester shouted at a Queensland Police officer, “what are you laughing at dickhead? You look like you haven’t passed year ten mate!”
Protester and university student, Rachel explained even though she hasn’t been arrested before, she knew the drill of what to do if she was taken away by the police.
"Firstly, they take you into a paddy wagon. Then they’ll take you to the watch house in Roma.
They grab all of your stuff and sometimes they’ll strip search you. Which is where you have to get undressed, spread and cough in front of an officer of your same gender. It’s so screwed up,” she said.
(Protest organiser Mat being taken away by Queensland Police to Roma Street Watch House)
Rachel also explained Queensland Police Service’s bail conditions were also quite stringent.
“They put you in a cell in the watch house for five to seven hours and then they will eventually charge you. The bail conditions they give are so crap.
“They’ll say you can’t go into the city or something to the effect. So, if you do study you have to spend the money to get a lawyer and go the Magistrate Court,” she said.
Sergeant Michell Piket of the Queensland Police Service explained the movement had become a threat to the rights of the residents at Kangaroo Point.
“We consider that residents and members of the public have lost enjoyment of their environment their public passage or encroachment on their rights and freedoms,” she said.
Inspector Geoff Acreman of the Queensland Police Service also corroborated this view.
“The problem is Queensland Police doesn’t know who to talk to and it’s hard to have a decent dialogue when someone is shouting at you with a megaphone,” he said.
Greens MP Jonathan Sri disagreed with both Sergeant Michell Piket and Inspector Geoff Acreman.
“The organisers of the blockade have made an effort to mediate with police. However, all they do is just bark orders at you and tell you to move on,” he said.
Jonathan has received backlash for his support of the blockade. On the 29th of June 2020, he the subject of a complaint to the Office of the Independent Assessors.
The complaint was that Jonathan had incited online hatred between Queensland Police and the Indigenous supporters at the blockade.
With his name behind the movement, the media and the public have seen Jonathan Sri as the leader behind the event. This is untrue. When you walk around the blockade there is no unified message being portrayed. The group seems a leaderless yet colourful and entertaining rabble. You can hear the greatest hits of I hate conservatives while you walk around the blockade.
Track number one, “Peter Dutton is a racist,” track number two “the Immigration Department and Serco are run by evil white men,” track number three, “Rupert Murdoch’s media empire lies and the media are racist” and track number four “how do you spell racist……QPS.”
Placards saying, “Fuck Dutton” or “Dutton is a Grub” and the chants to Queensland Police Service of “don’t come back”, go to inflame a confrontation.
Next the protestors turn on the on-lookers.
“You’re a Young Liberal and a Fascist,” they told John Bryant who is known for interviewing conservative student politicians. “You shaking mate?”, the protesters continued the verbal assault as they circled John, waiting to taste the fresh blood of the alleged Young Liberal.
The message at the rallies is one of aggression and paranoia; a collective rumination which echoes around the Hotel complex.
Jonathan Sri explained the climate of aggression within the blockade has been created by police intimidation.
“At actions like this, people who try and film interviews without asking the consent of the individual or off-camera people tend to be right-wing provocateurs.” Jonathan said.
This is a view of Queensland Police which harks back to the era of former Premier of Queensland, Jo Bjelke-Petersen (1968-1987) whose police force was known to be brutal and corrupt.
Within the madness there has been some light. One university student Dane De Leon has shown impressive leadership skills. Dane has not had a normal university break compared to her other colleagues. She was charged with not complying with a “move-on” order which was eventually dropped.
Dane has been making news in Queensland and nationally for her strong political mind with an activist’s sense of mischief.
Dane undertook a citizen’s arrest at Minister for Home Affairs Peter Dutton’s electoral office. An has taped up his office as a crime scene or crimes against humanity.
During a Facebook livestream when she tried to arrest Peter Dutton Dane said.
"I think Peter Dutton by now would know about the blockade, it's time he speaks and I think we could do a citizen’s arrest.”
"Peter Dutton holds the power to let these men out into the community, yet he refuses to do so.”
The pressure from Dane, Jonathan Sri, the protesters, and the refugees has caused a headache for the Immigration Department.
Michael Outram, Australian Border Force Commissioner explained he felt the protesters were endangering the refugees and the public.
However, the men inside disagree with him strongly.
You can often hear during the night outside of Lockerbie Street, men shouting out of their window, “I love you”, “keep on going,” in support of the protesters.
Amin Afravi, an Iranian man held at Kangaroo Point, told Guardian Australia the protests made him feel safe. “We feel like people are behind us, so we are stronger and we can fight for our freedom,” he said.
Although, the media may not be a threat to the men inside, the Serco guards claim it is a threat for them.
In 2019, allegedly slanderous videos of Serco employees necessitated the company to pay compensation claims to four workers.
This claim has been disputed by Brisbane Solidarity and as well as other freelance journalists.
However, Serco guards can also dish it out. On the 14of July, podcaster Tom Tanuk captured an encounter between protesters and an off-duty Serco guard.
“Oh, so you’re a concentration camp guard?” the protester said, which in turn the Serco employee replied, “you are vile scum…..United Patriots Frontier forever!”
This is a curious allegiance. Australian Race Discrimination Commissioner, Tim Southphommassane has described the UPF leader Blair Cottrell as a “Neo Nazi”.
In 2017, Neil Erikson and Christopher Shortis who were members of the United Patriots Frontiers, were both found guilty of inciting contempt against Muslims and fined $2,000.
Spokesperson for Greens member Jonathan Sri, Tanzi Ahmed said, “Neo-Nazis should absolutely not be in charge of refugees or any Government services.”
“The concern for the Greens/ Brisbane Refugee Solidarity Meanjin, is that Queensland Police are spending taxpayer money on a peaceful protest.
“This is a concern because taxpayer’s money is not being used properly in over-policing situations that are peaceful,” Tanzi said.
There are many players at Kangaroo Point. From the Federal Government, Jono Sri to Serco and Brisbane Solidarity. However, the question which unites all of them hasn’t been answered.
Is it worth $340,000 to keep one refugee inside of a hotel?