More asylum seekers in Australian hospitals

Australian doctors are increasingly treating asylum-seekers being held in immigration detention in the country's north, many suffering mental illness.

Darwin's major hospital is struggling to treat the large number of asylum seekers who have been traumatized by immigration detention, many asylum seekers have attempted suicide and some have to be admitted to the psychiatric ward.

The Northern Territory branch of the Australian Medical Association (AMA) said three to five detainees from Australian immigration Centre’s were being brought to hospitals every day, many with mental or recurring issues. "They are all complicated cases, because virtually all of them will have some mental health issue," said Dr Paul Bauert, president of the AMA.

Dr Paul Bauert Said "They are not straightforward (cases), there is a fair degree of mental illness and chronic anxiety with their representations. They often need interpreters which are hard to find. So the whole process... becomes compounded."

Bauert said while some cases clearly involved psychiatric illness, other asylum-seekers came with chest or abdominal pain which needed to be examined despite the often firm suspicion it related to mental health.

Dr Bauert says immigration health services are not helping. "One of the ways that's used in an effort to decrease the amount of presentations to the health staff at the detention Centre’s is the use of anti-depressants," he said.

"One gets the feeling that both Minister [Chris] Bowen and the Health Minister, Plibersek, really don't understand the health conditions of the Northern Territory population and certainly has no understanding of the amount of psychological stress that they are putting on these unfortunate people in detention." He says long-term drug use is putting the detainees at further risk.

Rights groups have long criticized Australia's policy of mandatory detention for asylum-seekers arriving by boat, under which many are kept at remote and isolated detention Centre’s which have been beset by unrest.

A spokesman for Immigration Minister Chris Bowen said the government was concerned about mental health in detention but noted that asylum-seekers had appropriate access to health facilities. "People in detention will be taken to Royal Darwin Hospital when they are medically assessed as requiring emergency or specialist health services for various health complaints," he added.

Asylum Seekers on their way to Australia in Indonesia

Indonesia has a strategic geographic location which makes it a desirable place of transit for Asylum seekers trying to reach Australia.

There are those who go straight to the office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Central Jakarta, and file a request to be recognized as an asylum seeker or refugee. Thousands of asylum seekers looking to be refugees are sheltering in Indonesia; the years of waiting for placement to a third country is a tortuous affair. With only their words to go by and scant paperwork to back them up, most of these people are trying to find their way out of the suffering they experienced in home countries wracked by violence and oppression.

An ethnic Arab, Amir Mazraeh 54 years old (not his real name) fled from Iran with his family to escape what he says is the oppression and discriminatory treatment by the government there.

Amir Says “We’ve been waiting for years, and it’s been stressful because we can’t do anything besides think about our families and friends that we’ve left behind,”

Amir’s story is similar to that of hundreds of others who in recent years have flooded into Indonesia from Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and the Middle East as they seek to make their way, legally or otherwise, to Australia.

The Indonesian immigration office says that as of December last year, there were 3,980 illegal immigrants in the country (about 4,000, according to the UNHCR), of whom 3,011 were classified as asylum seekers and 969 refugees. Less than half, or 1,284, are housed at the government’s immigration detention centers in 13 cities across the country.

As of this month, there are at least 567 immigrants living in 42 houses, apartments, villas and hotels in Cisarua, according to the Bogor Immigration Office. In June last year, that figure was just 326, with most of the immigrants coming from Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran and Pakistan.

For those like Amir and fellow Iranian Yusuf (not his real name) and their families, who have been in Puncak since 2010, the wait has been anything but pleasant. Amir makes it clear what he wants after living in limbo here for the past year and a half: “I just can’t wait to leave.”

While some of the asylum seekers are luck to be supported by the government and are placed in communities until their status for refugee is determined. Other have to wait this long period in detention centres in Indonesia.

The conditions in Indonesian detention centres are not good, people are thrown together in small are without good health services. Recently an afghan asylum seeker was beaten to death at a detention centre in Kalimantan, Indonesia.

The 28-year-old Afghan man was among a group of five which escaped from the Pontianak detention centre. The chief detective in Pontianak, Puji Prayitno, says the men were recaptured and were healthy when they were returned to the centre. One of them, however, died the the next day and Mr Puji says the cause of death was trauma caused by a blunt object. Asylum seekers say a guard beat one of the would-be escapees and killed him. The 10 suspects, from a staff of 30, were in police custody. As of yesterday afternoon, charges had not been laid.

Commission spokesman Andrej Mahecic said "UNHCR is seriously troubled by the unclear turn of events that followed,”

With the tide of asylum seekers continuing to grow, the government is establishing a special office within the Coordinating Ministry for Political, Legal and Security Affairs to deal with the issues of illegal immigration and people smuggling.

The ministry hosted a high-level meeting at the end of January, attended by officials from the IOM, UNHCR, the Foreign Ministry, the Transportation Ministry, the military, the police and intelligence agencies.

The new office, which will help in monitoring, synchronizing and coordinating policy applications to prevent people smuggling and handle asylum seekers, will have its own intelligence unit.

The government has acknowledged the difficulty of the task ahead. “People smuggling and illegal migrants are complex issues,” says Maryoto, from the immigration directorate. “It’s not just about immigration. It’s also about human rights, international relations and national defense.”

Indonesia has still not ratified the 1951 United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and the 1967 Protocol. Indonesia also does not have a legal obligation to regulate standards on handling refugees. Thus the bad condition for refugees continues and there is no hop of any change in the future for asylum seekers.

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.”