| Date: | Friday, February 19, 2010 |
| Time: | 4:00pm – 7:00pm |
| Location: | Indonesian Consulate |
| Street: | 129 Jarvis Street |
| City/Town: | Toronto, ON |
For the last 3 months, there are 246 Tamil asylum seekers with 30 children on board a boat in Merak Indonesia. They are presently being denied asylum in Australia, their original destination. Over 100 of the people on board already have refugee documentation from the UNHCR. 24 are in the final stages of refugee documentation, and the rest are waiting for the UNHCR process. They are suffering from ill health and are without access to medical supplies and the basic amenities. One man has already died form lack of adequate medical attention. We are imploring Australia to process their cases on Australian soil with medical treatment and supplies and adequate nutrition. Sending them back to Sri lanka, is condemning them to torture and death.
News Update:
Feb 8th the IOM agreed to give some much needed medicine to the people on the boat with the pre-condition that people disembark from the boat to pick it up. Four men came off the boat to get the medicine and were subsequently brutally beaten by the Indonesian police. Another young child has boils all over his body and his parents are in utter desperation trying to get him medical attention which they are continually denied. Another young boy fainted today. He hit his head a while ago and since then has been fainting. Each time he is taken to the IOM doctor he is sent away without being examined and given only ibuprofen (advil for headaches). He is in desperate need of a CT scan of his head. Today another woman fainted. It is most likely because of poor diet due to the inedible food the people are provided with from the IOM.
Manju, the woman who is pregnant, has a due date of March 5th and so far there has been no commitment from the Indonesian authorities that she will be able to safely deliver her baby and be provided medical attention.
The Indonesian government is continuing to block humanitarian supplies to the boat and the authorities are becoming increasingly violent. The people on the boat are slowly breaking down mentally because of the combination of lack of food, disease and fear.
This protest is organized by CanadianHART, for further information, see their Facebook page here.
Tags: Speak Out
