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'Long Journey : Young lives'
An on-line documentary By Sohail Dahdal and David Goldie
Long Journey Young Lives provides an intimate insight into the experiences of child refugees. From the violence and danger of their homeland, to their perilous journey and detention in Australia, young refugees present an uninhibited account of their experiences.
Refugee policy: is there a way out of this mess? by Chris Sidoti
Presented at the Racial Respect Seminar, Canberra, 21 February 2002.
Download a copy: SidotiPaperFeb2002.doc SidotiPaperFeb2002.pdf
The time has come to say enough is enough. Present policies cause gross violations of human rights. They shame us. They are undermining the moral authority of our national leaders and the ethical basis of our commonwealth. Were in a mess. All this and all so unnecessary. The time has come for fundamental change, turning away from the mess we are in and embracing values that all Australians say they hold dear: decency, compassion, hospitality and fairness.
Chris Sidoti, National Spokesperson, Human Rights Council of Australia.
"Here is not for Children"
11 year old Thyrgan, speaking about his time in Villawood. He has lived in refugee camps for a total of 9 years - so far. [...] Conditions for these children amount to imprisonment. They have done nothing wrong but they have fewer rights than young offenders.
Sea Change: Australia's New Approach to Asylum Seekers (48 page report in PDF format)
by Jana Mason, U.S. Committee for Refugees (USCR) policy analyst for East Asia and the Pacific.
This report presents a comprehensive analysis of Australia's current policy on asylum seekers. It concludes with recommendations to both the Australian and Indonesian governments. Excerpt:
"At a minimum, Australia should adopt alternatives to detention that do not require the separation of families and that allow both adults and children to make productive use of their time pending a decision."
Founded in 1958, the U.S. Committee for Refugees is a non-governmental, non-profit agency dedicated to defending the rights of uprooted peoples worldwide. Visit the USCR Web site
Swedish Policy on Asylum Seekers
Sweden received almost 16,000 asylum seekers in 2000, which per capita is roughly double the intake of Australia. Considering that up to 80% of asylum seekers arrive in Sweden with fake passports or with no documentation at all, the potential for problems and public concern is substantial.
Yet despite these large numbers Sweden has been successful in building a functioning reception process that allows for a just and humane treatment of asylum seekers while they await a decision, addresses national security concerns and effectively removes failed refugee-claimants.
Alternative Detention Model
The alternative model provides a legislative and regulatory framework for a more flexible detention regime. Under this model restrictions of the current type on the liberty of Protection Visa applicants should be kept to a minimum, usually to less than 90 days. After the initial period in closed detention, most applicants would pass on to a more liberal regime; one that is most appropriate to the individuals circumstances.
Australia's Little Prisoners by Barbara Rogalla
Published in Australian Childrens Rights News, Number 28, March 2001: 1-4
Children are locked up in Australia behind fences topped with razor wire and prevented from escaping by guards in khaki-brown uniforms. These children wear identity tags with a number and respond when addressed by that number. Those who are born here are incarcerated from the moment of birth.
Refugees: The Tampa Case by Julian Burnside
Download a copy: JulianBurnsideTheTampaCase.doc JulianBurnsideTheTampaCase.pdf
The government's handling of the Tampa "crisis" was a triumph of electoral cynicism over humanitarian need. It exposed the difficulty Australians have in acknowledging the conflict of need and advantage. The refugee problem involves a choice between minor self-sacrifice and major betrayal of humanitarian standards.
Read extracts detailing conditions in detention.
"Melbourne QC Julian Burnside used to define himself as a mere gun-for-hire. He did the waterfront case for the wharfies and he was counsel assisting the Australian Broadcasting Tribunal in the cash-for-comment scandal. But on the boat people, he's put himself and his beliefs on the line. He appeared free of charge for the Tampa people in the federal court and the government is now chasing him for costs."
Developing Just Refugee Policies in Australia: Local, National and International Concerns
Speech by Fr Frank Brennan SJ AO, 25 August.
I communicated information about injuries to children at Woomera to the Minister and to the Department on 4 April 2002. Some of this information, [...], was then published in the Canberra Times on 18 April 2002. Within six hours, DIMIA had publicly refuted the claim saying, "[...] If Father Brennan has information or evidence of mistreatment of detainees he should report it to the appropriate authorities for investigation."
Thomas Keneally's Message to the Rally to Welcome Refugees, 23 June 2002.
Download a copy: ThomasKeneallyJune2002.doc ThomasKeneallyJune2002.pdf
"Oh but, say the apologists, we cannot let the children go they would be separated from their parents! We say, Dont let only the children go. After proper processing, and with proper guarantees of the kind which operate in other societies, in liberal democracies from the Arctic region southwards, even with us standing surety, let the families go. Pull down the razor wire which disgraces our beloved earth!"
Refugees and asylum seekers
A Statement by the Australian Catholic Bishops' Conference, 26 March 2002.
Many asylum seekers, including whole families, have been detained for more than a year. The Church's pastoral care of asylum seekers convinces us that detention, beyond the minimum time necessary for carrying out security and health checks, identity checks and the lodgement of applications for Protection Visas, is deeply destructive of human dignity. This is particularly true of children. After a minimum time these people should be released into the community and be obliged to contact the immigration authorities on a regular basis.
Sister Susan Connelly speaks at Palm Sunday 2002, Sydney.
Let us not be afraid of being "bleeding hearts", if only because bleeding hearts can see the bleedin' obvious, which is that human beings have hearts of flesh, not stone, and that the only true humanity is that which weeps at cruelty and injustice and puts itself on the line to reverse the inhumanity which constantly dogs us.
We can learn from the children
Speeches by school children, ChilOut SAD Rally, March 7, 2002.
My opinion of the Prime Minister locking up innocent people in detention centres is just a few words; what a I-don't-care-how-other-people-feel-Prime Minister!!
Wake up Australia
Extract from Justice Marcus Einfeld's speech, 20th Annual Sambell Oration, 17 October 2001.
Download a copy: WakeUpAustralia.doc WakeUpAustralia.pdf
People seeking refugee asylum are not illegal migrants. In making their applications for refugee status, they are doing something expressly permitted by Australian and international law. No one suggests that we should have open borders. There must be controls on movements of people in and out of countries not their own. But the current problems have been caused by many events in many countries, not all of their own making, and are not within the power of any one country to regulate.
Children in Detention by Jacqui Everitt
Paper presented at Conference at UNSW, December 2001.
Download a copy: JEverittDec2001.doc JEverittDec2001.pdf
Is there a country which is prepared to lock up open-endedly children who have been charged with NO crime? Is there a country on earth which removes fundamental human rights from all the children of a particular social group? Is there a country or culture that does not recognise the vulnerability and special needs of all children?
Still Drifting: Australia's Pacific Solution becomes "A Pacific Nightmare"
In February 2002, Oxfam Community Aid Abroad published Adrift in the Pacific - The Implications of Australia's Pacific Refugee Solution. Still Drifting is an update on developments affecting asylum seekers being processed in New Zealand, Nauru and Papua New Guinea.
The Mental Health Effects of Immigration Detention Centres on Children and Young People.
Summary for Dr Bhagwati and Matthias Behnke, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.
By Drs. Dudley and Blick.
Download a copy: HarmsDoneToChildrenInDetention.doc HarmsDoneToChildrenInDetention.pdf
What is observed in the Immigration Detention Centre (IDC) Population, how the detention environment creates and aggravates mental disorders, long-term mental health consequences of detention.
Adrift in the Pacific - The Implications of Australia's Pacific Refugee Solution
An Oxfam Community Aid Abroad Report
"Oxfam Community Aid Abroad believes that the so-called "Pacific solution" is no solution to the issues raised by the Tampa crisis. It is important that Australia develop new policy on asylum seekers in the Pacific region, based on humane and sustainable alternatives"
Send a message of support to asylum seekers languishing in detention camps Nauru and Papua New Guinea.
Refugee and Asylum Seeker Policy in Australia (25 page report in PDF format)
Research, Analysis and Recommendations Undertaken for the Independent Education Union by
The Edmund Rice Centre for Justice and Community Education, February 26, 2002.
"Serious doubts have been raised over the sustainability and effectiveness of what has become one of the most expensive and draconian refugee policies in the Western world."
Report of visit in January 2002 to Woomera Immigration Detention Centre by HREOC officers
The five day assessment was extremely thorough and included interviews with children, children with their family, parents, single men and women; in all, eleven families were interviewed and approximately twenty children.
All members of the Commission met on Friday 1 February to consider the report of the visit. Based on the evidence provided to it, the Commission concluded that there are clear breaches of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which Australia is a signatory.
Asylum seekers in Australia
The medical profession can assist by reinforcing the principle of healthcare as a right, and opposing policies that contribute to poor health
Mitchell M Smith, Director, NSW Refugee Health Service, Sydney, NSW
MJA 2001; 175: 587-589
The mental health implications of detaining asylum seekers
In the year when we should be celebrating the 50th anniversary of the United Nations Refugee Convention, we appear instead to be ignoring the lessons of history.
Zachary Steel and Derrick M Silove
MJA 2001; 175: 596-599
Psychological disturbances in asylum seekers held in long term detention
Confinement in immigration detention centres for extended periods of time can have severe, psychologically disabling effects on asylum seekers.
Aamer Sultan and Kevin O'Sullivan
MJA 2001; 175: 593-596.
Not the Hilton: Immigration Detention Centres: Inspection Report.
Joint Standing Committee on Migration. Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia.
Canberra, the Committee, September 2000.
Available online.
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