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.
We are a group of parents concerned not only about the vilification of asylum seekers that is currently going on but particularly about the fact that as a community we are apparently accepting the indefinite detention of their innocent children. We hope through your column to tap into the groundswell (we are sure must exist) of decent, caring Sydney Parents who are also sufficiently concerned about this DO SOMETHING!!!
Whatever turbulent events are being played out on the world stage it is obvious that asylum seekers are not going to go away. A hallmark of a civilised society is how it treats its most vulnerable members. Whatever the reason for these children being here the fact is they are here. Our failure to treat them with humanity and compassion is damaging their physical development and scarring their emotional psyche. Between 80 and 90% of these families end up being accepted as refugees and then the community has to deal with problems we have largely created.
Conditions for these children amount to imprisonment. They are growing up among depressive adults or ACM guards (the privatised Australasian Correctional Management Services, an arm of a major US Corporation). They have done nothing wrong but they have fewer rights than young offenders. They are denied adequate schooling, stimulation and play equipment. Next time you go to the park with your children or take them to swimming lessons can you think about the 39 unaccompanied children we are currently detaining behind rolls of razor wire?
Think how
- The Child Protection Act has recently been amended making it a prosecutable act for various professionals to fail to notify DOCS of Children at risk.
- Many children are at risk as noted in the March 2001 report by the Commonwealth Ombudsman on Immigration Detention Centres (IDCs):
"�.in June 2000 330 women and 469 children were living in close association with 2,700 men, most of whom were unaccompanied. Women who do not have a partner, family friend or male relative accompanying them and their children, or young unattached children are at greater risk than single men or family units..."
Evidence taken... together with the appraisal of incidence reports indicates there were a worrying number of indecent assaults and threats towards unattached women and children who represent the groups at highest risk�."
Who has reported these at risk children to DOCS?
- Australia is a signatory to the Conventions on Refugees and Rights for the Child which state that:
- Detention should not, in effect, become punishment for refugees who arrive in a country in breach of immigration regulations
- Children should be protected against all forms of discrimination or punishment on the basis of the status, activities, expressed opinions, or beliefs of the child's parents
- Children should only be detained as a last resort and then for a minimal time.
- Our domestic Immigration Acts directly contravene this by mandating the arbitrary and indefinite detention of children.
- We are the only western country to adopt this policy.
- Further, this year's Immigration Detainees Bill gives the ACM officers who staff IDCs authority to strip-search anyone over the age of 10.
Where were the Democrats, the Greens, and our national protests when this little pearl of Human Rights disregard passed through our legislature?
If you are comfortable with these double standards being applied to the dehumanised, criminalised children of asylum seekers that is your prerogative. Thank you for taking a few moments to read this. BUT if you are concerned with what is happening and about the nature of the society in which our children are to grow up, lots of us "DOING SOMETHING" really can make a difference.
What seems particularly worrying is the extent of repressed or mis-information out in the community. ( Medical staff who treat or counsel these asylum seekers are contractually gagged .) Whatever the political agenda for this is it is against all the laws of ethics to use people especially children as a means to an end�. All children are a wonderful end in themselves
Whether you support our stand or not, please be aware, we are NOT against:
- the deportation of those who are found not to be genuine refugees
- the fact the applications need to be processed as part of "due process"
We do not wish to be involved with the politics of immigration.
There are alternatives. No other developed country has to have a policy of mandatory detention. (Perhaps our roots as a penal colony are a little too pervasive?) Several individuals and communities would willingly post bonds, sponsor or accommodate families rather than see children incarcerated. And this would be a much cheaper option than maintaining all the apparatus IDCs involve. In response to the Commonwealth Ombudsman's March 2001 report on them, Duncan Kerr, Shadow Justice Minister, presented an excellent paper propounding that there is no social or economic rationalism for IDCs .
The cost to the community involved as these children try to recover from unnecessary periods of detention may be calculable. The human costs are not.
Human Rights
Our stand is one of Human Rights, and in particular, that of women and children. We are also concerned that while applications are being assessed and processed that these people be treated humanely.
Who Speaks for the Children?
Children are unquestionably one of the most helpless and dependent people of any society. Our willingness and ability to protect them from harm are one of the signs of a civilised society. We do not want to be, or be seen as simply paying this lip service. To be signatory to all these International conventions and flout them in our own backyards. To then have the hypocrisy to turn round and lecture other nations on human rights in their countries. Let's get our own act together first.
Everytime we look into the eyes of our own children, we know unequivocably, that we will do EVERYTHING in our power to protect them from harm, and we do mean EVERYTHING. Most of you will know exactly what we're talking about. Why should we punish asylum seekers for doing the same? It is merely a twist of fate that our lives are thus. What if the roles were reversed? When we see images of these families, one of our first thoughts is "There but for the grace of God, go we."
All of us must espouse the need to protect all children from harm. And we say to you, ALL children. Regardless of their race or colour, age, class or where they come from or even what their parents may have done (please refer to Part 1, Article 2, point 2 of Convention on the Rights of the Child). In other words, except for the most extreme of circumstances, this is unconditional, for they are true innocents.
As a friend put it very aptly,do we hear another story, see another image on the television, say "How dreadful for them. Poor things." and go and get another beer from the fridge.
This group is not interested in just rhetoric. Our appointed government does not speak for us on this issue currently. We want them to walk their talk. Is that not a fair thing to ask for?
What you can do
- Think about it. What must it be like for a child in an IDC? What do we really know about conditions in the IDCs? As parents what should our responsibilities towards these hapless children be�...?
These are real children�s lives we are dealing with.
- Talk about it. Try to combat the harsh attitudes created by our government�s mis-information on this issue. Seek to improve the level of debate on this topic.
- Lobby. Write letters or emails to the newspapers, Philip Ruddock (email via http://www.minister.immi.gov.au/general/contacts.htm), the Prime Minister, The Opposition Leader , your own MPs to say you are no longer prepared to tolerate Child Refugees being detained on your behalf. Call for an immediate change of policy and for our international commitments to be honoured:
- If you would like to do even more and are interested in joining our group contact us via the email response form (the "contact us" button on our Home Page) and we will get back to you.
This is heavy stuff but important. This situation is very wrong. It has been going on for years and mostly we have done nothing. It is getting worse and if we fail to act it will get much, much worse. Things are being done now in our names that will be �The Shame� for the next generation. We are all busy people with many demands on our time and issues pulling at our heart strings. Before any more children fall prey to Post Trauamatic Stress Syndrome or decide to inflict harm on themselves can we ask you (don't leave it to someone else�) to add this to your list of things to do and please act.