Dear Ranjini,
I have read about your terrible situation in the newspapers. I want you to know that I think it’s appalling, and I have written an email to my local MP (Martin Ferguson) in protest against your detention. I hope that when people realise the injustice of your detention, they will pressure the government to release you.
Yours sincerely,
Eric Ireland
We’ve been completely blown away by the response to BornFree this Sunday – especially from people outside of Melbourne and Sydney – and so we’ve decided we needed a way to include everyone!
We’re asking everyone who can’t make the Melbourne and Sydney events to gather with their families this Sunday and take a photo that we can use to let Ranjini and the Government know that we don’t want children born into detention.
How to host your own Born Free Event!
1. Download and print some Ranjini signs. Click here
2. Get a photo with your family.
3. Email us () your photos or tag us in them on .
We are a big community here, so if you don’t have access to a printer or a camera – or want to share your event with another Ranjini supporting family – send us an email or post a note on , we’re sure you’ll find some neighbours who can help out.
Thanks!
Team Born Free.
No child belongs in detention. No child should be born in detention. Asylum Seekers are not criminals. In the wisdom of Edmund Burke – “All it takes for evil to prosper is for people of goodwill to do nothing.” Stop the fear campaign, treat those fleeing torture and war with the dignity and human decency they deserve.
Trent
The wonderful Leila at ChilOut has been in touch with Ranjini leading up to the birth of her third child on Sunday, and has sent through an update – your letters have made a difference, read for yourself!
“Please tell everyone that Ranjini and her husband offer their thanks, they are so grateful for the support. Ranjini said she doesn’t need baby clothes or anything material for herself, she just needs peoples support and it will help her get through this time. She has told me that she can tell that Australians are kind, welcoming people – and I believe that’s due to your letters, well done!”
Thanks everyone, I look forward to meeting some of you Sunday at
Dear Ranjini – just wanted to wish you well in these last stages of your pregnancy. I sincerely hope that you and your family are together again soon
Ranjini, with two sons and a baby on the way – she should be allowed to make a life for herself and her children in Australia. How can her children be kept in this prison like detention? I hope to see Ranjini released together with her children. My family and my 10 month old son enjoy freedom – so should Ranjini’s family.
As Christmas approaches and we celebrate the coming into the world of the baby Jesus, Son of the Living God, our hearts are torn by the plight of Ranjini, her children, her soon to be born baby and her husband, alone and away from his precious family. We cannot tolerate an immigration policy that robs people of their right to justice and the opportunity to appeal their imprisonment and plead their case for asylum and freedom. If government robs our nation of its heart, makes a mockery of its justice and destroys hope for a fair chance at life for children and new born babies, what sort of nation can we ever claim to be? What politician would ever want their name attached to a government like that? Please give Ranjini and her children their freedom quickly before any more damage is done to their minds and hearts and bodies and to the reputation of our nation.
We want to be proud, not ashamed, to call ourselves Australians.
EVENT ALERT- Sunday 6th January 2013
IMPRISONED FROM BIRTH – AUSTRALIAN FAMILIES SAY NO
Ranjini, mother of two, is preparing to give birth in early 2013, knowing that her baby faces a life behind bars. ChilOut, Welcome to Australia and Letters for Ranjini are calling on pregnant women and those with young babies to gather in disused gaols and community centers in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide on Ranjini’s due date – January 6. Together we will call on the government to release her and her children from indefinite detention in Villawood.
‘Born Free’ – a combined initiative of ChilOut, Welcome to Australia and Letters for Ranjini – will highlight the stark reality of a baby being born into detention and growing up behind bars.
‘We take it for granted that our children will be born into freedom, with every opportunity to grow, develop and reach their full potential,’ says Welcome to Australia director Brad Chilcott. ’Ranjini’s baby will be born into detention, with no hope of release.
‘Is this the kind of nation we want to live in? The kind that robs children of their futures and sees babies sentenced to a lifetime behind bars?’
‘We call upon the minister to release Ranjini and her children from detention immediately,’ says Leila Druery, Campaign Director for ChilOut. ‘We fail to see how a pregnant mother of two is a security risk to Australians. Mothers across Australia are appalled by this injustice being done in our name.’
Anthony Bieniak, coordinator of Letters for Ranjini, says, ‘we have already heard heartbreaking reports of the impact that 7 months of detention has had on Ranjini’s two sons. To have a baby born into a life of detention is an avoidable national tragedy – all Australian families should be outraged at the cruelty of this policy’
All expectant-mothers and parents of young children are encouraged to join us for a photoshoot and media appearance to show your support for Ranjini and all children indefinitely held in immigration detention. The event starts at 11am on Sunday 6 january, morning tea will be provided. These free events will be held at Middle Head in Sydney and Fitzroy in Melbourne, more details and events will be announced shortly.
To register for Born Free, visit https://lettersforranjini.com/bornfree or join us on
Hi all,
Our friends at ChilOut went to visit Ranjini recently in Villawood. Leila has documented her experience in a blog which is one of the most heartbreaking things I’ve ever read.
“I thought I was prepared for what I’d see. But I wasn’t.
Ranjiny came out from her house to meet me on a park bench. As she walked towards me I could see the pain and discomfort etched on her face. Her baby belly round and full was disproportionate to her tiny frame.
She held my hands as I helped her to the seat. But before I could even ask tears ran down her face. ‘There are so many problems, I don’t know what to do, no one is listening to me.’ I told her I would listen.”
Read the full article here - http://www.chilout.org/blog/13698950
and remember, we don’t have time to be sad about this, be angry – we’ll have some news VERY shortly on something you can do to help Ranjini.
-Anthony
I just received this from one of Ranjini’s visitors. A terrible reminder of why we are in this fight.
Yesterday, I was sitting with Ranjini in the visitor area. It was bit rainy. but I saw one teenage boy watering the garden in front of his house unit. I asked Ranjini why he is watering when it is going to be rainy. She replied “would you ask the same question if you are in the mental hospital. It is like that”
Does that sound like a place for Children?