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'I am begging all of you': Thousands protest across Australia

Thousands of people around Australia have rallied for the freedom of Manus Island and Nauru asylum seekers to mark the sixth anniversary of offshore detention.

Protesters of all ages on Saturday flocked to the Victorian state library to call for refugees in detention to be brought to Australia.

Placards of "bring them home" and "different colour, same rights" were held aloft during a song calling for the Morrison Government to allow asylum seekers into the country.

The crowd chanted: "Bring them here".

Friday marked six years since the Rudd Labor government reintroduced offshore detention for asylum seekers who arrived by boat.

Protestors hold up signs in Adelaide in condemnation of the Australian government's offshore detention centres.
Protestors stand in Adelaide condemning offshore detention. Source: Twitter/ GetUp!

Bethelham, who came from Ethiopia as a refugee, told the Melbourne crowd she barely survived her two years on Nauru.

"I am one of the survivors of Nauru detention. I survived because of you," she said.

"I am begging all of you to save my friends. It is hard to stay in detention.

"We are human, we have the right to seek asylum."

Refugee Action Collective spokesman Chris Breen said refugees were kept in barbaric conditions.

"It is time to end the cruelty," he said, adding more than 100 serious self-harm or suicide attempts have occurred on Manus Island in 2019.

Hundreds also joined rallies in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Hobart and Darwin on Saturday afternoon after protests kicked off in other parts of the country earlier in the day.

Protesters march through the central business district in Sydney marking six years since offshore detention on Manus and Nauru was implemented.
People march through Sydney's CBD calling for an end to offshore detention. Source: AAP

Comedian Dan Ilic told a crowd of more than 700 people at Sydney's Town Hall the potential of asylum seekers was being wasted.

"What struck me by meeting the refugees on Manus Island was just how funny, charming and clever they were, and how throughout this entire debate, throughout this whole process of six years we have stripped them of their humanity," Mr Ilic said.

Refugee Shaminda Kanapathi, who has been on Manus Island since 2013, addressed about 200 supporters via video link in Brisbane.

The 28-year-old said men detained on the island have no control over what happens to them.

Protesters are seen outside of the State Library of Victoria in Melbourne. Rallies have taken place in Canberra, Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane marking six years since offshore detention on Manus and Nauru was implemented.
People call for an end to 'cruelty' outside the State Library of Victoria in Melbourne. Source: AAP

"Even the most intimate decisions are made for us," Mr Kanapathi told AAP on Friday, ahead of the rally.

"Our lives have stopped. And every minute passes, as we have lost six years already."

Father Pan Jordan, who works closely with the Tamil community, spoke in Brisbane of the plight of a family of Tamil asylum seekers from the Queensland town of Biloela who are at risk of deportation after the High Court denied their final bid to stay in Australia in May.

"They do not have any further avenues to remain in Australia, they are completely dependent on ministerial intervention," he said.

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