Call to close detention centre in Australia

The Darwin Asylum Seeker Support and Advocacy Network say there have been four attempted suicides at Australia's Northern Immigration Detention Centre in three weeks. The asylum seeker support group is calling on the Federal Government to immediately close the detention centre.

The network's spokeswoman, Fernanda Dahlstrom, says two Iranian men attempted suicide at the Darwin centre on Sunday morning.

Both men attempted to hang themselves in the same room at the same time before Serco staff removed them. After the men were taken to hospital, other asylum seekers in the centre commenced protests by chanting for their release from detention.

Fernanda Dahlstrom says both Iranian men were long-term detainees and she says they should have their asylum claims processed while living in the community.

"Waiting with uncertainty about their future, not able to have anything to occupy themselves to make themselves useful, just basically sitting around with nothing to do, separated from their families, and not knowing whether they have a future in this country," she said.

Ms Dahlstrom says the centre should be closed down.

In the past three weeks in Northern Immigration Detention Centre one man attempted to kill himself by swallowing a light bulb, one man attempted to hang himself with a shower curtain and there have been a number of hunger strikes. The centre saw dozens of suicide attempts throughout 2011.

Dahlstrom said: “Mandatory detention does not work. It does not stop desperate people coming to Australia seeking safety, it is expensive and inhumane. Asylum seekers should be taken out of these factories for mental illness and placed in the community."

The Immigration Department says the two detainees "threatened" self harm. It says the men were treated at Royal Darwin Hospital and have been returned to the centre. A spokesman says extra support staff have been assigned to take care of the detainees' mental health.

Asylum Seekers Clash in Australian Detention Centre

Fights amongst asylum seekers in Darwin have highlighted tensions in detention centres around Australia as more and more asylum seekers try to get into Australia by boat.

Several asylum seekers were taken to hospital after fights broke out on the 31st December at the Darwin Airport Lodge, a temporary detention centre for families. Approximately 60 asylum seekers were involved. More fights broke out the following day and another four people were taken to hospital. The Department of Immigration says all of the asylum seekers have now been returned to the Detention Centre.

It is not known what the fights were about but the incident is being investigated by the Australian Federal Police. The company which runs detention centres in Australia, Serco, will also undertake their own investigation. The Immigration Department said that those asylum seekers found to have been involved risked failing their character test and may not receive refugee visas.

The Refugee Action Coalition says that tensions have been rising in detention centres because of delays in the bridging visa process. “There have been all sorts of promises made about people being allowed out on bridging visas by now but it just hasn't happened.”

After the Australian Government failed to get support from Parliament for the Malaysia Plan, it said it would introduce bridging visas for asylum seekers who had arrived by boat. Bridging visas are granted on a case by case basis and priority is given to the most vulnerable and those who have been in detention for a long time. According to the Immigration Department, the behaviour of asylum seekers in detention is also taken into account.

According to some asylum seekers, the policy of bridging visas gave many detainees hope that they would be allowed to live in the community while their claims were being assessed. However, since then only 107 asylum seekers have been let out of detention on bridging visas and the stress on those left in detention is increasing.

Statistics from the Australian Immigration Department that were published on November 30 say that over 4,400 asylum-seekers are currently in detention with 1,265 from Iran and 1,205 from Afghanistan. More than 1,540 people (35%) have been waiting in detention for more than a year to see whether they can stay in Australia or not.

Tensions are also increasing as more asylum seekers arrive by boat and are put into detention centres. 1080 asylum seekers arrived by boat in December. As of last Friday, there were 5819 boatpeople and crew in the country. There are currently only 1300 asylum seekers living in community detention.

The Immigration Department and Serco are trying to manage tensions through the introduction of a system of incentives, rewards and punishments. For example, asylum seekers deemed low-risk in Curtin Detention Centre in Western Australia are being moved to a low-security detention centre near Hobart. Asylum seekers who are “troublesome” are being flown to Christmas Island to be locked up in isolated cells not being allowed out at all or having any contact with other asylum-seekers for weeks at a time.

The main detention centre on Christmas Island is being renovated to increase the number of high-security cells from seven to over 50. Two accommodation blocks are also being converted into a fully caged compound for asylum seekers charged with offences or considered violent or likely to harm themselves.

Serco has also introduced community activities and volunteer work for asylum seekers that are well-behaved in Curtin. Low-risk detainees are now regularly taken for activities to the town of Derby, 50km from the centre. But an asylum seeker in Curtin explained that these trips did nothing to help him after 11 months in detention. “We are not children in here, you know someone you just give candy and make us quiet and happy," he said. “When you are locked up with no answers, your problems do not go away when you get taken on a bus ride or to the swimming pool.”

Rejected Asylum-seekers Riot in Australia

A new report looking at detention conditions in Australia has found that the growing number of asylum-seekers in detention centres who have had their refugee applications rejected was one of the factors which led to riots in the Christmas Island and Villawood detention centres earlier this year.

Buildings were destroyed by fire and detainees were arrested during violent protests and riots on Christmas Island and at Villawood in March and April. The riots caused $8.5 million worth of damage.

The report found that while the length of time taken to process refugee applications was one reason in the decision of asylum-seekers to riot, they were also influenced by the rejection of their applications and their frustration at the people smugglers who promised them visas.

The report says “a strong motivation from detainees who have received negative decisions flows from their reaction to having paid a significant sum of money to people smugglers to facilitate their travel to Australia with an accompanying 'promise' of receiving a visa.”

The report concludes that rejected asylum-seekers believe the decisions about their applications are wrong and that this is leading to disobedience, inappropriate behaviors, disturbances and self-harm. According to the report, 80 of the 100 detainees who took part in the Christmas Island riot had their refugee claims rejected. 19 of these asylum-seekers had been rejected at their first interview. Of the nine detainees charged over the Villawood riot, all had had their refugee applications rejected.

The report also found that overcrowding and the long time asylum-seekers were now spending in detention were becoming part of the problem. The number of asylum-seekers in detention increased dramatically in 2010. In less than 18 months the number of people in detention centres grew from a few hundred to more than 6000. The report concluded that this was placing detention centres under "severe stress" and that they were now operating on an emergency footing.

Australia’s immigration minister, Chris Bowen has said that since then there has been a reduction in the number of people locked up in detention. However now the number of asylum-seekers going to Australia has increased, overcrowding could become a problem again.

In a private letter to the Department of Immigration, the company responsible for health services in detention centres says that the long detention of asylum-seekers has created a high demand for psychiatric services which its staff cannot meet. The letter describes an “increasing surge” of asylum-seekers needing mental health services, particularly in remote locations. The letter discusses the rising number of detainees being prescribed medication for long periods of time; the increasing number of asylum-seekers with a history of trauma and torture; and the growing number of asylum-seekers who have been in detention for more that 18 months.

Mental health professionals throughout Australia argue that the overwhelming majority of asylum-seekers have fled war-torn countries or have seen and experienced trauma and horror on their way to Australia. They argue that many are experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder and that this is made worse by their detention in isolated and remote locations and the stress of the long time it is taking for their refugee applications to be processed. According to these professional most asylum-seekers in detention have higher rates of depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress due to their long periods of detention.

People Smugglers and Australia

A large number of asylum-seekers are trying to get to Australia using people smugglers.

People smugglers are individuals or groups who help people to get to another country. Often, this involves crossing country borders illegally or arriving in countries without the proper papers. People smuggling businesses have chains of smuggling agents who recruit people for the journey in countries like Afghanistan. Once people have paid for the journey they are then sent through trusted intermediaries in places like Dubai, Malaysia and Indonesia.

In the case of Australia, people smugglers are taking asylum-seekers to Australia by boat or helping them to go by plane. In the first half of this year 1,709 people sought asylum in Australia and about half of them arrived by boats organized by people smugglers.

Many of the asylum-seekers trying to reach Australia by boat travel through Indonesia. Indonesia is one of the closest countries to Australia and because Indonesian fisherman often fish near Australian waters people smugglers make use of fishing boats to take asylum-seekers. It is also very difficult to police the long Indonesian coastline and prevent fishermen from becoming crew on boats heading to Australia.  The fishermen are usually very poor.

Australia’s anti-smuggling laws do not distinguish between the organizers of people smugglers and fishermen; all are given at least five-year jail sentences if found guilty. But the fishermen are usually paid very small amounts of money, sometimes as low as 60 Australian dollars and may not even know that they will be breaking Australian law.

Mr. Bamba Maja is a fisherman from Indonesia.  He was one of four crew members on a 15-metre wooden fishing boat stopped by Australian patrol boats off Western Australia in March 2010. He said that he took the job to earn money to help his impoverished family. Mr. Maja was paid just $500 but the asylum-seekers on the boat had paid the people smuggler between $4,000 and $6,000 to make the dangerous journey. Mr. Maja was found guilty in an Australian court and sentenced to five years' jail. The people smuggler who organized the journey has not been tried.

International research shows that people smuggling businesses often develop in local and refugee communities and that people smugglers are motivated by both money and a desire to help people. Several UNHCR-registered refugees have spent time in Australian jails for people smuggling.

Mr. Shadi is an Iraqi born man who tried to get to Australia by taking a boat to Christmas Island. When this didn’t work, he became a people smuggler and for three years helped send asylum-seekers to Australia.

Mr. Shadi was the moneyman and recruiter. He says, “You don't need to sell this, or say things like government will pay you money if you go, no one says that. It's just that everybody knows Australia is much better than their own country. That is it. We know by TV, newspaper, internet, you know what the life is like here, Western life. We give you promise to get there and we will try again and again and again until we get you there. We give you promise to leave in two weeks and if it's longer than two weeks we will pay for your hotel, accommodation, whatever.” When Mr. Shadi was working as a people smuggler a boat usually cost $US20,000. The Indonesian fishermen crew and corrupt airport officials would cost another $US20,000 but each passenger would pay between $US2,000 to $US10,000.

Eventually Mr. Shadi became an undercover agent for the Australian Federal Police. Working with the police he testified against some of the biggest people-smugglers and explained the detailed routes people smugglers used to get people to Australia.

Research suggests that the laws that try to stop asylum-seekers crossing borders actually work to push asylum-seekers towards people smugglers. And because people smuggling is a regional problem it cannot be resolved by one country alone. Widespread co-operation is needed between the countries that are source countries, the countries that are transited through, and the destination countries.