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Submission to the National Inquiry into Children in Immigration Detention from
The Multicultural Council of the Northern Territory
The Multicultural Council of the Northern Territory's research indicates that as at 24 November 2001 a total of 7933 unlawful non-citizens were admitted to Australian detention centres in the 2000-01 financial year.
The detainees cover 84 nationalities, the five main being:
Afghan (27.7 per cent),
Iraqi (13.2 per cent),
Iranian (7 per cent),
Chinese (5.2 per cent) and
Indonesian (4.5 per cent).
People held in detention centres on November 2:
Woomera, SA, 1111;
Curtin, WA, 685;
Port Hedland, WA, 504;
Villawood, NSW, 347;
Maribyrnong, Vic, 65;
Perth, WA, 24.
Two years ago more than 20,000 unaccompanied minors applied for asylum in Western Europe, North America or Australia. Unaccompanied minors, UAMs, are children under 18 years of age, outside their country of origin, without parents or other legal or customary guardians to care for or protect them.
53 unaccompanied minors at the end of November 2001 were in detention in Australia amongst the total of some 582 detained children. The biggest group of UAMs, about 40, are in Woomera Detention Centre in the South Australian dessert, far from any kind of community support mechanisms, where it is difficult to gain access to legal advisors for those who are screened out and visitors are all but forbidden.
The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) on Friday 1 February 2002 urged the Australian Government to review its policy of detaining asylum seekers and voiced concern about attempts to swiftly repatriate Afghans among them.
"Recent events in Australian immigration detention centres are a stark reminder of the concerns of the international community regarding the detention of asylum seekers," the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Ruud Lubbers, said.
The UNHCR said in a statement its governing Executive Committee, of which Australia is a member, had set down policy guidelines opposing the detention of all asylum seekers.
"While recognising the legitimate concerns of governments to protect national security, the guidelines state that the detention of asylum seekers -- especially children -- is inherently undesirable," it said.
UNHCR'S GUIDELINES ON ASYLUM SEEKERS
UNHCR'S GUIDELINES ON ASYLUM SEEKERS relating to children in detention.
Guideline 6: Detention of Persons under the Age of 18 years.
In accordance with the general principle stated at Guideline 2 and UNHCR's Guidelines on Refugee Children, minors who are asylum-seekers should not be detained. In this aspect, reference is made to The Convention on the Rights of the Child, in particular:
- Article 2 which requires that States take all measures appropriate to ensure that children are protected from all forms of discrimination or punishment on the basis of the status, activities, expressed opinions, or beliefs of the child's parents, legal guardians or family members;
- Article 3 which provides that in any action taken by States Parties concerning children, the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration;
- Article 9 which grants children the right not to be separated from their parents against their will;
- Article 22 which requires that States take appropriate measures to ensure that minors who are seeking refugee status or who are recognised refugees, whether accompanied or not, receive appropriate protection and assistance; and
- Article 37 by which State Parties are required to ensure that the detention of minors shall be used only as a measure of last resort and for the shortest appropriate period of time.
The guidelines go further to tell us that
- Unaccompanied minors should not, as a general rule, be detained. Where possible they should be released into the care of family members who already have residency within the asylum country. Otherwise, alternative care arrangements should be made by the competent child care authorities for unaccompanied minors to receive adequate accommodation and appropriate supervision. Residential homes for children or foster care may provide the necessary facilities to ensure that their proper development (both physical and mental), is catered for while longer term solutions are being considered. All appropriate alternatives to detention should be considered in the case of children accompanying their parents.
If none of the alternatives can be applied and States do detain children, this should, in accordance with Article 37 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, be as a measure of last resort, and for the shortest period of time in accordance with the exceptions stated at Guideline 3.
We have not seen attempts at first resorts by the government to place children in community locations.
Other countries with detention centres keep children for only short periods before releasing them into the community. Sweden requires that children be held for no more than six days.
The Department of Immigration refuses to release details of how long children have been kept in camps such as Woomera and Port Hedland, but it is believed to be up to two years.
Despite requests by various organizations, the Immigration department could not provide breakdowns by age, length of time they had been held or how many were in each centre "due to privacy concerns".
The guidelines again tell us that
- If children who are asylum-seekers are detained at airports, immigration holding-centres or prisons, they must not be held under prison-like conditions. All efforts must be made to have them released from detention and placed in other accommodation. If this proves impossible, special arrangements must be made for living quarters which are suitable for children and their families.
- During detention children have the right to an education which should optimally take place outside the detention premises in order to facilitate the continuance of their education upon release. Provision should also be made for their recreation and play, which is essential to a child's mental development and to alleviate stress and trauma.
Australia's treatment of asylum seekers violates international human rights standards and particularly those standards relating to children.
HOW?
Our domestic Immigration laws directly contravene this by mandating the arbitrary and indefinite detention of children.
Legislation has empowered the ACM officers who staff IDCs authority to strip-search anyone over the age of 10. These children wear identity tags with a number and respond when addressed by that number
Children live with their families in flat army-style barracks.
The smaller rooms sleep four people in double bunks, with little floor space between the beds. Two families often share a large dormitory. Sheets serve as makeshift curtains between each family area, to give the illusion of privacy. There are no keys to the doors, so that the living quarters cannot be locked, not even at night.
Life is regimented for detained children. Random head counts occur at any time of the day or night, when the siren calls to muster. Even asking for a cake of soap or for nappies becomes a semi military operation. A uniformed guard controls access to household items and issues day-to-day requirements.
Education focuses on English language classes, and English-speaking detainees often teach the material. Other subjects receive little attention. Attendance is not compulsory, and there is no formal curriculum with approval from the Education Department. This means that education is effectively interrupted for the duration of detention.
There has been a report of two children, aged six and eleven -who were locked in solitary confinement with their mother with no toilet facilities but a supermarket plastic bag.
A ten year-old girl in Woomera was so traumatised after raids by guards in riot gear when she was locked in solitary confinement that she was too afraid to go to the lavatory when she was allowed out of her cell for toilet breaks. Her trauma continued and she is now incontinent.
Women must queue each day for their ration of tampons/disposable nappies, there is no baby food or formula, one woman with a six month old baby who was struggling to maintain breast feeding was advised to feed the baby powdered chicken stock mixed with water.
A six-year-old boy saw a detainee shutting himself in his room and setting fire to it, a detainee threatening to slash his chest with a shard of glass, another detainee who had cut his wrists in a suicide attempt. After that he stopped eating and drinking and became mute. After being hospitalised eight times and treated by doctors at Westmead hospital he was discharged. He was not returned to the confining environment of Villawood,. But instead of the family being reunited and receiving counselling, he was put in a foster home against all the advice of the medical team. The Minister for Immigration, Mr Ruddock, refused to exercise his public interest discretion and release the family on a temporary protection visa to rebuild their lives.
The detention of children is a serious concern and violates the Convention on the Rights of the Child, signed and ratified by Australia, posing long-term risks to their psychological and social development and well being, in particular their ability to successfully resettle in an Australian community.
The effects of detention on detained children's mental health has sparked debate in the medical community.
The Paediatrics & Child Health Division of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians (RACP), and the Faculty of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP), are united in their call for appropriate assessment, intervention and support for children in Australian detention centres.
"We are calling on the Government to undertake an independent, expert review of the situation at the earliest possible opportunity," the President of the RACP Paediatrics & Child Health Division, Dr Jill Sewell, said today.
"We are particularly concerned about these children, many of whom are born in detention, for their subsequent emotional development and for the effects of detention on the functioning of their families," echoed Dr Louise Newman, Chair of the RANZCP Faculty of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.
Therefore, it is VITAL that the United Nations safeguard the interests of children worldwide. The preamble to the Convention of the Rights of the Child for instance stipulates that children grow up in an environment "of happiness, love and understanding". Article 3.4 defines the environmental contingencies that enable such emotional comfort as "the right of the child to rest and leisure, to engage in play and recreational activities". Living in regimented jail conditions inhibits children in DCs from engaging in such activities.
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.
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…."
At a minimum, families with children, and without criminal records should be immediately removed from detention centres, to enable them to regain some family routine, to benefit from community support, to decrease their vulnerability detention centre guards, and to provide the children with more freedom, access to education and better socialisation.
The Human Rights Commissioner, Dr Sev Ozdowski, will conduct an Inquiry into children in immigration detention on behalf of the Commission.
The Commissioner will inquire into the adequacy and appropriateness of Australia's treatment of child asylum seekers and other children who are, or have been, held in immigration detention, including:
1. The provisions made by Australia to implement its international human rights obligations regarding child asylum seekers, including unaccompanied minors.
2. The mandatory detention of child asylum seekers and other children arriving in Australia without visas, and alternatives to their detention.
3. The adequacy and effectiveness of the policies, agreements, laws, rules and practices governing children in immigration detention or child asylum seekers and refugees residing in the community after a period of detention, with particular reference to:
- the conditions under which children are detained;
- health, including mental health, development and disability;
- education;
- culture;
- guardianship issues; and
- security practices in detention.
4. The impact of detention on the well-being and healthy development of children, including their long-term development.
5. The additional measures and safeguards which may be required in detention facilities to protect the human rights and best interests of all detained children.
6. The additional measures and safeguards which may be required to protect the human rights and best interests of child asylum seekers and refugees residing in the community after a period of detention.
In the past year, the Commission has received an increase in the number of complaints about human rights breaches involving children in immigration detention.
One area of Commission responsibility is the rights of children under the Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989). Australia agreed to be bound by the Convention in December 1990. The Australian government has also included the Convention in the human rights responsibilities of the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission.
The Convention applies to every child in Australia regardless of nationality or immigration status and regardless of how the child arrived in Australia.
Under the Convention, children in detention have the right to:
- family life, and to be with their parents unless separation is in their best interests.
- the highest attainable standard of health.
- protection from all forms of physical or mental violence, sexual abuse and exploitation. They also have the right to recover and be rehabilitated from neglect, exploitation, abuse, torture or ill-treatment, or armed conflicts.
- to practise their culture, language and religion.
- to rest and play.
- to primary education, and different forms of secondary education should be available and accessible to every child.
- appropriate protection and humanitarian assistance as an asylum seeker or refugee.
- not be deprived of their liberty unlawfully or arbitrarily, with detention only in conformity with the law, as a measure of last resort and for the shortest appropriate period of time.
- be treated with humanity and respect for their inherent dignity and in a manner which takes into account their age.
- access to legal assistance and the right to challenge their detention.
- not be subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
- privacy.
- a standard of living adequate for physical, mental, spiritual, moral and social development.
It is abundantly clear that these conditions do not apply to children held in Australian detention centres. The Multicultural Council therefore urges HREOC to strongly urge the Federal Government to adhere to Australia's Human Rights principles and abolish the policy of mandatory detention of asylum seekers in the interest of the mental and physical health and well-being of the children currently held there for long periods of time. Those who are assessed to be genuine refugees will ultimately settle in Australia, and their prolonged incarceration will have a detrimental effect on their future health, happiness and settlement prospects.
For the Multicultural Council,
Beryl
Mulder, President
25 February 2002
Paper research and prepared by Isabelle Harrison, Hon Secretary
