Page 9 - ARUBA TODAY

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WORLD NEWS Tuesday 30 July 2019

Hundreds of refugees protest outside Australian Parliament

By ROD McGUIRK major cities. refugees had fled in their
Associated Press Such refugees lose their vi- homelands had improved.
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) sas if they to return to their Refugees who were refused
— Hundreds of protesters homelands to visit family. visa extensions included Sri
rallied outside Australia's "The circumstances of the Lankans and some Iraqis,
Parliament House on Mon- temporary visas are oner- Rintoul said.
day, saying they wanted ous as well as a bureau- Chanting "eight years is
to highlight the uncertain cratic nightmare," Refugee too long" and "justice for
futures of many refugees Action Coalition spokes- refugees," most of the 1,000
since the government re- man Ian Rintoul said. "Peo- protesters had driven 650
placed permanent protec- ple are effectively in limbo kilometers (400 miles) from
tion visas with temporary in that are indefinitely sep- the city of Melbourne to
visas. arated from partners and Protestors hold up a placard and a symbolic coffin during a ref- demonstrate, Rintoul said.
ugee protest at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, Mon-
The protesters were from from children as well as day, July 29, 2019. They carried a fake coffin
Iraq, Iran, Sri Lanka, Sudan, brothers and sisters." Associated Press draped in an Australian flag
Somalia and included Ro- The temporary visas were that they said represented
hingya Muslims from Myan- introduced when the con- who do not arrive by boat to apply for refugee visas human rights in Australia.
mar. Most were in Aus- servative government was are entitled to permanent last year, Rintoul said. Heydar Aftahi, an Iranian
tralia on three-year visas first elected in 2013 as a protection visas. When visas expired, some Kurd, said he arrived in Aus-
or five-year visas that are way of deterring asylum Some asylum seekers who were not renewed in cases tralia by boat in 2010 and
available to refugees who seekers who come to Aus- arrived by boat as far back where the government de- had his permanent residen-
agree to live outside the tralia by boat. Refugees as 2012 were only allowed cided that conditions the cy visa cancelled in May.q

Boy, 8, dies in Germany after being pushed onto train tracks

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) parently tried unsuccess- was no immediate informa-
— An 8-year-old boy was fully to push another person tion on her injuries. Police
run over by a train and onto the track, police said. said that the suspect is an
killed at Frankfurt's main The 40-year-old suspect Eritrean citizen but did not
station on Monday after a fled the scene with passers- immediately release further
man pushed him and his by in pursuit and was ar- information. Interior Minis-
mother onto the tracks, rested near the station. He ter Horst Seehofer issued
German police said. was being questioned and a statement condemning
The mother and then the there was no immediate "this appalling act in the
boy were pushed onto the information on his possible strongest terms" and cau-
tracks as a high-speed ICE motive. Police spokeswom- tioning against drawing
train was pulling into the an Isabell Neumann said conclusions before more is
station, one of Germany's there appeared to be no known. Seehofer said that
busiest. The mother was connection between the in view of "several serious
able to escape but the boy suspect and the victims. crimes" recently, he would Firefighters and Police officers stay next to an ICE highspeed
was hit and run over by the The boy's mother was taken interrupt his vacation and train at the main station in Frankfurt, Germany, Monday, July
train and suffered fatal in- to a hospital and also was meet the heads of security 29, 2019.
juries. The suspect then ap- being questioned. There authorities Tuesday.q Associated Press