Emmanuel Kondok was only 12 years-old when he fled civil war in his home of South Sudan and walked three months to safety in Ethiopia only to be forced out of the country in 1991.
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On Saturday the respected leader within NSW’s South Sudanese community will speak at a World Refugee Week Rally in Crown Street Mall, Wollongong.
Refugee Action Collective Illawarra, in collaboration with GetUp Cunningham, will hold the public rally to call for a just and humane approach towards asylum seekers.
The June 23 rally starting at 1pm will also celebrate the significant contributions that refugees have made to Australian society.
RACI spokesperson and clinical psychologist Lee-Anne Organ said four former refugee speakers will share their stories.
“Australia’s history clearly shows that when given the opportunity, refugees contribute to and enrich Australian life,” she said.
“If new Australians are given a just and genuinely welcoming reception, the community will benefit many times over.”
Dr John Minns, lecturer in politics at ANU, will speak at the rally and share why Australia’s mandatory and off-shore detention system must be reformed.
“The last five years have been devastating for the mental and physical health of those trapped on Manus Island and Nauru,” he said.
“It is long past time to end the political games and bring these people to safety to Australia to restart their lives.”
Rally organisers say that public opinion is shifting around the treatment of asylum seekers and refugees on Manus and Nauru.
“The only way to change this cruel policy is to protest and show Liberal and Labor that this not a vote winner,” Ms Organ said.
Agron Latifi
Wollongong born and bred. I love reporting about the Illawarra region and have been doing it for more than 20 years. I've moved into sport recently after covering the education round for the last five plus years for the Illawarra Mercury. It's been a great pleasure.
Wollongong born and bred. I love reporting about the Illawarra region and have been doing it for more than 20 years. I've moved into sport recently after covering the education round for the last five plus years for the Illawarra Mercury. It's been a great pleasure.
