Barbara Brewster: author, presenter, poet, actress, teacher, clown & survivor

REFUGEE ACTION

The Birth of Buddies

Dear Barbara, Smile is coming out from hearts and if someone has a damage heart, how he can smile.

(Written in a letter from a refugee detained for 34 months in an Australian detention facility.)

My involvement with refugees began one September day, in 2001, because I decided to enjoy an interesting, fun afternoon at the Sunshine Coast University's Multicultural Festival. It was a decision which would eventually effect hundreds of lives.

There I met a woman who had a table and some pamphlets. She was a settlement officer at the Multicultural Development Centre in Brisbane. As we visited, she asked me, did I know this about our governmentâs refugee policy? No. Did I know that? No. I was gobsmacked. I had no idea that these things were happening. None of what she told me was on the news, or if it was, it was hard to find. For example there is no such thing as an illegal asylum seeker. As signatories to the UN Convention on Refugees, Australia has agreed that people fleeing persecution have the right to seek asylum anywhere, arriving by whatever means they can.

I asked Marie if she would come to Buderim and speak to a group of friends. I put a notice in the paper and we were 15 people sitting in a circle under the trees in my backyard. When Marie finished we all looked at each other and said, "Now what do we do?" Meet again. Buddies was born.

About Buddies Refugee Group

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