The release by Al Jazeera of the full-length version of Chasing Asylum online could not be more timely.

As 2,000 people – the great majority refugees – continue to be held in cruel, inhumane and degrading conditions on Nauru and Manus, this human warehousing continues to extinguish hope and deepen despair. And it continues to cause severe damage to the refugees’ physical and psychological health.

Mental health experts have persistently warned that unless swift action is taken to restore hope, many more women, men and children will express their despair by trying to harm or kill themselves.

Amid this escalating crisis, we must never lose sight of the dire plight of these people, who must be urgently evacuated to safety with dignity.

Chasing Asylum exposes from the inside the real impact of Australia’s offshore processing policy.

Refugee Legal’s Executive Director and human rights lawyer, David Manne, who appears in Chasing Asylum, says:

“It’s an honour to have been involved in Chasing Asylum – a truly powerful, heart-rending, humanist film.  It makes a profound contribution to the real dialogue we simply must have now in Australia about our treatment of people seeking asylum.  Refugee Legal is delighted to be sponsoring these two special screenings with time for discussion.”

Refugee Legal: has played a leading role over the years in defending the rights and dignity of people subject to offshore processing and human warehousing in Nauru and Manus Island.

Refugee Legal: currently acts for a number of extremely vulnerable women and families who fear being returned to further danger and limbo in Nauru.

Refugee Legal: is Australia’s largest non-profit provider of free legal assistance to asylum seekers, refugees and disadvantaged migrants.

Visit us at www.refugeelegal.org.au

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