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Some 15,000 Protesters in Melbourne Demand Fair Treatment of Asylum Seekers

© Photo : Twitter/@ucavictas15,000 people took it to the streets of Melbourne
15,000 people took it to the streets of Melbourne - Sputnik International
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About 15,000 people participated in rally demanding the Abbott government to soften policies on asylum seekers in Melbourne, Australia.

A deported Sri Lankan disembarks from a bus outside a court in Negombo, Sri Lanka - Sputnik International
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Human Rights Groups Urge Australia to Stop Forced Returns of Asylum Seekers
MOSCOW, March 29 (Sputnik) — About 15,000 people took it to the streets of Melbourne, Australia on Sunday demanding the Abbott government to soften policies on asylum seekers and close immigration centers on Nauru and Manus Island, The Age reported.

According to the police estimates, quoted by The Age, this year the Palm Sunday rally drew 5,000 participants more compared to the similar event held in 2014. The protesters were carrying banners saying “Justice for refugees” and “Treating refugees as the problem is the problem.”

"We are not nasty and we are not cruel but our asylum seeker policies are. We are the only country in the world that subjects children to automatic and indefinite detention," Daniel Webb from the Human Rights Law Centre told the crowd, as quoted by The Age.

People places flowers and cards next to the portriat of Iranian asylum seeker Reza Berati during a candlelight vigil in support of asylum seekers, in Melbourne on February 23, 2014 - Sputnik International
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Refugees, including young children, who come to Australia seeking an asylum, are settled in offshore detention camps at the nearby islands of Manus in Papua New Guinea and Nauru.

Australian detention camps have been criticized for unbearable living conditions. Mid-February Australian Human Rights Commission released a report suggesting that keeping children in prolonged detention has negative impacts on their mental health and development.

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