Protestors condemn Trump bombings
Image: Protesters walked the streets of Sydney at the Palm Sunday Rally
BY DYLAN CRISMALE
There was a sense of renewed urgency at the Palm Sunday Rally for Refugees in Hyde Park on Sunday April 9 as protesters feared the bombing of Syria by the United States would create more refugees.
Dr Sue Wareham OAM, Vice President of the Medical Association for the Prevention of War, spoke at the rally about the inherent links between the current global refugee crisis and various wars around the world.
“The Syrian war is if anything escalating especially since President Trump decided to bomb a Syrian Government air force base a couple of days ago.
“So we have to expect that the war in Syria is not going to get any better, which means there will be more refugees, the global problem is going to get worse and not only in the middle East.
“The election of President Trump has brought in a new era where the aggressiveness of US foreign policy seems to be escalating and we know that in the past 24 hours he has sent an increased naval presence to the Korean peninsula, to bolster the signs of US power in the region.
“We can’t expect that sort of thing doesn’t have any risk of provoking retaliation from the other side,” she told protesters.
A sarin gas attack on the town of Khan Shaykhun in Syria by the Assad regime on April 4 killed at least 72 people and injured hundreds more.
Following global outrage the United States fired 59 Tomahawk missiles at the Shayrat Airbase in Syria on April 7, aiming to prevent and deter the use of chemical weapons in further attacks.
Holly Brooke, a protester at the rally said, “Right now is a pretty pivotal time because we’re on the verge of mass escalation creating thousands, hundreds of thousands possibly millions of Syrian refugees.
“I think adding extra bombardments to a war zone is not going to help.
“Obviously gas attacks no matter who is perpetrating them is bad but bombing people is just as bad, they teach that in pre-school, two wrongs don’t make a right,” she said.
Last week both Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Opposition Leader Bill Shorten voiced their support for the actions of the United States.
Mr Turnbull talking at a press conference after the event took place said, “This was a calibrated, proportionate and targeted response.”
Mr Shorten also said the actions were “appropriate and proportionate” and the Labor Party renewed their call on the United Nations to, “continue to examine strong and appropriate action to hold the Assad Regime to account for the crimes it has committed against its people.”
Peter Murphy, Organiser and Secretary of the Sydney Peace and Justice Coalition, said the Australian Government needed to take steps to help end fighting in Syria.
“Military escalation is the wrong direction and the international community has to do everything it can to stabilise the situation politically and in Syria and help rebuild the country,” he said.
Ms Brooke believes that all people seeking refuge from the fighting in Syria need to be accommodated by western countries.
“I think the government response should be to not bomb Syria and to let in all the refugees that have already been created by our intervention and other western power’s intervention in the middle east.
“The least we can do is let in refugees and stop bombing them,” she said.
The rally also brought attention to the conditions for refugees and asylum seekers being held in detention on Manus and Nauru island.
Mr Murphy said it was the aim of the rally to give voice to all of the community that is outraged by the treatment of refugees by the Australian government.
“Especially the detention of people at Nauru and Manus Island and the absolute heartlessness and punitive attitude of our government against those people because they arrived by boat,” he said.
Mark Morey, Secretary of Unions NSW, said much more needed to be done to solve Australia’s refugee crisis.
“The main message is something has to be done about indefinite mandatory detention.
“We have to come up with a way of solving that. That people can be held in mandatory detention for not doing anything wrong other than seeking asylum,” he said.
