An Unending Journey Turns Into a Nightmare for an Iranian Asylum-seeker in Australia

Hassan left Iran is search of a new life. Like others, he thought the long and painful journey to Australia as an asylum seeker would end when he got to Australia and was granted refugee status. Instead, his experience has been very different and is still not over.

Hassan arrived on Christmas Island in May 2010, just after the tension in the overcrowded and understaffed detention centre had exploded into violent protests.

By the time he reached Australia he was already depressed and wanted to return to Iran. But when he phoned his family they told him that it was not safe and that returning would put him and his family in even more danger.

While in detention, Hassan witnessed other asylum seekers try to hurt themselves on a daily basis.

The week before he arrived, a 20-year-old Afghan man hanged himself in his room. Hassan also tried to end his life after his application for refugee status was rejected and the interview to hear his appeal against the negative decision was cancelled at the last moment without explanation.

“It was very hard for me. The months in detention made me remember when I was in detention centres in Iran. I was hopeless about life. Nothing was good for me and I was wondering, 'Why should I stay here?’”

The first time he saw Australia was when he was taken to hospital after his suicide attempt. “I didn't know anything about Australia, about people, or houses.”

The medical staff who supported Hassan after his suicide attempt wrote that he “describes experiencing overwhelming anxiety symptoms, including flashbacks, panic attacks and poor sleep with nightmares, chronic persistent anxiety and restlessness (e.g. biting arm hairs) as well as low mood and hopelessness, which have been worsening throughout the duration of his 14 months in detention - especially since transfer from Christmas Island.”

His psychiatrist also wrote that “being in detention reminds [Hassan] of his time in a prison in Iran … and that even seeing the detention centre guards in uniform caused him to experience panic attacks and re-experience the trauma of Iran. He also mentioned particular rooms in Curtin reminded him of torture rooms in the Iranian prison.”

They tried to have him moved from the detention centre, pleading that the “detention centre environments generally would likely precipitate his depressive and anxiety symptoms and hope consideration may be given to Hassan regarding future hearings of his case.”

About three months later, he became one of the first asylum seekers to be allowed to live in the community with a bridging visa under the system put in place after the Malaysia Plan was stopped. But although he is out of detention, Hassan still does not have refugee status and is waiting for a decision following a review of his application.

A bridging visa is a short-term, temporary visa that allows those asylum-seekers who receive them to wait for an answer to their refugee claim free in the community rather than locked up in detention.

Australia’s Immigration Department will only give bridging visas to asylum-seekers who:

•                    Have been in detention for a very long time and have not received an answer to their refugee claim. A long time means between 1 to 2 years;

•                    Have been good while in detention and have not been involved in riots or protests;

•                    Have family or friends in Australia that they can live with; and,

•                    Have been approved by the Australian Security and Intelligence Organisation.

A bridging visa does not give the asylum-seeker the right to stay in Australia forever. If the asylum-seeker is accepted as a refugee, they will be given a different visa to stay in Australia. If the asylum-seeker that has a bridging visa is rejected as a refugee, then they will be sent home.

By the 31st October this year there were 5,454 people in detention centres around Australia.  64% had been in detention for 6 months or longer and almost 40% had been in detention for 12 months or more.

Law enforcement increases as more boats arrive to Australia

The largest boatload of asylum seekers to arrive since 2009, and the sixth in a week, has landed on Christmas Island as officials from the Australian Government are visiting Indonesia to discuss new ways stop people smuggling.

There were 167 asylum seekers and crew on the latest boat, making it the third-largest boat to arrive since 2009. A total of 542 asylum seekers and crew have arrived this week. After a record 901 asylum seekers and crew were intercepted in November, December is expected to be even bigger.

Since the Australian Parliament forced the Government to abandon offshore processing, boats have steadily increased in size and frequency. By the 6th of December, 3920 asylum seekers have arrived.  This is the third-highest total on record and almost one-third of the total has arrived in the past six weeks.

By Monday 5th December, there were 1235 asylum-seekers being held in Christmas Island detention centre which is designed to house 1244. But the latest arrival and a group of asylum seekers who are still in transit will add another 240 people.

A spokesman for the Immigration Minister, Chris Bowen, blamed the rise in arrivals on the Opposition, which has stopped laws being changed which would allow offshore processing and the Malaysia Plan.

The recent boat arrivals came as senior Australian Government officials were in Jakarta discussing “new ways” for Indonesia and Australia to work together to stop people smuggling syndicates and their bosses. They have discussed how to combat people trafficking and smuggling as well as ways to improve the age determination process for people smuggling crew. While there, Australia delivered three 16-metre speedboats to the Indonesian police. But Indonesian police officials said that they needed much bigger boats to fight people smuggling.

Australia has also been contributing to the Indonesian Maritime Security Board, helping the Indonesians to train their staff on maritime security and sea law. In addition, Australia has donated $2 million for a maritime radio communication network.

Speaking in Indonesia, Australian Government officials said they expected more boats carrying asylum seekers to leave from Indonesia in the next few months, despite the dangerous conditions during the monsoon season. “We're on the cusp of the anniversary of the Christmas Island tragedy and that's why the Government wants to work with the governments within the region to combat people-smuggling.”

Another Australian Government official said that there was now an “increased likelihood of people perishing at sea” as asylum seekers boarded boats in the monsoon period. A year ago, 50 asylum seekers died in a boat crash off Christmas Island in bad weather. Because of this, he also said Australia and Indonesia were developing new strategies to arrest people smuggling bosses, including the introduction of new laws in countries around the region.

Australian Government Still Wants to Pursue Malaysia Plan

The Australian Labor Party has voted to pursue a regional plan for the offshore processing of asylum seekers at its national conference.

There are two main political parties in Australia, the Australian Labor Party and the Liberal Party of Australia. Most people elected to Parliament are members of these parties. The current government is a Labor Party government and is led by the Prime Minister, Julia Gillard.

Members of the Labor Party met on the 3rd December to decide what policies they would have while in government. The Minister for Immigration, Chris Bowen, proposed that the Malaysia Plan should become a policy of the Labor Party. At the same time, he also proposed that the intake of UNHCR-registered refugees should be increased, from 13,750 to 20,000 a year. Both proposals were approved and are now Labor Party policies.

While they are Labor Party policies, they have not been voted on in Parliament so are not yet laws. Mr Bowen said “it's my view that we will be pursuing it through the parliament again, (but) we will need to see Mr. Abbott change his position if it is to pass the parliament.” Mr. Abbot is leader of the Liberal Party that wants offshore processing in Nauru, not Malaysia. The immigration spokesman for the Liberal Party said the government's asylum seeker policy had failed.

Several Labor party members criticized the proposals and the Malaysia Plan saying that the Plan violates Australia's international obligations as a signatory of the UN Refugee Convention. Refugee groups also attacked the proposals. The Refugee Action Coalition said “any plan to expel asylum seekers to Malaysia, or any other third country, is a fundamental (failure of) Australia's obligation to provide protection for who arrive on our shores fleeing persecution.” But Mr Bowen said Australia needs "to tackle this with a soft heart and a hard head."

The Government first proposed the Malaysia Plan in May this year in an attempt to deter people-smugglers. Under the Plan, 800 asylum seekers arriving in Australia by boat would be sent to Malaysia to have their refugee applications processed but they would not be allowed to come to Australia, even if their applications were successful. In return for taking the 400 asylum seekers, Australia would accept 4,000 registered refugees from Malaysia. The plan collapsed in August after Australia's High Court said offshore processing was illegal under current Australian law.

The Government believes that processing asylum seekers in Malaysia will break the people smugglers business model and prevent even more asylum seekers from drowning at sea. At the conference, Mr. Bowen said refugees were risking their lives on boat journeys between Australia and Indonesia. Almost 50 asylum seekers drowned when their boat sank off the coast of Christmas Island a year ago. "There have inevitably been others that we simply don't know about," he said.

On the 2nd December the 59th and 60th boats this year carrying asylum seekers arrived in Australia. This brings the total number of asylum seekers arriving by boat this year to 3,802. There are approximately 500 more asylum seekers waiting for boats in Indonesia.  If they arrive this year, the annual total is set to exceed 4,000 for the third time since 1999.  This is less than the almost 7,000 who arrived by boat in 2010.

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.