Catholic schools across Australia are being invited to join in a National Week of Solidarity from 6 to 12 September, calling for people seeking asylum to be given the support they need during COVID-19.
There are currently around 16,000 children and young people seeking asylum in Australia, and their families have been significantly affected by the Covid-19 pandemic – economically, socially and emotionally.
Many people seeking asylum work in highly precarious, service-oriented sectors, and we have seen huge job losses among this group. Despite this, they remain ineligible for any substantive government support – JobSeeker, JobKeeper, and some don’t even have access to Medicare. As such there is a huge need in our community, as people are forced into destitution, including being unable to buy food, medicines or pay rent.
Families seeking asylum are embedded into the communities they live in, particularly through children attending local schools. Teachers, principals and parents are seeing the direct impacts of the government's policies in their schools with some of their students becoming completely destitute.
A number of actions are proposed to mobilise schools and educators to stand in solidarity with children and families seeking asylum at this time.
Circle of Silence:
The Circle of Silence involves a group of people standing in a circle in a public space, in silence for 10-15 minutes, as seen in this video from St. John XXIII College in Perth. It can involve large numbers, number of participants depends on space available
The Circle of Silence movement originated in 2007 among the Franciscans of Toulouse, France as a peaceful way of raising awareness of the plight of refugees and showing solidarity with them.
Since then, the movement has spread across the globe, bringing empathetic people together to express solidarity with people seeking asylum, refugees, and migrants facing injustice and harm.
Options to consider:
- Begin and conclude the Circle of Silence with a personal testimony from a refugee or migrant about their experience, a story from a participant or a reflection, prayer, or relevant passage.
- Students can hold candles, signs, placards or banners showing support for campaign
- Students can also tape their mouths or cross their hands in solidarity with those who have been silenced.
- Have one or two students handing out flyers to passers-by to explain the purpose of the Circle of Silence.
- Remember to observe Covid-19 protocols in all your actions.
Petition signing
Please join the 7000 others who have signed the latest petition which focuses on children.
Jesuit Refugee Service is publicising the week of action in conjunction with a number of other organisations. If your school is interested in organising an event, contact [email protected] for more resources and details.