5 Demonstrations in one day with a Blessing from above

Oct 10 2004

Delegations of Eritreans from major cities within Australia, namely Melbourne, Sydney & Brisbane have gathered in the capital city of Australia to deliver a memorandum in support of Eritrean refugees to various bodies. The demonstrators arrived to Canberra bringing with them much needed rain, it was indeed a blessing, making the day more enjoyable and perhaps it was a message from above that.

– The demonstrations commenced at the parliament house where demonstrators gathered and loudly made their calls in solidarity with refugees around the world, demanding justice for Eritrean refugees and democratic rights in Eritrea.

– Demonstrators moved to the Foreign Affairs Department & handed a memorandum to the foreign minister, Mr. Alexander Downer, through the chair of the African desk.

– Second memo was handed to the High Commissioner for Canada. A delegation held a talk with the high commissioner and called for the Canadian government to put pressure on the Eritrean government to release political and religious prisoners and give the power to the people.

– The European Union was the next stop for the demonstrators. With banners held high, their voices echoed loud and clear “JUSTICE FOR THE PEOPLE OF ERITREA”. The representative of the EU thanked the protestors and sympathised with their calls and the ordeal of Eritrean refugees.

– Office of UNHCR: In all of the handing of the memorandums, the protestors were represented by Dr. Habtemariam, Mr. Ahmed, Mr. Idris, Miss Rowaa, but during the visit to the UNHCR almost the entire group were invited in to meet with the representatives who met the protestors in a very hospitable manner. Protestors felt at ease as they made their calls one by one. It was a greatly powerful moment as the representative from UNHCR thanked the protestors, wishing them well and assuring them that the UNHCR is always ready to do whatever is possible to defend the right of refugees.

>In addition, memorandums were sent to the Embassy of United States of America and the Office of Amnesty International.

The Resistance Committee would like to thank Dr. Habtemariam, Dr. Kidane and the Eritrean Community in Canberra for their efforts in making this day a success and their hospitality.

After a long & hard day, yet satisfying, all went to Red Sea restaurant, a fantastic Eritrean Restaurant in Canberra for lunch and to chill out before their trip back. During lunch they held a brief discussion on strengthening the network between all Eritreans around Australia to make the efforts more successful. Also Mr. Habteab briefly conveyed a message of solidarity from the students of South Africa.

>CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL THE WORLD WIDE DEMONSTRATIONS

>…………… let us have more

Till more detailed report, enjoy these pictures.

JUSTICE FOR ERITREA

Resistance Committee

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Posted by farajat on Oct 10 2004 Filed under Resistance. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry