A Year Since 50 Asylum-seekers died in the Christmas Island Boat Tragedy

A year has passed since a boat carrying asylum seekers crashed into the jagged cliffs off the coast of Christmas Island. The boat, known as SIEV 221, crashed into the sharp rocks early in the morning of December 15. 42 people survived but 50 drowned in the tragedy.

Among the survivors is Sayed Hossien Hossieni. His wife, son and wife’s cousin were among the 50 who drowned.

A year later, Hossien’s application for refugee status was approved and he was granted a permanent protection visa but he remains haunted by the deaths of his wife and son.

“The things I saw during the crash, the memories of my wife, my kid . . . I can't get those out of my mind,” he said.

“I am living my own nightmare.”

He has not been able to find a job and lives alone in a flat with nothing but some photocopied black and white photos of his wife and child.

In November he tried to end his life and is back in hospital again, still struggling to deal with his loss.

His wife was one of the 20 people whose bodies were never found. This is particularly hard for Hossien. “I still feel my wife's body -- because it wasn't recovered, I feel she is still there. When I go out to visit people, I can't stay long -- I feel I have to get back home, because Mariem will be waiting for me.”

The boat carrying Hossien and his family was spotted by Christmas Island locals just after dawn on December 15 struggling in the high seas. The Island’s port had been closed for days and the monsoon weather was the worst seen in many years. The boat was headed straight towards the Island. Had it then turned east it would have reached safe waters. Instead, it turned west and was soon dangerously close to the cliffs.

SIEV 221 was an Indonesian fishing boat about 15 metres long.  Before leaving Jakarta, the asylum seekers from Iran and Iraq were told that the boat was comfortable, safe and properly equipped. This was a lie. The only safety equipment on board was 20 to 30 life jackets and the crew were fishermen who had never made the journey before. There were 92 people on board. Another boat had collected the captain as soon as they had entered Australian waters, leaving the asylum seekers and inexperienced crew to make the most dangerous part of the journey on their own.

Christmas Island locals watched horrified as the boat was pushed towards the cliffs by the rough seas. They collected life jackets and waited for the rescue boats to arrive. The hospital was on standby. The boat crashed into the cliffs three times before it broke apart. People and wreckage were thrown into the swirling water.

Hossien remembers the chaos. “Before we hit the cliffs, I emptied a petrol drum and offered it to my wife to hang on to, but she said, ‘You look after the kid’.”

But it was too late. “On hitting the rocks, the planks cracked and slammed into people. About 40 to 70 people just tumbled into each other. As I was trying to reach my wife's hand, with all the people around we got separated,” he says.

Hossien made it to open sea and to the cliffs where he tried to hang on to a rope thrown by locals. When he realised the waves would crush him against the rocks he let go and swam back from the cliffs. He managed to find a life jacket thrown into the water by the locals and went to try to find his wife and child.

When the rescue boats finally arrived they could not get close to the wreckage in case they crushed people in the rough waves or crashed themselves. Instead they got creative, attaching life jackets and life rings to ropes to get to survivors. 41 people were pulled from the water and one man survived by jumping onto the cliffs. Only 30 bodies were eventually recovered.

The survivors were taken to the Christmas Island Detention Centre where they were kept until their refugee applications were determined. A group of survivors, including Hossien, were briefly released from detention to attend funerals for some of those who had died. Nine bodies were returned to their families in Iran and Iraq for burials there.

Hossien’s friends and relatives back in Iran ask him whether they should use people smugglers to try to get to Australia. “Please do not take such a risk, it is not worth it,” he says.

Self-harm, Suicide, Sexual Assault and Drug Addiction in Australia’s Detention Centres

More evidence of the worsening conditions in Australian detention centres has been revealed in recent weeks with reports of suicide, self-harm, sexual assault and drug addiction.

A recent Parliamentary committee was told that there had been 289 cases of people hurting themselves in detention centres between July and October this year.  The committee was also told that 451 people had been diagnosed with a mental illness and 228 were receiving anti-psychotic medication.

The deteriorating conditions were highlighted this week by the death of a refugee from Sri Lanka.  The Tamil man in his mid-20s had been in detention for over two years and was recently moved to the family compound at Villawood Detention Centre.  He had been granted refugee status about three months ago.

The man was still being held in detention after being granted refugee status because the Government was waiting for an ASIO security assessment before releasing him.  The Refugee Action Coalition says that “there are over 1500 people, accepted as refugees, being held in detention waiting for ASIO security assessments.”

The Refugee Action Coalition said that the man’s suicide might have been triggered when his request to be released to attend a Hindu festival was denied.  "Whether that was the final straw, it's impossible to know," they said.

This was the sixth suicide in detention in Australia, and the fourth in the Villawood detention centre since September 2010.

Meanwhile an Australian news programme has provided a graphic account of life for people waiting in detention.  In interviews with staff and asylum seekers waiting to find out if they’ll be accepted as refugees detention centres are compared with prisons and even Guantanamo Bay.  It is claimed that mental illness, suicide attempts and self-harm are widespread and many people are unable to lead normal lives, even after they have been released.

A nurse at the Northern Detention Centre in Darwin said that teenagers who moved from the Darwin Airport Lodge to the Detention Centre when they turned 18 were at risk of sexual assault.  "There were a lot of allegations of sexual abuse going on there […] and I would suspect a lot of that was true by seeing the patients' reactions."

There have also been reports about the distribution of sedatives, sleeping pills and powerful painkillers inside detention centres.

One refugee says the pills are handed out by medical authorities inside detention centres.  The man, who spent nearly two years in detention, says the pills make detainees "like robots" and leave them with drug problems which need more treatment even if they are released into the community.

An Australian reporter says one of the biggest problems facing psychiatrists working in detention centres is a widespread culture of sleeplessness.  The journalist reported that mental health nurses in the detention centre use the medication to manage detainees.  She claims that medical company that looks after the mental health of people in detention cannot manage the numbers of people who are depressed and suffering from ongoing sleeplessness and insomnia.

“The short-term solution they've come up with is to prescribe large quantities of Mirtazapine which is actually an antidepressant.”

Some refugees, such as Afghan man Hamid Amiri, took anti-depressant medication while in Curtin Detention Centre and still requires medication despite having been released from detention more than a month ago.

Refugee advocates protested against mandatory detention at the Sydney office of the Department of Immigration on the 26^th of October.  The protest called for an end to offshore processing and for the release of asylum seekers from detention so their claims can be processed while they live and work in the community.  

The protesters also said they were supporting the rooftop protest of a Rohingyan refugee in Darwin’s Northern Detention Centre.  The man has been granted refugee status but has been waiting for two years for his security clearance.

Conditions in detention are likely to worsen as more people try to get to Australia by boat and are detained in already crowded detention centres.

Asylum-seeker deals for Malaysia and Papua New Guinea to be decided this week

This week the leaders of Australia and Papua New Guinea will meet to continue their discussions to reopen the Manus Island Detention centre.

In August, Australia made an agreement with PNG to reopen the detention centre on Manus Island for asylum-seekers who try to come to Australia by boat without valid visas.  The plan has been delayed after the Australian High Court decision that the Gillard Government's plan to process asylum-seekers in Malaysia was unlawful. The Government hopes to resume its offshore processing plans after the Australian parliament votes this Thursday on changes to the Migration laws so that asylum-seekers can be sent to Malaysia.

PNG's representative in Australia said that his government "is ready and willing to cooperate with Australia on any solutions through Manus processing centre".

Amnesty International and other refugee groups have criticized the plan to send asylum-seekers to Manus Island, saying that sending them to PNG is no different to sending them to Nauru. 

Another leading Australian organisation condemned conditions on Manus Island.  The Executive Director of the Australian Council for International Development stated that there was “overwhelming evidence” that people detained in Nauru and on Manus Island “suffered mental damage with self harm and suicide attempts a common occurrence, and an absence of trained counsellors and staff being able to cope.”  He also said that many of these asylum-seekers were still being treated for trauma and mental health issues following their detention.

An Australian lawyer who worked on Manus Island in 2008 said that conditions in the detention centre on Manus Island had been very hot, humid and cramped.  He said that “it would be pretty tough going” for asylum-seekers in the centre.

“During my travels around there I was told that people had tried to commit suicide by throwing themselves on power boxes, trying to electrocute themselves obviously in a state of hysteria or despair I should say.  […]  So obviously those people had quite enough and weren't prepared to continue on there. They're the sort of stories that I heard, again only hearsay from locals who observed these things they say”, he continued.

Meanwhile, the UN agency for refugees told parliament today that sending asylum-seekers to Malaysia is better for them than being detained in Australia. UNHCR Regional Representative Richard Towle has said that the conditions in the agreement between Australia and Malaysia mean that an asylum-seeker would be treated better there than they would in Australian detention. Australia’s policy of mandatory detention does not allow asylum-seekers to work or live in the community, which Malaysia would allow.

UNHCR’s support for the agreement with Malaysia is crucial ahead of Thursday’s parliamentary vote to make the Malaysia deal legal. No Australian Prime Minister has lost a vote on changes to the law in parliament for 80 years.

Asylum-seekers in Australian Immigration Detention suffer Assault, Depression and Abuse

Recent reports have highlighted the worsening conditions for asylum seekers in detention around Australia.

Australia has a system of mandatory detention for any people arriving in the country without a valid visa.  These people are detained in remote facilities while their applications for asylum are decided.

The Australian Department of Immigration reports that there are 3,289 people in detention centres as of July 2011.  More than a third of people in detention centres have been waiting for more than a year to find out whether they can stay in Australia or not.

Between 2008 and June 2011, there were 1,273 reports of assault, damage to property or aggressive and abusive behaviour in detention centres.  596 cases involved allegations of assault while police were notified of incidents 242 times.

In a report to the Australian Parliament, The Australian Medical Association said hospitals were reporting large numbers of adults with mental health problems hurting themselves on purpose and requiring medical treatment.  The Association said it was worried about the mental health of detainees.
Meanwhile, Australia's Human Rights Commissioner has reported on the mental health damage of indefinite detention in Curtin Detention Centre.

The Commissioner expressed concern about the high rates of self-harm caused by poor conditions and a lack of services.

"Indefinite detention, particularly in a remote place, is very damaging to [asylum seekers’] mental health. They spoke to us about sleeplessness, about feelings of wanting to [commit] suicide, we know that there've been a worrying number of self-harm incidents there, including a man apparently who threw himself through a glass window."

Alexander Dianati, 37, an Iranian asylum-seeker has been in detention for three months after fleeing Iran to avoid religious persecution. He says fellow detainees are cutting, burning or trying to kill themselves on a weekly basis because they do not know what is happening with their asylum claims.
"Almost every week we have one situation like this, I'm sure Australian people don't know these things.”

He says tension in the facility is extremely high. The "mental health of the detainees is really bad, they are so depressed," he said.

He warned of mass protests if the situation is not resolved.  "The most biggest protest will happen in the history of Curtin soon, if Immigration and Serco doesn't do anything, I can guarantee this."

Mr Dianati also says that he was threatened with violence by detention centre staff after he spoke to the media about the problems.  Mr Dianati said he was called to a private meeting with a senior staff member from the detention centre.  He said the staff member got angry and threatened him after he refused to stop speaking to the media.

There are also reports that detainees and staff members at Villawood Detention Centre in Sydney engage in clashes at least once a week.  The Australian Government says that police are called to the centre at least every two weeks.

Villawood holds about 349 asylum seekers.  Between 2008 and June this year there were 45 incidents involving injuries to detainees and police were called 87 times. The figures show there were also 22 staff injuries.

Meanwhile asylum seekers in the Darwin detention centre are warning they will increase their protests unless their demands are met within a few days.

"They have given an ultimatum to the immigration department to fix things in a few days, or the protest will escalate. The asylum seekers have access to tools and construction items," the Refugee Action Coalition said.

The detainees want to know when they will find out whether or not they are allowed to stay in Australia.

It is also reported that immigration detention centre guards around Australia are worried that detainees could take them hostage or stage mass suicide attempts as more asylum seekers become increasingly desperate about their plight.

United Voice, the union for staff employed at detention centres, said rumors were circulating that detainees were plotting to take guards hostage to protest the time it was taking to make decisions about their asylum claims.

"Another rumor issuing out of (the Darwin camp) was that detainees were threatening to stage a mass hanging at a time when it was well known that the centre would be understaffed and unable to cope with multiple incidents," the Union said.

Australia told detention of child asylum-seekers is abuse

Refugee advocates have criticized the Australian Government for sending 73 unaccompanied child asylum seekers to a remote detention centre in rural Western Australia.

A plane carrying 36 teenage boys seeking asylum landed in the remote town after the Australian Government decided to use the town's detention centre to hold unaccompanied youths.

The boys, aged 14 to 17, are believed to be mostly from Afghanistan. Another 37 asylum seeker children will also be flown to the centre.

The Australian Government had planned to send the teenage boys to Malaysia for processing as part of a deal between Malaysia and Australia. But the High Court rejected this plan because Malaysia has not signed the UN's refugee convention.

According to recent statistics from the Australian Department of Immigration the majority of children currently in detention come from Iran and Afghanistan. 246 children have come from Iran and 187 from Afghanistan.

The Refugee Rights Action Network says detaining children is a form of child abuse. “We do know as a matter of absolute certainty that children that are held in immigration detention experience levels of depression, of self-harm and of suicide that is never seen in children that are held in the community", they said.

The Australian Medical Association said it was worried about the mental health of detainees, and that children were suffering from depression and self-harm.

"We are aware of a nine-year-old child who was recently admitted for trying to commit suicide," the Association told a committee of Australian politicians investigating the detention system.

They said hospitals had also reported large numbers of adults with mental health problems hurting themselves on purpose and requiring medical treatment.

Australia has a policy of mandatory detention that requires all people arriving in the country without a valid Australian visa to be detained in remote facilities while their applications for asylum are assessed. Some people wait for a year or more to find out whether they can stay in Australia or not.

A doctor at the Australian Medical Association has said, "Mandatory detention is medically harmful, violates human rights, has no known beneficial effects and is a waste of money".