A note from visitors to Leonora: Detainees are allowed to give notes but on our last visit in August, those notes were all aggressively confiscated and detainees disciplined for trying to hand them over. We received a letter of apology from the Department of Immigration and the Ombudsman investigated. Their complaint was found to have merit but as the notes had disappeared after Serco employee SM took them into his possession and promised, in the presence a state security officer SW, to mail them to us. They have never been received by us. (we have emails documenting this, both from the dept and from SW) Given this experience this time the notes were handed to us secretly by the detainees. The other notes are currently being translated.
October 2010
Sometimes it is the small indignities which make you want to weep. Women at the ASTI in Darwin have been waiting 6 months for knickers- yes underwear. Many women had only one pair of pants - the one they came off the boat wearing. Many times we asked - why can't you walk them 5 minutes down the road to the k-mart and let them choose 6 pairs of knickers. No, SERCO have some central "cheap" supply somewhere which took six months to provide. Ten days ago the women were given- wait for it- YES 3 KNICKERS EACH. oh the generosity- the largesse!
The women at the ASTI are required to go to the office and line up and ask for SANITARY NAPKINS on the day that they start to bleed- not before. They are then given 6 napkins- not a packet but 6. They can ask for more as needed. At night only male officers are on duty so if the need them during the evening shift they must ask these men.
Can you imagine the indignity? Why can't these women be given a packet each month without asking?
In thenews
Here are a few quotes from recent times that may be worth remembering and reiterating...
Detention centres are factories for mental illness. Australian of the Year 2010, Professor Partick McGorry.Mr McGorry has made this observation on many occasions including in anopinion piece for ABC Drum on 18 November 2011
''I don't believe detention is a deterrent, it is not designed as a deterrent, it is a management tool for people who come without visas or passports by boat and require health, security and identity checks.'' Immigration Minister, Chris BowenThe Age 10 February 2011
Moving public opinion on border protection Crikey, Wednesday, September 22, 2010 Founder of the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre Kon Karapanagiotidis
In the past, I have naively thought the facts would bring an end to the fear mongering. By explaining to people that we receive just a few thousand asylum seekers each year, and that they pose no threat to our way of life or sustainability. I want to explain that 99.99% of people who entered Australia last year, did so by plane; that Australia takes just 0.03% of the world's refugees and displaced people; and that there are 76 countries that take more refugees than we do, based on wealth.
These days, I talk about a much simpler truth: the moral responsibilities that come with living in a free and democratic country, and what it means to be an Australian. This means we have a moral duty to act and show compassion to vulnerable, innocent people who are fleeing for their lives.
Release the children from detention, Senator Vanstone. I don't care what message it sends. If these children are being sacrificed to achieve my security, then the price is too high to pay. Release them all and release them now.Cara Minns, Penshurst, May 18, 2004. Letter in the Sydney Morning Herald.
A young refugee's plea for a better future Opinion piece in Sydney Morning Herald by Nooria Wazefadost, 21 June 2004
[...]A refugee is a kneeling person, kneeling in front of the captain of a ship to ask for a reduction in his escape price, kneeling to pirates to ask for mercy, kneeling in front of an international organisation to ask for its help, kneeling in front of the police to ask for permission to go to the market, kneeling in front of a foreign delegation to ask to be accepted in their country.
Children are our future and they are precious. They should be out of detention centres and be in schools, colleges, TAFEs and universities. Imprisoning them is not protecting Australia; this is disgracing Australia.
The Watsons Bay establishment of prominent Sydney restauranteur, Peter Doyle was raided by the DIMIA Compliance Team. Mr Doyleobserved that: "I have to comply with more regulations about the humane treatment of lobsters than the way immigration treats these people in detention."SMH May 14, 2004
Excerpts from "Beyond Belief: The Future of the ALP" Byformer Labor Senator John Button Quarterly Essay Issue 6 (May) 2002, p 73 "..This is an issue on which the ALP should clearly distinguish its position from the opportunistic policies framed by comfortable WASP-ish lawyers in the present government....."
...The problem of refugees is not going to go away . It will only be resolved by international agreement, in which, one hopes, rigorous and more humane standards are set. Labor should commit itself to supporting the best of these standards, not the worst....."
What will you say when your grandchildren ask you: "Didn't you know that little children were kept behind razor-wire fences for two years or more?"
The following are quotes from artists appearing in Juice Magazine, Issue 111, March 2002.
Daniel Johns, Silverchair. For Australian overseas travelers who've at any time proudly trumpeted our country's legendary belief in the ‘fair-go' – the internationally digested images of our government's inhumanity towards desperate, displaced people is more than a mere embarrassment. It's a betrayal.
Rob Hirst, Midnight Oil. It's time to reclaim the heart of the nation and give asylum to those who qualify now.
Peter Garrett, Midnight Oil. The detention centres are now a cross between a jail and a lunatic asylum
