Australians commemorate slain asylum seeker Reza Berati
Source: The Sydney Morning Herald
More than 4000 people gathered at Sydney's Town Hall on Sunday night for a candlelight vigil to remember slain Iranian asylum seeker Reza Berati.
The crowd was addressed by The Chaser's Chris Taylor, and actress Imogen Bailey spoke about her experience on the SBS televison documentary series Go Back To Where You Came From.
Activist group GetUp said about 15,000 people attended at least 600 snap protests across Australia on Sunday, from Queensland cattle stations to Melbourne's Federation Square.
The protests come days after Mr Berati, 23, was killed and 62 other asylum seekers were injured in violent scenes at the Australian-run immigration detention centre on Papua New Guinea's Manus Island.
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/australians-commemorate-slain-asylum-seeker-reza-berati-20140223-33apz.html
The protests were organised in a matter of hours this afternoon, and like many others who couldn't get into the city centre, my family lit a candle at 8.00 pm, held hands and prayed or meditated for one minute to commemorate the lost life of refugee Reza Berati this week, and to offer up a hope for greater compassion in this country towards asylum seekers.
Asylum seekers are held on Manus Island in Papua New Guinea behind prison walls, without adequate food, water, medical attention, sanitation or even cooling, though the temperatures are generally over 40 deg. Celsius in summer. Sadly, far too many Australians think this is perfectly acceptable, but it is a hopeful sign that so many turned out at short notice, plus the unseen who gathered in small groups all over the country to protest this inhumane treatment.
