FLOTILLAS of HOPE
 http://www.flotilla2004.com/ff_boats.php

Their purpose it to draw attention to the
plight of asylum seekers fleeing from their war-ravished
homelands, yet incarcerated by the Australian government on the
small impoverished central Pacific nation of Nauru where 264
refugees (93 of them children) languish for want of justice.

The Flotillas will leave Sydney and Brisbane in mid-May and
converge on Nauru on 20 June 2004, World Refugee Day. There
are currently three boats committed, and more are joining up.

The Flotilla of Hope has global support and will be far-reaching.
As one skipper said, "We intend to go to Nauru to offer hope for
the people incarcerated there, to bring support to the Indigenous
people on Nauru and to highlight the plight of the asylum seekers. We have no
wish to break any laws. Our voyage is a peaceful one."

The Flotilla calls for the closure of detention centres on Nauru,
Manus Island (PNG), Lombok (Indonesia) and Christmas Island
(Australia, in the Indian Ocean), as well as those on the Australian mainland.

It protests Australia's ill-conceived "Pacific Solution" as an
over-reaction to the 4130 asylum seekers who have sought
sanctuary by sailing to Australia during 2000 and 2001. Of the 1229 asylum
seekers shipped to Nauru, only 471 have been granted refugee status
and settled in Australia, New Zealand, Canada and Scandinavia; 474 have
been pressured to return to Afghanistan, Iraq and other homelands.
Those who have returned face uncertain futures, and some have since died.

The Flotilla demands the freedom of the people incarcerated in
Australia's detention centres, the recognition of their basic
human rights, and the granting to them of refugee status, and
assistance towards a secure, safe living environment in Australia.

The Flotilla also draws attention to the drastic economic, social
and environmental problems which led the Nauruan government to
agree to hosting Australia's detention centre in exchange for $31m over
two years.

Denuded of its topsoil after 100 years of phosphate mining
(1898 ongoing), Nauru is now unable to sustain itself. The population
of 1500 is dependent upon imported food, water and fuel. Named the
"Pleasant Island" by the English in 1798, this reputation is a startling echo
of what has been destroyed. The single island is now a denuded
moonscape with less than 15 per cent of the island remaining inhabitable.
Australia has a particular responsibility for this environmental
degradation, for it was the administrator of Nauru from 1919 to
1968,and the mined phosphate was shipped to fertilise the fields of
Australia and New Zealand/Aotearoa.

Ashamed of this history, the Flotilla insists that the Australian
government take the responsibility to assist the Nauruan people
towards a sustainable future in keeping with the self-determined
aspirations of the Nauruan people.

The two boats currently committed are fully crewed, but more
boats and crew are welcome and needed. People are also needed for
ground-based support before and while the boats are sailing. Organisations
and individuals are invited to endorse the campaign and to raise or
donate funds. The bank account is: "Flotillas of Hope", Commonwealth
Bank, Hamilton, BSB 062808 ACN: 10116514. Please notify
organisers (below) if depositing funds. Please circulate this information among your
networks.

For more information contact:
Stavros Georgopoulos (campaign initiator) 0419 199964
stevegeo@o...
Or go to www.flotilla2004.com