Fed: Catholic Bishops send plea on behalf of East Timorses
Australian Catholic Bishops have sent an urgent plea to Immigration Minister PHILIPRUDDOCK to allow East Timorese asylum seekers to stay in Australia.
It's the second time the bishops' conference president, Archbishop FRANCIS CARROLL,has written to the minister on behalf of the 1,800 East Timorese asylum seekers.
While his first letter was followed by a brief meeting with Mr RUDDOCK, ArchbishopCARROLL says its failed to produce any concessions from the government.
Most of the asylum seekers fled strife-torn East Timor in the 1990s, many in responseto the 1991 Santa Cruz cemetery massacre when Indonesian soldiers opened fire on hundredsof mourners in a Dili funeral procession.
Many entered Australia on tourist visas in the 1990s and have lived in the communityawaiting the outcome of their refugee claims.
Archbishop CARROLL's urged Mr RUDDOCK to give sympathetic attention to the plight ofthe East Timorese asylum seekers, many of whom are children who have lived their wholelives in Australia.
AAP RTV sm/sb
KEYWORD: TIMOR BISHOPS (CANBERRA)
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