Lara Averhoff has written a book about the hope and danger of oceans.
Marie Nirme
www.communitypix.com.au d46137
Camera IconLara Averhoff has written a book about the hope and danger of oceans. Marie Nirme www.communitypix.com.au d46137 Credit: Supplied/Marie Nirme

Fremantle Refugee Rights Action Network giving a face to refugees

Jessica NicoFremantle Gazette

Last year she was a medical crew member on the Greek island of Lesbos and on the Minden rescue vessel off the coast of Libya, helping refugees and migrants who were fleeing across the Aegean and Mediterranean seas.

Touched by the experience, Ms Averhoff wrote and illustrated The Two Faces of the Sea under her pen name Seagull, a book which she said captured the hope and danger that the ocean threw up for those looking for a safer home.

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“I wanted to capture in words and images the coexistence of hope and risk of death, of simultaneous heart-opening and heartbreaking experiences that the sea holds for those wishing to find a new home beyond it,” she said.

“This is a reality, this is what the world looks like for some people who are less privileged than others and are without Australian or European passports that get them nearly anywhere in the world safely.”

The Fremantle Refugee Rights Action Network will help launch the book on Friday. Tom Lynch from the Network said it was an important issue for Australians to understand.

“For a public that is sometimes exhausted by this issue, it offers a persuasive and moving perspective from elsewhere in the world,” he said.

The Two Faces of the Sea will be launched at Kazoomies Restaurant on March 31.

Entry to the event is via donation, including a light buffet and panel discussion with the author, and funds raised through book sales will be donated to Sea Watch.