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.”
Thousands out to call for #justice4refugees pic.twitter.com/hSeRWJuYTL
— RAC Victoria (@racvictoria) March 29, 2015
Thousands are gathering at the State Library to demand #justice4refugees pic.twitter.com/NrFuPwnmZE
— Right Now (@rightnowinc) March 29, 2015
Refugees on #Nauru held a protest today #justice4refugees pic.twitter.com/E8cX5CXrWJ
— Shane Bazzi (@shanebazzi) March 29, 2015
"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.
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.
