As Eaten Fish endures the third week of his hunger strike in Australia’s detention centre on Manus Island, Papua New Guinea, activists in the region and elsewhere have stepped up their efforts to end his ordeal.
The International Criminal Court will now consider whether or not Australia’s policy of detaining boat-borne migrants in off-shore camps is a crime against humanity after receiving a petition from the Global Legal Action Network and Stanford International Human Rights Clinic, The Guardian reports.
In addition to a letter to Australia’s High Commissioner to the UK, the Professional Cartoonists’ Organisation have along with colleagues at France-Cartoons been encouraging Twitter users to contribute simple cartoon fish to from a “virtual shoal” in the hope that this show of solidarity and support will lift Eaten Fish’s spirits. If you wish to contribute, use the hashtag #AddAFish and be sure to copy in the Australian border force @DIBPAustralia
UPDATE 15/02/17: The story’s been picked up by HuffPo Australia, Mashable UK and the BBC World Service in the last 24 hrs.
UPDATE 18/02/17: Further coverage by Good Magazine NZ and Independent Australian as well as further news in The Guardian that the Manus Island camp will be closed by the end of the year.
The cross-org petition from IFEX, IFJ an MEAA is still online, calling upon the Australian government to offer safe haven to Eaten Fish and two other detainees. The hashtag for that campaign is #Bring ThemHere
Poet and comic artist Jini Maxwell compiled a zine entitled Dear Eaten Fish to raise money for a refugee art project. It has been placed online at the SaveEatenFish campaign’s site.
Eaten Fish himself continues to update followers on his condition via Facebook. We remain in close contact with those advocating on his behalf in Australia.
