Commission Website: National Inquiry into Children in Immigration Detention
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Submission to the National
Inquiry into Children in Immigration Detention from
the NSW Commission for Children
and Young People
Acknowledgments
The Commission would
like to thank the children and young people who participated in the project
and demonstrated great courage in allowing us to hear and tell their often
painful and traumatic stories, in a hope that things would change for
the better.
INTRODUCTION
THE BASIC RIGHTS OF CHILD DETAINEES
DEMOGRAPHICS
METHODOLOGY
COMING TO AUSTRALIA
DETENTION CONDITIONS
BEING RELEASED
LIFE AFTER RELEASE
CHANGING DETENTION
CONCLUSION
A: INTERVIEW CONSENT FORM
B: INTERVIEW GUIDE
C: INTERVIEWER GUIDE
D: DEMOGRAPHIC QUESTIONNAIRE
1.0 INTRODUCTION
The Commission for Children
and Young People
The Commission for
Children and Young People (hereafter referred to as the Commission) was
established by the Commission for Children and Young People Act 1998.
The Act lays down three statutory principles which govern the work of
the Commission:
(a) the safety,
welfare and wellbeing of children are the paramount considerations
(b) the views of
children are to be given serious consideration and taken into account
(c) a co-operative
relationship between children and their families and community is important
to the safety, welfare and well-being of children: s10.
The Commission is
required to give priority to the interests and needs of vulnerable children:
s12.
Children are defined
in the Act as all people under the age of 18 years and the terms 'child'
and 'children' will be used in this submission to refer to children and
young people under the age of 18 years.
One of the principal
functions of the Commission is to make recommendations to government and
non-government agencies on legislation, policies, practices and services
affecting children: s11(d).
The Commission's Response
The Commission is
pleased to have the opportunity to respond to the National Inquiry into
Children in Immigration Detention. The issues raised by the Terms of Reference
link a number of aspects of detention with childhood opportunity and experience
that have significant impact for outcomes in a range of areas of later
life. As such the Commission has a great interest in ensuring, alongside
of the many "professional" submissions that are likely to be
made, that the views of children and young people who have experienced
immigration detention are heard. This is particularly important given
that so many of the children and young people settle in NSW, after immigration
detention.
The Commission commends
to the Inquiry key aspects of the submissions to the Inquiry from the
Alliance of Health Professionals Concerned About the Health of Asylum
Seekers and their Children and the Australian Psychological Society. In
view of both submissions excellent summaries of research and impact of
detention on the health and development of children and young people,
especially those already suffering trauma, the Commission will not attempt
to canvass the same matters, but focus on telling the children's and young
people's stories.
Being locked up is
a difficult, often traumatic, experience. That is why imprisonment is
the most severe punishment in most criminal justice systems, reserved
for the most serious offences and the most serious offenders. Convicted
prisoners often find it easier to cope with their imprisonment because:
- They know the
maximum period of imprisonment, that is, they know the latest date by
which they will be released, and so literally can count down the days;
- They know they
have been imprisoned following a fair and open trial at which they had
an opportunity to state their case, to defend themselves;
- They know they
are being imprisoned as punishment for crime, as a result of their own
serious misconduct.
Virtually all those
who come to Australia seeking to be recognised and protected as refugees
are detained by operation of law pending determination of their claim.
Unlike convicted prisoners,
- They do not know
the maximum length of their detention, that is, their detention is indefinite
;[2]
- They have not
had the opportunity to challenge their detention, to state their case
and defend themselves, in an independent court, because under the law
no court has the power to review their detention or order their release
;[3]
- They have done
nothing wrong, they have not been convicted of any wrong-doing, even
of a minor nature, but they have done no more than claim a right under
Australian and international law, to seek and obtain protection from
persecution.
For these reasons
asylum seekers may find detention harder to endure than prisoners do.
Detention also comes after a long, often dangerous journey to Australia
and, in the case of refugees, after years of persecution or fear of persecution
in their own countries. Many are traumatised by these experiences.
Detention is hardest
for children. That is why the Convention on the Rights of the Child
provides that a child shall only be detained "as a last resort and
for the shortest appropriate period of time". [4]
Children have been among the asylum seekers detained longest in Australia.
In one case a very young child of a Chinese family was detained for five
years and six months, from November 1994 to May 2000. In another case
two Cambodian teenage brothers were detained for five years.
This submission examines
the experiences of child detainees from their perspectives. It is the
result of intensive interviews with ten children now recognised as refugees
and living in the community on temporary protection visas. All were detained
as children and were released within the past two years. It examines their
experiences against the obligations Australia has as a party to the Convention
on the Rights of the Child. It indicates that Australia is in violation
of key provisions of the treaty that relate not only to the fact of detention
itself but also to the treatment of the children while detained. Further
this treatment breaches Australia's own Immigration Detention Standards
and questions the adequacy, implementation and monitoring of the standards.
The overriding theme
and focus of this submission is the impact of 'imprisonment' on the children
and young people, who are clearly traumatised by earlier events in their
lives, but come to Australia seeking refuge. The very logic of mandatory
detention as it applies to children and young people is flawed, as a duty
of care is not maintained. Consequently this submission expresses what
the children wish, which is for mandatory detention to be abolished, especially
for children and their families. Further, in recognition of the time it
takes to establish a different processing system the submission outlines
numerous changes that must be made immediately to detention to reduce
the physical and psychological trauma and reach a humane level of "administrative
detention".
2.0 THE
BASIC RIGHTS OF CHILD DETAINEES
This submission is
based on the rights of children recognised in the Convention on the
Rights of the Child. [5] The Australian Government
ratified the Convention in 1990 and is bound in international law to comply
with its requirements. The Convention has a number of provisions that
apply to child detainees in Australia. This submission will consider a
number of these provisions in some detail. Other provisions establish
the foundational principles for law, policy and practice in relation to
these children and underlie the discussion in the submission. These underlying
provisions concern the overall framework of detention of child asylum
seekers, the principle of the best interests of the child and the obligation
to provide care and assistance to child detainees.
The detention
regime
The Migration
Act 1989 (Cth) in effect requires the indefinite detention of virtually
all asylum seeker children. This submission does not debate the lawfulness
of this because that issue appears to be outside the terms of reference
of the inquiry being undertaken by the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity
Commission. However, the Commission considers that these provisions in
the Act and the resultant policies and practices violate the Convention
on the Rights of the Child article 37(b) that provides
"No child
shall be deprived of his or her liberty unlawfully or arbitrarily. The
arrest, detention or imprisonment of a child shall be in conformity
with the law and shall be used only as a measure of last resort and
for the shortest appropriate period of time."
The detention of
child asylum seekers under this system is not "a measure of last
resort" and is not "for the shortest appropriate period of time".
On the contrary it is the first and only resort and for an indefinite
period of time. It therefore violates this provision of the Convention.
The Commission concurs
with the opinion frequently expressed by independent experts, domestic
and international, that this form of detention is arbitrary and so a violation
of the prohibition of arbitrary detention found both in the Convention
on the Rights of the Child article 37(b) and in the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights article 9. [6]
The best interests
principle
The Commission also
affirms the right of children expressed in the Convention on the Rights
of the Child article 3.1.
"In all
actions concerning children, whether undertaken by public or private
social welfare institutions, courts of law, administrative authorities
or legislative bodies, the best interests of the child shall be a primary
consideration."
The principle binds
the Australian Government in its administration of on-shore asylum seekers
as much as in any other area of public policy and practice affecting children.
This submission is based upon this right. The experiences of child detainees
related in this submission indicate that actions take in relation to them
have not been in their best interests.
The special
responsibility towards child asylum seekers
Under the Convention
on the Rights of the Child Australia has special obligations towards child
detainees over and above those it has towards children generally. The
Convention article 22.1 provides that states must provide "appropriate
protection and humanitarian assistance" to these children.
"States
Parties shall take appropriate measures to ensure that a child who is
seeking refugee status or who is considered a refugee in accordance
with applicable international or domestic law and procedures shall,
whether unaccompanied or accompanied by his or her parents or by any
other person, receive appropriate protection and humanitarian assistance
in the enjoyment of applicable rights set forth in the present Convention
and in other international human rights or humanitarian instruments
to which the said States are Parties."
Both accompanied
and unaccompanied child detainees have the right to "appropriate
protection and humanitarian assistance". However, the obligations
on the state are especially significant in relation to children separated
from their parents and families. Under Australian law, the Minister for
Immigration is guardian of these children, acting in the place of and
with all the responsibilities of their parents. This additional responsibility
receives specific recognition in the Convention on the Rights of the
Child article 20.1.
"A child
temporarily or permanently deprived of his or her family environment,
or in whose own best interests cannot be allowed to remain in that environment,
shall be entitled to special protection and assistance provided by the
State."
The experiences of
children related here demonstrate that the rights of child detainees under
these articles have been violated.
3.0 DEMOGRAPHICS
This submission presents
the experiences of child detainees. The Convention on the Rights on
the Child article 12 recognises the right of a child "capable
of forming his or her own views to express those views freely in
all matters affecting the child". This submission records the
experiences in detention of refugee children. They were interviewed for
this purpose. All spent periods of months in immigration detention in
2000 and 2001. They have all been all recognised under Australian and
international law as refugees. They were not economic migrants. They had
not violated the law. After being recognised as refugees they were granted
temporary protection visas and released from the camps.
Ethnic and
cultural background
Ten children were
interviewed. Nine were born in Afghanistan with one child being from Iran.
All identified their religion as Muslim, six were Shiite Muslim. Children
identified with a variety of cultural groups. Two children chose to identify
as Australian rather than specifying an ethnic background.
Detention experience
All the children
were detained in one of three centres. The majority were detained in Curtin
(six) with three being detained in Port Hedland and one in Woomera. The
children all remained in detention for a period of months with the average
length of detention being 140 days. The shortest period of detention was
a few months and the longest well over a year. Of particular concern was
that the youngest child interviewed spent the longest period in detention.
The mean age of the
children entering detention was 14 years. All of the children had left
detention within the last two years. Children came into detention in a
variety of circumstances, some without an adult guardian or any family
at all. Three others were accompanied by at least one parent and one travelled
with his extended family.
4.0 METHODOLOGY
Qualitative research
techniques were used to investigate the experiences of the children. This
came in the form of in-depth individual interviews with the children with
each interview lasting between 45 and 80 minutes and recorded on tape.
These interviews were then transcribed and the tapes destroyed. The children
were reimbursed $40 to cover the expenses of participating in the interview.
Confidentiality was assured and all children (and in one case their guardian)
provided informed consent to take part. This included signing a consent
form (see appendix A)
Interview structure
In all
but two cases, the children were interviewed without guardians. In the
case of the child aged eight years his mother was present and in part
helped him translate his experiences and provided support. In the parts
of the report where the mother is relating on behalf of her child the
text is italicised to clearly differentiate between the two. With the
young boy play techniques were used to elicit responses in a fun and non-threatening
way. These included drawing, role-play and a game in which the child had
three wishes. In one other case two sisters were interviewed together.
Given that their experiences were near identical in that they were almost
always in each other's company, they have not been quoted separately.
A translator was
necessary for interviews with seven of the ten children. All the participants
knew the translator, which assisted in creating an environment where participants
felt comfortable sharing their story. However, it should be noted that
the translation wasn't simultaneous and so some words would have been
lost in the translation.
Tools
To ensure consistency
across interviews a basic instrument (see appendix B) was developed. The
instrument provided a guide for interviewers but also sought to ensure
that the children raised issues of concern to them. Interviewers encouraged
the children to speak generally about their experiences and concerns rather
than be constrained by a rigid set of questions to be answered. An introduction
guide was also developed for interviewers to inform the children involved
of their rights during the interview process (appendix C). All participants
completed a demographic questionnaire (appendix D).
Recruitment
All interviewees
were recruited through an organisation providing rehabilitation and support
services to refugees. This service works specifically with refugees and
has strong links within the community. The recruitment process tried to
interview children who had a diversity of experiences. There was a particular
emphasis on inviting children who came to Australia as unaccompanied minors
to participate. Given the higher levels of males in immigration detention
it was expected that more males would be interviewed than females.
5.0 COMING
TO AUSTRALIA
Leaving home
The focus of the
interviews was the experience of detention. However, many of the children
interviewed referred briefly to the reasons for their flight and gave
accounts of their travel to Australia. Each said that his or her departure
came after close family members had been imprisoned, disappeared or been
killed. Their departures occurred in a climate of trauma and uncertainty.
Few knew where they were going and none had any clear idea of what would
await them on arrival here.
The Taliban took
my father and my older brother and my mother was very devastated by
what had happened to us and she told me I had to leave. She thought
that my cousin was going to leave and I could go with him and I had
no idea of where we were going and what arrangements were made
(Unaccompanied teenage boy)
My brother and
myself are from the city of ____________ in Afghanistan. And we left
Afghanistan because my father was in prison from the Taliban and he
feared for our safety and he contacted my uncle and arranged for us
to be sent out of the country. (Unaccompanied teenage boy)
The Taliban took
two of my brothers and we do not know what has happened to them. And
since then my father decided to save us as it was very difficult to
lose any more of his family. (Teenage girl)
Travelling
to Australia
The journey to Australia
was difficult and dangerous, a further cause of trauma for the children.
Many of the children interviewed grew up in villages, some in remote parts
of Afghanistan where education was limited, and they had little or no
experience of other countries and cultures. For village people from a
land-locked country like Afghanistan the experience of travelling by car,
plane and boat was both exciting and frightening. These children had never
seen the sea before embarking on a long voyage in cramped conditions in
unseaworthy vessels.
First we left Afghanistan
and eventually came to Indonesia. Mother was pregnant and she born her
baby there by caesarian. Then we moved to the boat and it was so difficult
for my mum as she had a baby on the boat and all around there was water
and it was a small boat and all the people were sitting next to each
other. We could not sleep. We had to sit and sleep. It was so hard.
I thought the boat would be like Titanic boat but there was a hole in
it and we wanted help. (Teenage girl)
I was 13 years
old when I left my parents. I was born in Afghanistan. I came from Afghanistan
to Australia via Indonesia I came near to beach with smugglers and I
saw many, many people speaking my language. I was surprised as my smugglers
did not speak my language and I did not understand their language when
they speak. In Afghanistan my father gave me money and said when I see
the boat to give it to the smugglers. I gave the money and he pushed
me and this is the boat and in this we go to Australia. I gave the money
to the smugglers. And this is the first time I came in a car for I lived
in a village in Afghanistan and I was very sick for the nine days I
came to Australia I was very sick. All the people's hands and
legs on me, everything. I can't say, "Please get off" because
I was very sick (Unaccompanied teenage boy)
We stayed a few
days in Indonesia and from there we were sent with friends of the smugglers
and for two days we stayed in a hotel and we travelled to the beach.
It was a small tiny boat for two or three people and they put twelve
people in that boat. It was the most terrible experience in my life
as I had never travelled by boat and when I saw the sea it was shocking.
Then we were taken from this boat to a bigger boat that just fitted
120 people. Four days and nights and we did not know where we were going
- an unknown destiny. (Unaccompanied teenage boy)
My father arranged
a trip for us with a smuggler. He took us from our homeland and after
a long trip to Kabul. The smuggler placed us in a boat, a very big boat
and later after we travelled for a while we were placed in a small boat.
Sixty to seventy people could be accommodated and then from there to
another boat. This other boat had about 220 people. It was quite overloaded
and it was dark. It took us several days and nights to arrive in Australia
and on our way once our boat had engine problems. (Teenage girl)
We travelled by
boat from Indonesia. It took us two nights and three days. The boat
was nearly about to be sunk and we were saying our last prayer. It was
very traumatic for us. Then we arrived at Christmas Island. We were
not allowed to land and told that we had to stay in the boat and we
stayed for 24 hours. It was very difficult as it was very overcrowded
and people were very exhausted from the trip. (Teenage boy)
Some of the children
continued to experience trauma arising from the trip for some time afterwards.
I was very sick
because of the trip and in a few days I was very dizzy as though the
room was circling around me and even now when I travel for a few hours
I get the same feeling and feel I am going through the same experience.
(Unaccompanied teenage boy)
First contact
Some children spoke
positively of their first contact with Australians. There was some fear
at the strangeness of the first Australians they met.
This is the first
time I see English people and hear them speak English. I did not understand
what they say and I was scared somewhat because our hair and our face
was different and our language different too and I thought, "Oh
my God, what are they?" (Unaccompanied teenage boy)
Australia people
came by our way and they help us (Unaccompanied teenage boy)
When we arrived
we saw Australian police and they were happy that we had made it and
arrived safe. The people from the government took us from that boat
to their own boat and then another two days on that boat to reach Australia.
They took us to somewhere that was very big and they checked up on us
and also our baggage. Even after this check up we were happy we had
made it safely. At last we were on the land. (Teenage girl))
For other children,
the first Australians they encountered were remembered as having refused
them assistance and threatened violence.
[W]e wanted help
and we thought Australian ship was going to come and we would shout
and scream that we need help. And they came to us and they said no,
they can't do anything, they would fix it a little bit but we have to
go back to Indonesia. So in that condition they were trying to send
us back. And there were women pregnant and we were showing them they
were pregnant and they were shouting that we had to go back. Those people
were shouting and they were showing their hands like they wanted to
hit us and saying, "You have to go back" The Australian
boat came again and said, "Why don't you go back?" and we
said, "Our boat has a hole". All of us were crying, all the
small children and the women. And the men were crying. They put our
food in the sea as the boat had a hole and we had to make it lighter
and so we did that. And after one day the Australian boat came again
and everything was going around our ship. (Airplanes?) Yes. We were
shaking our hands and waving to show them we were needing help but they
didn't do anything. After one day they came again and finally all the
women, the children and the men were crying that we really needed help
and they said, "Ok, we are going to get you to Australia".
(Teenage girl)
[T]hey take us
to a hall [on Christmas Island], like inside like a basketball stadium
but no people playing. You have to line up for food. very
hard with men, women, children, very dirty. No bed but bench. We sleep
on this bench - very dirty, very dirty. Our faces are red, red like
bugs eat us, sunburn. We need cream the officer said no cream. My face
is burnt red [We] just have one toilet not much, one only.
No there was one for men and one for girls. (Boy under 10 years and
his mother)
It was around 10pm
when we arrived at the camp. We did not have enough food in the boat
and we were hungry. There was a person who could speak Farsi, one of
the guards, but I was too scared to ask for food. There were six people
and they placed us in a room without checking with us if we needed anything.
I was very sick because of the trip (Unaccompanied teenage boy)
[When we were not
allowed to land for 24 hours] two officers came and they took some films
or videos and they brought water but not food. [Sick people] were told
that they could move from the first floor to the top floor of the boat.
You can go up on the top deck and you will be all right. But they were
not allowed to land. The conditions on the first floor of the boat were
very overcrowded. (Teenage boy)
Yes, my ship was
too full so we arrived in an army boat. I do not know where it [where
we landed] was but they took our bags. It was close to water. They checked
us and took our bags aside and then a bus came and we drove for two
hours and we went to Port Hedland. (Unaccompanied teenage boy)
[After arriving
we] flew to Adelaide and then, about six or seven hours hours, we went
by bus to Woomera. They checked up on us [when we arrived] and they
took our things, like rings and watches, in case we lose them. I asked
if they would give them back and they said yes. I was with my uncle
and we stayed together. (Teenage boy)
6.0 DETENTION
CONDITIONS
6.1 THE RIGHT
TO AN ADEQUATE STANDARD OF LIVING
The Convention
on the Rights of the Child
Article 27 provides
1. States Parties
recognise the right of every child to a standard of living adequate
for the child's physical, mental, spiritual, moral and social development.
2. The parent(s) or others responsible for the child have the primary
responsibility to secure, within their abilities and financial capacities,
the conditions of living necessary for the child's development.
3. States Parties, in accordance with national conditions and within
their means, shall take appropriate measures to assist parents and others
responsible for the child to implement this right and shall in case
of need provide material assistance and support programs, particularly
with regard to nutrition, clothing and housing.
The children interviewed
spoke about the actual living conditions in detention both in general
terms and in relation to specific aspects of these conditions.
The children's
experiences
The children interviewed
described the conditions in the camps as harsh, crowded, difficult and
foreign to their cultures and prior experiences.
When I first came
to the detention centre there were different people from different countries
and different cultures - really difficult to believe it. It was like
a desert It felt like we were in a cage. We could not go anywhere
with all the fences and that stuff It was like jail as there
was no care [M]any of the people were angry because of the time
they were in detention. The children were crying. My father is so angry
and I don't know why It was a bad experience. There were no times
when we were happy there We were at war in Afghanistan because
of the Taliban and we thought we have come to another war here. In the
detention centre, always soldiers all around us. Oh my God, can the
Taliban get us again? It was so hot, so very hot and lots of
flies and we needed a fan. (Teenage girl))
I don't want to
come back because the fence is too high and spikey. I don't want to
come back again in the camp. [The fence was] big and the upper was spikey
- one room and a fence around it, then one other room with fence around
it. And there were snakes, big and little ones like cobras - scary.
My dad killed one. (Boy under 10 years and his mother)
[When I arrived
in Port Hedland] they did not ask us [if I was by myself]. They just
put a tag on us and gave us a plastic bag with some shampoo and soap
in it and told us to go to a certain room. We were sharing a room with
ten other detainees but the same age, all underage, all without families,
all boys. One room and all doubled up. (Unaccompanied teenage boy)
The camps were divided
into sections. One section was reserved for new arrivals undergoing initial
intake. New arrivals were segregated there from other detainees in the
camp. [7] This section was known as the closed camp,
in contrast with the sections known as the open or free camp with greater
freedom of movement within the fenced area and higher levels of activity.
The children spoke of the particular hardship in the closed camp.
I still remember
how terrified I was, because hearing all these voices, all these people
screaming and yelling at the camp. They were restless and we were restless
too. It was really very difficult circumstances that took us there and
I cannot describe it. It was one of my most difficult experiences to
be in that closed camp. So we spent more than two and half months in
this closed camp, one of the more terrible experiences being in such
circumstances, and then one month in the free camp. (Unaccompanied teenage
boy)
It is difficult
to describe [the closed camp] It was like a prison, no window
to open to see outside. They were taking us outside for an hour in the
morning and an hour in the afternoon. The window had small holes, but
too dusty and windy - blocked with all this dust. (Unaccompanied teenage
boy)
[In the closed
camp] there was not enough space to wander around and too hot to stand
there. The police would check up on us four or five times a day and
also in the night to take the roll they would come into our room
(Unaccompanied teenage boy)
Two children commented
that conditions improved before official visitors came to the camp.
When people, officials,
came to visit our detention centre they made everything good and, when
they were gone, it went back to before. When they visited, we had hot
water, playground there was good water and good food. When they
go they don't care anymore. (Teenage girl))
Detainees are given
work opportunities to earn some money to spend at a small store in the
camps. They can buy additional food, drinks and personal items. They receive
low rates of pay and are not paid in cash but in credit at the store or
in telephone cards. Children considered that without this extra money
they could not have what they wanted or even needed. As a result family
members were forced to work for the very low pay for their children's
sake. There is insufficient work for all who want it and so the work is
rationed.
There is no shop
in the detention centre, just a room with things to sell. We had no
money and to earn money we were forced to wash toilets or work in the
kitchen. Everyone was fighting to wash the toilets to buy a coke. My
small sister saw a soldier drinking coke and my small sister wanted
some coke and he said go away, like swearing, but we did not know what
he was saying. My father was forced to work for his small child, to
wash the toilet and then to get a coke to give to her. You have to wait
in line to wash the toilet. Especially the people who have been in the
detention centre for one year, they had to do it as they did not have
clothes to wear. (Teenage girl)
Children are not
permitted to work and so unaccompanied children are unable to earn any
money to buy additional food and drink or other goods.
We had one shop,
one week open one day 7am to 1pm. The people who have money buy and
most of them that lived with me brought money with them. They [were]
buying tapes and cassettes. I did not have any money and I applied for
a job, but they said, "No, you are underage and we cannot give
you a job". (Unaccompanied teenage boy)
Shelter including
bedrooms and bathrooms
The children interviewed
said that living conditions in the camps were very crowded with many people,
including at times from different families, sharing a single small room.
The rooms were very impersonal. There were no cupboards in which to put
clothing and other personal possessions.
Me and my sister
and my brother and small sister were all together. They wanted to put
us all in one room, but we said we can't, the rooms are very small rooms.
So they gave us two rooms and my mother and father and my small brother
were in the other one We had bunks. They were good. There was
nothing else in the room. (Teenage girl) My cousin and my dad and mum
and me sleep on the ground [at Curtin]. We live in a room a little
bit bigger than this room, four families. Before when we came in camp,
give us one room for four families together a single man with women
and children. I think 15 or 16 people in one room After four
or five months [they] give us small room, two beds and my son sleep
on bare floor. We have no clothes. (Boy under 10 years and his mother)
[I stayed in Woomera]
with my family. There were other families but they were separated from
us. I stayed with my uncle in one room. But his wife and his son were
in another room but they were connected. (Teenage boy)
The living conditions
reported for children who arrived without their parents or families were
particularly crowded, causing difficulties for younger children accommodated
with older ones. Unaccompanied boys were "sharing room with 22 other
detainees" (Unaccompanied teenage boy).
We slept with 22
boys in one room. They are underage and some of them sleep in
the day and not in the night as the day was very, very hot We
would try to sleep and want the light off, not on, but they said no.
They are stronger than us and bigger than us. If we fight they hit us.
We fight with each other, hitting each other by glass, by everything.
Then after that they became two rooms. One group slept in this room
and one group in that other room For one month our minds are
not working as we can't sleep - in the day we can't sleep, in the night
we can't sleep Twenty-two boys but the room was very hot. We
had air conditioner but it was not working and they did not fix it for
us (Unaccompanied teenage boy)
When there was noise
or someone went missing after dark, then all the boys in the room would
be woken and often told to muster outside.
When we are sleeping
some 17 or 18 year old go to his friends to play cards and the police
come at 3am or 2am and check us with the light and if the person is
not sleeping he get up everybody. "Come on get up, out." We
were very depressed. "What has happened?", we are crying.
And he said, "If the person is not sleeping then we get you all
up". And we say, "It is not our fault. That's the boy's fault.
He has not come in." I was scared what had happened. Maybe something
wrong with them The second night police said, "The boy is
not sleeping here and everyone wake, everyone wake up. Come on outside,
line up." 3am, 2am, 12 o'clock - if one or two person is not asleep,
we are all got up. One night one person went to the toilet and he did
not go to any other camp, because from 12 o'clock the gate is closed.
During that time the police came and checked and he was not here and
he woke everyone and we have to line up. Then the man came back from
the toilet and the police said, "Where have you been?" "I
went toilet." "Oh," the policeman said, "very sorry".
Our eyes became very red as we can't sleep. And all the time some people
asking if we drink something to be like this. But we say, "No,
we can't sleep enough". The older persons, they are happy, they
are understanding each other. From 10 o'clock or 11 o'clock they turn
off the light and they are all sleeping. It is just the underage people.
I was just 13 and it was the bigger ones, 16 and 17 years. I could not
get enough sleep because they are so noisy and they were sleeping during
the day and they would not let them sleep during the night plus the
police checks. (Unaccompanied teenage boy)
The only thing
was experience from the guards. If one detainee left the room they would
come in the middle of the night and wake us all up and count us all
and that was one of the unpleasant experiences in the camp. (Unaccompanied
teenage boy)
One boy said that
he was separated from the only family member he was travelling with, a
young cousin, and placed in a room with a number of adult males.
I spent another
week sharing with some other detainees, three Iranians and four Afghans.
My cousin was taken to another room sharing with others. We were in
the same area but different rooms. [In my room] They were adults 20-25
year old . . . all adults. (Unaccompanied teenage boy)
Sharing with adults
caused particular difficulties for one young woman. The room was very
crowded and the presence of a young man raised particular cultural and
religious sensitivities for her and her young sister.
We were sharing
a room with three other families. We were sharing a room with
families plus a single man in that room too It was not easy. Two
families, one had five girls of our age and the other, two girls and
a son aged 3. They had both parents. There were two bunk beds and I
was sharing with my brother. I was in the first bed and he was in the
top bunk but my sister had to share the bunk bed with a single man,
like she on the lower and he was on the higher. This man was a nice
man and during the daytime he would leave the room to let us have some
privacy. But during the night he had to sleep somewhere and it was really,
really, very, very uncomfortable for us to be in that situation, especially
for my sister. (Teenage girl)
Detainees were moved
from one section of the camp to another, sometimes more than once. They
were issued with bed linen and blankets when they arrived and were expected
to take these with them when they were moved from room to room. If they
did not, because they did not know they had to or they could not carry
them or they forgot them, then they were not given replacement linen and
blanket.
When we arrived
in Australia it was winter and it was too cold. They give for us blanket,
sheet everything - everyone take for their own. At the first camp I
cannot take my pillow or everything. When we came to the [next] camp
I have not anything and I ask the policeman, "Please give me. I
left my pillow, everything." And he said, "It is up to you.
You left it." And one man, old man 42, 45 years old, he left the
camp and one old blanket and he gave it to me saying, "I know you
have nothing" At the beginning they give to us. The people
who are not sick, they take for their own, put it in the plastic
and put it on their shoulder and bring with them. I can't carry, it
is too heavy. I can't carry my bag. I put my bag in place of my pillow.
I use on my bed. (Unaccompanied teenage boy)
The children interviewed
spoke about the insufficient numbers of toilets and showers and the difficulties
this caused them. The children felt that this situation was especially
serious at the temporary facility on Christmas Island.
[T]here wasn't many
bathroom - just two for women and two for men for 1000 people. And we
had to wait and stay in a line to go to the bathroom. The women would
get up at 4am to go to the bathroom. They were saying, "We have to
go first. We don't like waiting in the line." There was no hot water,
just cold water. (Teenage girl)
It was reported by
the children that the numbers of toilets and showers at Curtin were a
problem. People had to queue for significant periods to use the toilets
and showers, causing both discontent in the difficult conditions and increasing
tensions among detainees, especially when different groups had different
access to the facilities.
The bathrooms were
good. Most of the Brolga camp had too many toilets and bathrooms. Everything
was good. But all Iraqi people are here and Iranian people. When they
were not fighting they were mixed up with each other. So they separated
the people and put the Afghani here. Then there [were] four toilets
for 500 people, two clothes washing [machines], four showers for 500
people. The Iraqi people they have a lot and most of the time we go
there. Most of the time we went there but the police said, "Don't
do that. Don't go there." (Teenage girl)
People had to line
up for showers and toilets. When we played the soil was red and when
the rain was coming. We all were lining up. Sometimes there was fighting,
not by hand but by arguing. (How long did you have to queue for a shower?)
10, 15, 20 minutes - it depends. Sometimes half an hour. (Unaccompanied
teenage boy)
The closed camp at
Port Hedland was also singled out for comment about the need to queue
for considerable periods.
One bathroom and
if you wanted to go to the toilet you have to wait one or two
hours, line up. (Unaccompanied teenage boy)
Food and drink
Most of the children's
comments about food and drink were clear and unequivocal. They expressed
dissatisfaction with both the quantity and the quality of the food. Detainees
often complain bitterly about the food and so the interviewed children's
comments were not extraordinary. There were, however, a few more positive
comments.
[T]he food was
very bad, not good to eat, sometimes cold, frozen. We had seen it before
- it was chicken and rice Most of the food was mixed. It was
not halal. We had to eat what there was there. (Teenage girl)
Food first month
was good and, after that, I did not know whether we eat halal. They
said it was but who knows First month enough, but after that
hungry We had no other choice but to eat that awful food. Often
it was not cooked properly or overcooked ... If for any reason we missed
the period to eat, we went hungry. And the quality of food was rubbish
because we did not have money or access to any other food There
were people from everywhere, Africa, Sri Lanka, Iraq and Iran - common
food for everyone.
(Unaccompanied teenage boy)
In Curtin I sometimes
did not eat food. I give it to my mum cause it was yuck. They give us
like kangaroo food, something like that I hated some. We got
vegetables only for the children. I gave them to my mum as hate vegetables.
Fish was only for the children Sometimes I got the baby food.
If children not eat breakfast they were hungry. We hide bread for the
children. (Boy under 10 years and his mother)
We spent two weeks
in the closed camp and the food was OK. The intermediate camp, we spent
two weeks and it was OK. Detention was OK there. But the third camp
the food was awful. Day by day the quality and the quantity was changing
and it was really really bad. (Teenage boy)
[The food] was
awful. It was not enough and not good. Sometimes there was food and
sometimes not. There was unfair treatment as some people would get more
and some would not. Probably some people made friendships with the guards
and it was not the same for all of us. I never had a full stomach. There
were three meals but nothing in between, just survival. (Unaccompanied
teenage boy)
The food was good
but chicken every time. For Afghan people cooking rice, meat and vegetables
- the food was good and enough food - three times a day. Never hungry,
but we were not allowed to take out from the restaurant.
(Unaccompanied teenage boy)
Food in the closed
sections of the camp was generally said to be more limited and less appealing
than in the open areas.
In the closed camp
we usually were provided with food in a lunch box. We would queue and
we were given it and there was a room where we could eat it. In the
morning we had bread and jam. I do not know if it was halal food
It depends on your stomach. If you were a big eater you did not have
enough food but for some people it was OK. (Teenage girl)
The biggest difficulty
in the camps was that the evening meal was served early in the evening
and only a light supper later in the evening. The long gap between dinner
and breakfast was very hard for younger children. Detainees were not permitted
to take food or drink from the eating area but the parents and family
members of young children took risks and endured humiliation to provide
for the children.
This family, they
had young children and some of them, they had to hide one or two pieces
of bread under their chador to give to the children later on when they
were hungry. And also some people were fasting even if it was not Ramadan
because especially for women they cannot always fast if they are travelling
or they have their period etc. So they had to keep some food aside for
that but it was very humiliating. Around 300 people were having lunch
or dinner in that room and as we were leaving the room a group of the
guards would tell us to show if we had any bread underneath. It was
very difficult for me. (Teenage girl)
Lack of access to
drink was remembered as especially problematic in dry, hot, desert areas.
At the night when
we wanted to go outside, the doors were locked and we could not go out.
And if we wanted a drink of cold water we had to leave our room and
walk so far for water. This was in a big container of water and it had
to last from the morning until the next day. People were putting their
hands in the water and it was so dirty and we could not drink that.
There were no taps, just water out of a container for 1000 people. It
was so difficult. (Teenage girl)
Clothing
The children all
spoke of having little clothing and of the difficulty in obtaining more.
Some lost their clothes along the way. Some said their clothes had been
so dirty when they arrived in Australia that they threw them away. Others
said that clothing they had brought with them had been taken from them
and burned following their arrival. This was probably for health and quarantine
reasons. The children said the clothes thrown away or removed were not
replaced.
All our clothes
were too dirty and chucked we chucked them as they were dirty.
(Boy under 10 years and his mother)
We had no more
clothes when we arrived. I bring a lot of clothes with me but on Christmas
Island the police took me to somewhere and put my clothes in the rubbish.
(Unaccompanied teenage boy)
When we were in
the Christmas Island they threw away our clothes and said they would
give us clothes, socks and shoes and everything. But on Christmas Island
they just gave us a shirt and shorts, just for summer. We asked many
times for clothes and blankets and eventually after a lot of complaining
they gave us a new blanket but they took our old ones so it was not
enough to keep us warm. (Unaccompanied teenage boy)
Clothing could be
obtained in two ways. Clothes were available for purchase from the store
but detainees needed money for that and many did not have any.
We have to have
money to buy clothes but we didn't, even for shoes. But we didn't have
money so we made like this - like tissue and we cut and with needle
and thread from rugs make a shirt in the camp. (Boy under 10 years and
his mother)
Otherwise, the children
said, detainees could apply for clothes if and when they required them.
All the children expressed dissatisfaction with the system of providing
needed clothes.
When we were in
Curtin about three or four months, we said we need the clothes and have
no clothes. One day they give for us clothes, not new. We stay in line
in the sun for three hours. The officer lie to us, a very long line,
they laughed at us and closed the door and said, "Go, there are
no clothes". They laughed at us. "Look at these people fighting
for clothes and not new clothes." I am very angry. I have a headache,
3 hours in the sun. I come back home. Next week I come back. I get a
shirt, only shirt, and my friend gives us trouser for my son. (Boy under
10 years and his mother)
You must apply
for clothes, write your name, everything, and after that he call your
name and come straight. I put it two times and my name did not come
- most of the people, because Iranian people they live all this time
in the camp, and they are disappointed. Everything is not in the hands
of officers but in the hand of the Iranian people and they are enemy
with Afghani people. (Unaccompanied teenage boy)
They used to give
us poor quality slippers (thongs), especially for children as they were
running around. The family would have to ask again and again and there
was a big long queue and they had to stay in the queue for hours and
hours and then after that they would not be given a good response. (teenage
girl)
Personal effects
The children described
how personal effects were taken from them and how they and their families
had difficulty in obtaining such necessary personal items as soap, shampoo
and sanitary napkins.
Other things were
taken - flasks, torch taken away. And we were never given them again.
When we went to detention centre they checked our bags and all the things
not allowed to have they took and given the other things the next day
We got nappies but we had to buy soap. Mum had some material
and she put it in plastic and made a nappy. (What about women and girls?
Did you get sanitary pads?) No. There was shampoo in the bathroom. The
shampoo they gave us I think was used in the washing machines too. One
soap for everything. (Teenage girl)
Commentary
The right to an adequate
standard of living includes
- shelter of a
reasonable standard that is secure, safe and not over-crowded
- hygienic washing
and toilet facilities
- adequate accessible
water of good quality
- food of good
quality and sufficient quantity and that is nutritious.
Indeed the Department
of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs own Immigration
Detention Standards list a variety of standards that relate to the
adequacy of living standards, such as food (8.4), accommodation (7.7),
and clothing (8.2). These children's experiences demonstrate that these
standards are not being met, especially in terms of their age, the gender
appropriateness of the accommodation and the adequacy of food, clothing,
water and bathroom facilities.
The children's descriptions
of their living conditions give rise to the following concerns:
- Their accommodation
was generally over-crowded and, because of the mixing of adults and
juveniles, unsafe. The conditions in closed detention were particularly
problematic, for example, the lack of access to other areas of the camp,
limited windows within the closed camps and the fact that the children
were kept in segregation from family and friends.
- The toilet and
washing facilities were inadequate to the numbers of detainees and were
unhygienic. In some sections of the camps they were difficult to access
at night.
- Water was not
provided in sufficient quantities, and convenient locations, especially
at night.
- Food was of questionable
quality and quantity and it was unreasonable to provide no food for
the children between the early dinner time and breakfast next day.
Perhaps most striking
is the connection between the living conditions and the concept of imprisonment
felt by the children, a perception that goes beyond the mere physical
location and design of the facilities. The descriptions by the children
outline a system that is not meeting standards consistent with either
Australia's obligations internationally or its own standards. The treatment
raises serious concerns about the duty of care being exercised, especially
for unattached minors for whom Australia, via the Minister, has guardianship
responsibilities.
Recommendations
The Commission recommends
that the Department of Immigration, Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs
establish the following requirements for detention centre management;
1. Children should
not be detained in a segregated environment. They should be accommodated
with their families in family units with sufficient bedroom, kitchen,
bathroom, toilet and living space. They should be furnished with adequate
cupboards for clothes and personal effects.
2. Children without
families should be accommodated together appropriately in small units
with adult support. These units should also have sufficient bedroom,
kitchen, bathroom, toilet and living space. They should be furnished
with adequate cupboards for clothes and personal effects.
3. Children, especially
girls, should not be accommodated in environments that would be culturally
inappropriate in their own country.
4. Children should
have easy access to washing and toilet facilities, as a component of
their accommodation, without the need to queue for significant periods
of time.
5. Food and water
of adequate quantity and good quality should be available as required
by the children not the requirements of the centre.
6. The clothing
needs of detained children should be assessed regularly and children
provided with additional clothing as and when required by the children.
6.2 THE RIGHT
TO EDUCATION
The Convention
on the Rights of the Child
The Convention on
the Rights of the Child sets out both the purposes of education and the
content of the right to education. Article 29(a) provides that "the
education of the child shall be directed to [t]he development of
the child's personality, talents and mental and physical abilities to
their fullest potential". Article 28 provides
1. States Parties
recognise the right of the child to education, and with a view to achieving
this right progressively and on the basis of equal opportunity, they
shall, in particular:
(a) Make primary education compulsory and available free to all;
(b) Encourage the development of different forms of secondary education,
including general and vocational education, make them available and
accessible to every child, and take appropriate measures such as the
introduction of free education and offering financial assistance in
case of need;
(c) Make higher education accessible to all on the basis of capacity
by every appropriate means;
(d) Make educational and vocational information and guidance available
and accessible to all children;
(e) Take measures to encourage regular attendance at schools and the
reduction of drop-out rates.
The children's
experiences
The children interviewed
described the extent and nature of the education they received or made
available in the detention centres. As in all other respects the situation
was worst in the closed camp environment. The children reported that virtually
no education was provided there.
Just two days one
teacher came to teach in two and a half months. (Unaccompanied teenage
boy)
The children regarded
the situation in the open camp environment as little better. Some children
received only one hour of education once or twice a week. Most received
only English lessons of a very rudimentary kind, in large classes made
up of children and young people across a very wide age range. Often the
teachers would be other detainees who had some limited English. The children
were grateful for the English they had learned and for the care shown
them by their teachers.
At the week we
had two days to go to school. We went to the class. When I arrived in
Australia I did not speak English. They speak English and I did not
understand what they said and the lady that looked after us, everyone
weekday, and she asked how school does and she became angry and upset
she was very helpful. I draw a flower for her and I give to her
One man, a friend, he is teaching English too. He was a teacher
in Afghanistan and learning English and speaks English very well
The teacher was playing with the girls and I say, "Please, we are
coming to learn and you must teach us as I cannot understand how I can
say to you" We just spend the time there but not teaching
I was writing in my room all the time. She gave to me paper and
pencil and she said, "You must learn English here. When you get
out of the camp all the people speak English. If you do not speak English
it will be hard for you." (Unaccompanied teenage boy)
Our teacher [taught
us] for one hour. Another teacher was good, some were bad and some were
good They give us big paper to write on it. Pencils Some
officers let us one hour but a teacher would keep us for two hours.
I used to be bad at Curtin but I speak English now The teacher
learnt us. (Boy under 10 years and his mother)
There was no education,
just learn English lessons with one teacher for thirty students and
different age groups, 5 to 20 years We had no computers. We had
pens and exercise books. We just copied from difficult books, some books
like dictionaries, just copying, then put in the rubbish bin. No easy
story books, just dictionaries. Not learning English, just copying and
copying. We were like a printer! (Teenage girl)
On other occasions,
however, the children reported more frequent classes but the quality of
the education offered appears to have been of a very low standard and
the circumstances made teaching and learning very difficult.
I would have school
from nine to eleven with children my age and younger than me, nine years
and ten years, and we would start at ABC. Then we would have lunch and
then afternoon school from three to five At the beginning it
was basic stuff, ABC, write something on the board and write it down
and use the dictionary and find the meanings of words. That was the
way that we learnt.(Unaccompanied teenage boy)
We went but did
not learn anything because we were all together, 10 years to 20 years,
all together. (Teenage girl)
In the closed camp
there was nothing and in the free camp the room was full so I did not
learn anything. (Unaccompanied teenage boy)
It was not really
a school. There was no maths, just English, and I could not learn as
it was only an hour. There were around eight computers and there were
times when my age group could go. We had a teacher. She was good to
us and she told us she was a refugee herself. She told us she was a
little child when she came and that made us feel good. (Teenage boy)
The reported teaching
methods were very basic, with little available to the teachers and students
other than boards and paper. In general, English language was the only
curriculum taught. Only one of the children had an opportunity to go out
of the camp on excursions. In Australian schools excursions are seen as
an ordinary and essential part of the learning process.
[We left the camp]
twice, once to take photos - about half an hour and it was good to see
all this green around us and the second time they took us swimming for
an hour - an hour from the camp. They would say we will take you swimming
and then they would told us no. I could not believe the time they took
us because they had lied so much before. (Unaccompanied teenage boy)
The teacher write
something on the board and the students know or understand it. Because
all the students all together, one student can speak and write well
but I was not able to speak English so I just sitting and looking
Some maths and some geography We did not have much geography
- just told that Australia was a big big island continent. (Unaccompanied
teenage boy)
The camp situation
itself made learning very difficult for the children. Some children were
so distressed in the camp that education was impossible for them.
I went one hour.
In one month I went eight or nine days. There was one morning class
from 8 to 11 and then in the afternoon from 2 to 4 but I was not able
to attend the morning school. This was because we had two adults in
our room and they would play cards until 2 or 3 in the morning and I
could not get enough sleep. I would often fall asleep in the morning.
(Unaccompanied teenage boy) was so distressed and very sad and could
not concentrate at all. I went three times. (Unaccompanied teenage boy)
Commentary
The children's descriptions
of the educational opportunities provided to them demonstrate a standard
of education well below that required by the Convention on the Rights
of the Child. Further, the descriptions indicate the standard of education
is not consistent with that required by the government's own Immigration
Detention Standards, relating to education generally (4.4) and specifically
for children (9.4.1). The amount of time allocated to each student was
minimal - at most four hours a day but commonly one hour twice a week.
The children were exposed to little or no curriculum other than English
language, and the class sizes, mixed skill levels and age ranges of students
were inappropriate to the effective teaching of English as a second or
other language.
In relation to the
Convention on the Rights of the Child the education offered did
not promote "the development of the child's personality, talents
and mental and physical abilities to their fullest potential" (article
29). Primary education was not compulsory and was not available to all
children in any meaningful sense. It did not meet requirements to provide
secondary, vocational or further educational opportunities.
The reported educational
standards in the camps are far below those in Australian schools, denying
child detainees equality of opportunity in education, on the basis of
their status as asylum seekers. This violates not only article 28 of the
Convention but also article 2, which prohibits discrimination on the basis
of status. The provision of education in the camps does not meet the standard
of education received by the general Australian community and is in stark
contrast to the standards that the Australian Government recently committed
to meeting as part of the May 2002 UN General Assembly Special Session
for Children.
It is important to
recognise that children and young people are at a sensitive developmental
stage for learning and should have opportunities for educational development
during this period.
The benefits of education
for children and young people residing in the detention centres, in terms
of ongoing learning and developing their abilities are obvious. Schools
would also provide the children and young people with a constructive activity
to fill in their days, a sense of hope for their future in Australia,
opportunities to feel achievement and alleviate boredom during their time
in detention.
Recommendations
The Commission recommends
that the Department of Immigration, Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs
establish the following requirements for detention centre management;
7. Child detainees
should receive general comprehensive education comparable to that provided
to other children in Australia. During the initial phase of education
the focus should be on learning English to prepare the children for
broader educational participation, though this should also include other
key learning areas such as health and human movement. The English classes
should be as intensive as appropriate to each child, taking account
of his or her age, maturity, emotional readiness and capacity to learn.
8. No later than
two weeks after arrival each child should begin to attend a nearby school
outside the camp. The child should be located in a class appropriate
to his or her age, maturity, capacity and prior educational attainment.
He or she should study the standard applicable Australian curriculum.
Although detention centres are located in remote areas all have general
schools in the immediate vicinity of the camp except for Curtin where
the nearest school is a half hour drive away.
9. Local schools
receive the necessary additional resources to support the participation
and learning of child detainees, including in relation to learning English
and coping with classes conducted in English.
10. Children and
young people over the age of 15 years should have access to technical
education and training. They should be informed about education, training
and employment opportunities available in Australia and prepared to
take up these opportunities if and when granted a visa.
6.3 THE RIGHT
TO THE HIGHEST ATTAINABLE STANDARD OF HEALTH
The Convention
on the Rights of the Child
The Convention
on the Rights of the Child article 24.1 provides
States Parties
recognize the right of the child to the enjoyment of the highest attainable
standard of health and to facilities for the treatment of illness and
rehabilitation of health. States Parties shall strive to ensure that
no child is deprived of his or her right of access to such health care
services.
The Convention, in
article 39, also provides
States Parties
shall take all appropriate measures to promote physical and psychological
recovery and social reintegration of a child victim of: any form of
neglect, exploitation, or abuse; torture or any other form of cruel,
inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment; or armed conflicts. Such
recovery and reintegration shall take place in an environment which
fosters the health, self-respect and dignity of the child.
The children's
experiences
The children often
arrived at the camps with serious illnesses as a result of the difficult
travel to Australia or their experiences before leaving their countries
of origin.
My foot was very
painful, because when I came to Australia my boat was very wet. Some
people had their own blankets and they did not get too wet. I was like
this and people said he was dead. If I run, then at the night I can't
sleep and I have back pain too. I have seen a doctor two times but they
give a tablet and it is not better. (Unaccompanied teenage boy)
When we arrived,
the lady was very helpful. She was the nurse there and this was when
I was sick. When we check out of the boat the policeman tell her. Interpreter
said, "Who is sick?" and all the people said "He is sick.
He is sick." And the nurse come and took me and take my blood pressure
and give me injection. In the bus my head was on her legs. She was very
helpful. Good things I remember, the lady at the beginning she was helpful
and very kind and working with me and I was so happy with her. (Unaccompanied
teenage boy)
Conditions in the
camps and the harshness of the desert locations also caused illness and
disease.
Mum got so red
and everywhere there were bites and bugs and things like that. (Boy
under 10 years and his mother)
Each of the children
interviewed related an account of inadequate access to health care and
medical treatment. They said that the camps had medical staff on site
but treatment was limited and often unhelpful,
"no doctors,
just nurses" (Teenage girl)
but not good -
one nurse, woman, very bad. She did not like us, did not like refugees.
She very bad, not to speak with us. (Boy under 10 years and his mother)
The children often
found it difficult to obtain medical assistance. There were no medical
staff located permanently in the closed camp. In the open camp the medical
staff were located in an area separately fenced and gated from the general
area of the camp and it was difficult to pass through the fence to seek
medical attention.
In the closed camp
the doctor would come and check on us about twice or three times a week.
But in the free camp, if we had a problem, we could not go to the doctor.
We had to wait. (Unaccompanied teenage boy)
Each said that the
principal medical advice given was to drink more water and the only medication
prescribed was panadol. This is consistent with what immigration detainees
have said for the last decade.
When we were in
the detention centre and someone was sick, headache or sick, they would
say, "Just drink water". The doctor said, "Drink water,
three or four cups, and, if you don't get better, just drink more".
My sister has a problem with her eyes. She said her eyes were so painful
and she went to the doctor who said, "You just have to drink water".
Now we come to Sydney and the doctor says she has a problem in her eyes
There was a man who had a leg broken and he went to say his leg
was broken and they said, "Just use some cream to make it better
and drink water". No medicine - we do not know of any medicine
being given, not even panadol (teenage girl)
I had a tooth pain
and they say just drink water. If the person had eye problem, drink
water. Stomach problem, drink water. If you drink water 10 glasses,
then drink 11. If we drink 11, then drink 12, 13. All the people sick,
then drink water - nothing else. (Unaccompanied teenage boy)
I think the same
treatment as everyone - water. Once I had a stomach ache and I was prescribed
panadol and a few times headaches and general body pain and whenever
I approached the medical staff I was told to drink water.
(Unaccompanied teenage boy)
I have got a kidney
problem in both kidneys and I suffered a lot with that in the camp.
I was having this pain and they were telling me to drink water. Any
sickness or any pain we were told to drink water. Very little painkillers.
Altogether five or six times I was ill. My older brother lobbied a lot
for me to be sent to a doctor. One night I was very sick and he felt
I should see a doctor but they gave me two panadol and told me to drink
water. (Unaccompanied teenage boy)
There was a particular
concern at the lack of treatment for toothache. Because of poor conditions
and lack of dental care in countries of origin many children arrive with
advanced tooth decay. When treatment was provided, it was usually extraction
rather than (more expensive) treatment that repaired the tooth.
when we have teeth
[ache], not fix it for us" (Boy under 10 years and his mother)
I was having a
teeth pain. No one helped me for eight days. After eight days the doctor
came to take it out. He took it out. (Unaccompanied teenage boy)
I had a very bad
toothache and all they said was drink water. So I could not stand it
any more and said just take it out and they said "No, no, no you
are only young - you can just drink water". I had to do my traditional
healing and grabbed an onion and squeeze it and drop the juice on the
tissue and put it in my mouth. It was a little better. (Unaccompanied
teenage boy)
The children also
recounted experiences of serious misdiagnosis that caused great distress
and of non-treatment of serious illnesses. One account was especially
concerning.
We experienced
a lot of difficulty and bad times because of the mystery of my brother's
physical problem. We knew that it was kidney problem and he needed treatment
and I tried a few times to get some medical attention for him
I had to ask if they could at least send him to a doctor, because what
they were giving him was some panadol and just drink water. Eventually
I got him to a doctor The doctor used a telephone interpreter
and the interpreter, very simply as though he was telling me to drink
water, told me that my brother had [a terminal disease]. He told me
without any kind of support or explanation. I was really shocked and
asked him what was going to happen and he asked me if I could do anything
in these circumstances. I said, "What can I do? I am in prison."
So I left it with him. My brother heard what he said and was very distressed
and kept saying that he would die After my brother was diagnosed
we stayed another 27 days in the camp and during this period every now
and then they would come and ask for my brother by his number and he
was told to drink a glass of water. And then he had a really bad pain
from his kidney and they gave him pain killer and some sleeping tablets
on one occasion because he could not sleep with the pain. But nothing
specific for [the terminal disease]. (Unaccompanied teenage boy)
Some months after
this boy and his brother were released, further tests were done and the
children were told that the original diagnosis was wrong. The younger
brother had a kidney disease, not a terminal illness.
Many of the children
arrived at the camp traumatised from their experiences and, in the case
of those without families, from their separation. The brother of the boy
wrongly diagnosed, for example, said
At that time I
had pressure from every angle, from leaving my family, concern about
my family, the long, long journey, all these interviews and being in
a very uncertain situation in a very traumatic environment and on top
of that my brother was diagnosed with a fatal disease. I felt very concerned
for him because he was going to die and I also felt responsible for
him as I was the older one. I tried to keep my feelings inside of me
and be a support person for him and calm him down and this put me in
difficult circumstances and something we did not need on top of everything
else. (Unaccompanied teenage boy)
None of the children
indicated that he or she had received specialist attention for trauma.
Commentary
The accounts given
by the children are very similar. Some medical staff were helpful and
sympathetic and some were not. This is inevitable in any system but probably
especially so in one as closed as the immigration detention system in
which persons presenting with illness have no choice as to whom to see,
when and for what treatment.
However, the experiences
in relation to medical care were unsatisfactory without exception. At
no point can it be said that these children enjoyed "the highest
attainable standard of health and facilities for the treatment
of illness and rehabilitation of health" (article 24.1). Further
the level of medical care described is clearly in breach of the government's
own standards (section 8.3) as the service provision is neither at a "necessary"
or a "reasonable" level.
Perhaps most damning
in relation to health care is the seeming absence of any psychological
care. None of the children interviewed indicated that he or she had received
any assistance "to promote physical and psychological recovery and
social reintegration" (article 39) in relation to the trauma experienced
in his or her country of origin and during the travel to Australia. Far
from being "an environment which fosters the health, self-respect
and dignity of the child" the detention camps appear to exacerbate
the trauma experienced by the children increasingly damaging their children's
development.
Recommendations
The Commission recommends
that the Department of Immigration, Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs
establish the following requirements for detention centre management;
11. Child detainees
should have access to all health and medical services (inclusive of dental
care) they require to enable them to enjoy the highest attainable standard
of health. Their illnesses should be diagnosed with the utmost care and
treated as they would be treated within the general Australian community.
Children who cannot receive necessary treatment or respond appropriately
to treatment within the detention environment should be released without
delay for that purpose
12. Early treatment
should be provided for children and their families experiencing trauma
as a result of their experiences. Special attention should be paid to
the psychological needs of children separated from their families.
6.4 THE RIGHT
TO PLAY, RECREATION AND CULTURAL ACTIVITY
The Convention
on the Rights of the Child
Article 31 of the
Convention provides
1. States Parties
recognise the right of the child to rest and leisure, to engage in play
and recreational activities appropriate to the age of the child and
to participate freely in cultural life and the arts.
2. States Parties shall respect and promote the right of the child to
participate fully in cultural and artistic life and shall encourage
the provision of appropriate and equal opportunities for cultural, artistic,
recreational and leisure activity.
These provisions
recognise the importance of play, recreation and cultural activity to
"[t]he development of the child's personality, talents and mental
and physical abilities to their fullest potential" (article 29(a)).
Children unable to play can become withdrawn and isolated, leading to
serious mental illness.
The children's
experiences
All the children
interviewed described the boredom of life in the camps. This was especially
acute in the closed camp where detainees, including the children, were
locked in-doors except for an hour in the morning and an hour in the afternoon.
For just one hour
in the morning we come out of the room to see the sky and one hour in
the afternoon. And then the doors closed, locked in. I could visit friends
in other rooms but not go outside We had one small TV for 17
or 18 people for one or two hours, we have ball to play
but very small place to play and, if we kicked the ball out, we ask
the officers, "Could we have the ball please?" and they would
say, "No. Why did you kick the ball out?" (Unaccompanied teenage
boy)
Even in the open
camp the children had few facilities for play, recreation and sport -
few toys and little sporting equipment. There was little cultural activity,
certainly none provided by outside individuals or organisations.
The children were
always fighting because of the playground and because of the toys, as
there were very little toys. [There was] a small playground and there
were so little toys and sand - not grassy. When they wanted to go play
they were always fighting. No good grounds. Fighting over small cars
When you wanted to borrow the toys you had a card in the detention
centre and when you going to dinner you had to show your card and give
your name and when you went to borrow a toy you had to give that card
for the toy. If you lose it you have to wash the toilet to pay for it.
(Teenage girl)
Some of the parents
or the children themselves improvised playthings, but at times those using
them were placed in some danger of injury.
One day we made
a swing. Yes, it nearly cut my finger off - yah yah! The swings weren't
dangerous. We made them. There was a little and a big one, like a ship,
like a pirate ship. Dad made it. When we first came there was just one
swing and everybody fight about it. They shouted, "Heh! Come down,
you cheeky boy" and I say, "I got it first". So there
was one swing and then we had three swings. My friend Wahid and he had
a sister and they made one for his sister and one for his brother and
one for me. One day my friend's cousin who pushed us, the thingy got
ripped and nearly chopped my finger off. I was so lucky. It was this
close. (Boy under 10 and his mother)
Television sets were
provided by the camp managers but the few sets were placed in large viewing
areas and it was difficult for children to obtain access to them to watch
programs suitable to their age and of interest to them.
In the free camp
[the TV] was in a room where we could watch it but I was not very interested
as I had never seen TV before in my life. Too big halls with one for
women and one for men - no chairs so we had to sit on the floor. (Unaccompanied
teenage boy)
The children had
few, if any, opportunities for excursions outside the camp environment.
We were never allowed
to go out. Better to take us out for sightseeing, better than just being
imprisoned. It was not only that they did not take us. They would lie
to us. They would say, "We will take you swimming" and then
they would told us no. I could not believe the time they took us because
they had lied so much before. (Unaccompanied teenage boy)
Only one of the children
interviewed said he had left the camp for reasons other than a medical
appointment,
Once to take photos
- about half an hour. And it was good to see all this green around us.
And the second time they took us swimming for an hour, an hour from
the camp. (Unaccompanied teenage boy)
All that remained
for the children to do, then, was play sport. Yet they said that there
was little sporting equipment and that no sporting events were organised
by the camp staff.
We played soccer,
basketball and volleyball. No net for volleyball. A ground but no hoop
[for basketball]. (Unaccompanied teenage boy)
Volleyball and
football. There was a basketball too but I did not know how to play
that. Also tennis I think. (Was there a basketball hoop there?) There
was. (Was there a net for the volleyball game)? No, it was not there
and we asked and they gave us one. (Unaccompanied teenage boy)
You can play basketball
or soccer - everything you like. You organise it yourself. We had Iraqi
teams and Iranian teams and Afghani teams and I played I play
badminton. I like to play football but I can't play it. (Unaccompanied
teenage boy)
I did not play
sport in the beginning but when the other boys left they brought us
a ball and I played with some others in the closed camp. (Were there
any other games you could play?) No. (So what did you do all day?) I
was wandering around and then inside sleeping. It was very boring. (Unaccompanied
teenage boy)
There was a kind
of football but the ground was awful. If you fell down you really hurt
yourself. So we did not do that too much. There was a tennis court but
I did not know that game. (Teenage boy)
Commentary
The children's accounts
make it clear that the standard, quality and quantity of the play and
sporting equipment provided for the children were inadequate for the numbers
of child detainees and did not take account of the range of their ages.
There were too few toys for the younger children. The sporting equipment
was basic at best and often less than necessary for games. There was no
indication of any cultural activity organised by the camp managers. The
failure to take children on excursions outside the camps is especially
troubling. Access to play, recreation and cultural activity is a necessary
part of children's development and a key component of education and learning.
These child detainees do not receive opportunities for this that is sufficient
or appropriate.
Section 4.4 of the
Immigration Detention Standards refers to access to programs so
that detainees can utilise their time in a constructive and beneficial
manner, the descriptions by the children indicate this standard is not
being met and more alarmingly the absence of structured and facilitated
age appropriate recreation is adding to the levels of frustration and
tension within the camps.
Recommendations
The Commission recommends
that the Department of Immigration, Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs
establish the following requirements for detention centre management;
13. An extensive
range of sporting and play equipment adequate for the numbers and appropriate
to the ages of child detainees should be provided to children in camps.
14. A structured
recreation and play program (facilitated by specially trained staff)
should be implemented to teach children how to use equipment, including
through sport instruction and training and are linked to children's
development.
15. Cultural, recreational
and artistic opportunities and activities should be provided to child
detainees, including through visits by outside performers and educators
and through excursions outside the camp, at least for one full day a
week.
6.5 THE RIGHT
TO PROTECTION
The Convention
on the Rights of the Child
Articles 19.1 and
34 provide the right of all children to protection from abuse and neglect.
States Parties
shall take all appropriate legislative, administrative, social and educational
measures to protect the child from all forms of physical or mental violence,
injury or abuse, neglect or negligent treatment, maltreatment or exploitation,
including sexual abuse, while in the care of parent(s), legal guardian(s)
or any other person who has the care of the child. [9]
States Parties
undertake to protect the child from all forms of sexual exploitation
and sexual abuse. [10]
Article 20 entitles
children deprived of their families to special protection by the state.
A child temporarily
or permanently deprived of his or her family environment, or in whose
own best interests cannot be allowed to remain in that environment,
shall be entitled to special protection and assistance provided by the
State.
The children's
experiences
The situation in
the camps and their location raised many protection issues in the interviews
with the children.
One common issue
was snakes. A number of the children referred to the presence of snakes
in and around the camp and their resultant fears.
There were so many
snakes. When I wanted to go to the toilet and I have to go to my mother's
room and to wake her. Then she come with me. There was girl bitten by
a snake so I scared to go by myself. The girl, they took her away and
then brought her back later. Under our room, some animal, I saw it and
shouted and screamed. Mother went to the officer and he came and said,
"Don't worry. He doesn't care about you." That night I could
not go to my room. (Teenage girl)
There were snakes,
big and little ones like cobras. Scary. My dad killed one. (Boy under
10 years and his mother)
None of the children
interviewed alleged that he or she personally was subjected to physical
or sexual abuse or exploitation. All, however, referred to the general
atmosphere in the camps as one of violence, conflict, threat and intimidation.
Most experienced this on a daily basis. Their comments indicated that
they felt unsafe and vulnerable because of it.
Some reported violence
or rough handling on the part of the camp guards and officials. Some thought
that the camp guards were armed with guns and were violent.
(What made you
feel unsafe? Because of the other people or the guards?) Uniformed officers
and fences and fighting among the people, shouting "We want to
be free!" The guards made us feel scared. The soldiers that
came to check our rooms had guns in their pocket. (But most of the staff
did not have guns?) Yes, they do. (Teenage girl)
The situation engendered
in one very young child grave fears for his physical safety from camp
guards.
The boss sometimes
in morning, he kicks the door in and if he sees you he puts you in jail.
At night when we sleep the officer comes inside, with his foot kicks
the door, and he came inside and he have a torch and see we in the room
or not The worst thing was one day they tried to make a fence
and tried to shut it on us and lock us in so we could not go out. In
morning the officers come and see your card and they say, "What
number are you?" Everybody and they can kill you or that. They
come and check us (When you were in Curtin, did you feel safe?)
No every time he knocked down the door and bring torches, he
picks out a few if you open your eyes, he grabs you and he takes you
and he hits you and you come back like One am. He even takes us and
our bags. He kicks them. He got them and hides them somewhere. One day,
one day, my friend went down and there was everything of ours hanging
there. They hide them and laugh at us (Was there anything else?)
Some of them bring guns, no, not guns, sticks. (Boy under 10 years and
his mother)
This child also was
a witness to a particularly violent incident during a confrontation between
camp officials and detainees who attempted to walk out of the camp.
The worse thing
was they hit us, everybody, and some of us cried! The first person who
got hit - whack - cried, hit with a stick. (Do you know why he got hit?)
Because he jumped on the officer. And someone else's head was bleeding.
I was scared. We did not bother them. We just tried to walk on the road
but they bothered us Men broke the fence and they got some people
like the armies and they got sticks and hit us (Was it just the
men who were hit when they tried to fight?) Yes, my father was hit but
not hurt. They went whack, whack, whack, whack. (How many times was
your father hit?) Hit on the back of the head with a stick, a baton.
(Boy under 10 years and his mother)
Another child spoke
of the violence he had witnessed, the actions of the guards and the effect
on him.
I witnessed demonstrations
and strikes in the camp. There were people there who had been there
for years It was quite a violent action because these people
in the jail were screaming and yelling and self harming themselves by
either beating or bashing or cutting themselves. Then the guards would
interfere and usually the guard had a stick or electric thing. We would
hear all this screaming and yelling and then later on they would be
quiet because of the action used against them. It was quite frightening
to see and hear this thing. Even in that free camp once they demonstrated
and, whenever such happened, the guards came in and interfered with
us, a violent action with this electric stick or something to break
up the demonstration. It was not all the time but, if something was
happening, they would interfere. I could not stand it anymore and went
to my room and sat by myself. I could not watch it. (Teenage boy)
Other children spoke
about tension and anxiety as an ordinary state of affairs, arising from
the everyday incidents of camp life.
The detention centre
had one TV for the whole of the camp of 1000 people. There was always
fighting about the TV. Some people wanted to watch a movie and the men
wanted to watch soccer. When I was in the detention centre, about three
times I saw the men were fighting and hitting us because of the TV or
the children were fighting because of the playground or the toys. (Teenage
girl)
(Did you see any
violence while you were there?) Nearly every second day. Just fighting,
because everybody was losing their temper, fighting over small things
like TV or a ball. (Unaccompanied teenage boy)
There were detainees
from other nationalities and detainees that they have left there for
years, like three years, and they were just mad being in detention for
three years. So every now and then there would be fighting between detainees
and the guards. Instead of just separating them in a peaceful kind of
way, they usually used a baton and bashed them and then take them away.
Sometimes if there was an argument the guards would just watch until
it reached a point where an arm was broken or a nose bleeding or something
really serious had happened. Then they would take action. (Unaccompanied
teenage boy)
One night we went
to restaurant to eat something and one lady, she is from Iraq, she start
fighting with the police. All the Iraqi people come to help her and
hit the police and everything was broken, the plates, everything. (Unaccompanied
teenage boy)
There was violent
fighting between Afghanis and Iraqis. [The guards] thought it was their
own business and they did not do anything. (Unaccompanied teenage boy)
At the beginning
it was OK but after a while there was fighting between Afghan and Iraqi
detainees, violence because someone was injured in their eyes and bruising
on their face. There was an Iman giving the prayer and he tried to negotiate
between them all. But it did not work and after that it was tense between
Afghans and Iraqis. But they sent apologies to each other and it changed.
(Teenage boy)
Some were witnesses
to acts of deliberate self harm by detainees.
A man from Iraq
had been in the detention centre for one year and half and he was crying,
"I want to go out". He put boiling water over himself and
then he died. (Teenage girl)
Two detainees attempted
suicide. They took some pills and taken to the hospital. A few detainees
climbed trees. One of the detainees in the basketball court took a razor
and wanted to cut himself in the basketball court, cut shis neck. He
wanted to commit suicide. He was taken away and placed in jail for three
days. He was saying that he did not want to come to Australia because
he found the detention situation worse than being back in his own country.
He wanted to go back. (What happened to him?) He stayed here. Until
the time that we were released he was still in detention. They were
two brothers and one was released and one wasn't. Then he became very
distressed and tried to kill himself. (Unaccompanied teenage boy)
A person wanted
to cut himself in the basketball court and he was screaming and saying
he would do it and the guard came and he was taken into a small room
and left there. I saw it as I left the mosque. He was trying to cut
himself in the neck. (Unaccompanied teenage boy)
One child expressed
her continuing concern about what had happened to a detainee, who was
apparently a spokesperson for some of the detainees, who had been injured
in one incident in a camp.
After that incident
happened, DIMA took [him] to give him medical attention and since then
we have never heard from him and I keep wondering if he is alive or
still in detention or been prosecuted. (Teenage girl)
Other children also
spoke about the sudden absence of other detainees and their fears for
their safety.
One of my other
bad memories from the closed camp, someone would come and call a number
without any explanation and that person would be taken and we did not
know what was going to happen to that person and later we would find
out that that person got a visa or probably deported. It was really
uncomfortable feeling, to be in that situation. Their number was called
and we did not know what had happened to them. (Unaccompanied teenage
boy)
Of course some of
the children did not feel so threatened and commented on the level of
harmony among the different groups living together in a very confined
space for long periods. So, for example, although there is inherent risk
in requiring children to share bedrooms with adults not members of their
own family, the children expressed confidence in the adults.
(When in the room
with seven adults, did you feel safe with them?) I felt safe.
They were people I had travelled with all the way. They were Afghans
from the boat. I did not have problem with any detainees. (Unaccompanied
teenage boy)
Another boy spoke
positively about the care and concern he had experienced from some of
the guards.
Some of them were
really good and, if we asked for something, they would do it for us.
Some of them did not like us. One of my good experiences with a guard.
We were rejected once for our visa on the basis that they said we were
not Afghans. That lady cried for me and said, "Why did they make
that decision?" Not all of them were bad. (Unaccompanied teenage
boy)
However, the effects
of living amid regular violence were evident.
Watching and witnessing
all this violence is very distressing and I still have not got over it.
(Teenage girl)
The youngest child
interviewed revealed the depth of fear and despair in the relationship
between camp officials and detainees. He had said earlier in the interview
that detainees who complained were "put in jail" until they
said they were happy.
(If you were a
magic person and had three magic wishes, what would you do with these
wishes to change Curtin to make it better for people like you?) I see
[a camp manager] come and I say, "Abracadabra" and whack.
And he says, "Ow!" And he would get tiny. My hand gets big
and he is like a tiny ant. Then I say, "You happy?" and he
says, '"No". And then I make my second wish. I put an ant
jail and chuck him in there for five weeks and, when the five weeks
come, I ask, "Are you happy?" "No." Then the last
wish. I say, "Are you happy? Are you happy?" And make him
like a teeny tiny and squash him like an ant. And then he says, "Yes,
I am happy, just make me big." I say, "No, in your dreams".
And then I make the officers get hold of the man and he is then squashed.
(Boy under 10 years and his mother)
Commentary
Detention of children
of itself gives rise to significant child protection issues. Confining
children to camps in remote locations for periods of months or even years
is child abuse, both physical and emotional. Any parent who did this would
be likely to be charged with a criminal offence. This submission, however,
is directed not to the fact of detention but to children's experiences
in detention.
The physical safety
of the children in these locations is the first issue of concern. The
children spoke about the presence of snakes and their resulting fear.
Australian children in remote areas, both indigenous and non-indigenous,
encounter snakes and other potentially dangerous animals and situations.
But they are accustomed to the dangers and are taught how to deal with
them. Child asylum seekers come from very different physical environments
and cannot be expected to have the knowledge and skills to avoid the dangers
of the camp locations. Indeed most Australian city children would be in
the same position. This is a safety concern.
Living in an atmosphere
of regular violence is far more serious because it is more immediate and
more clearly harmful to the children. Traumatised by violence in their
countries of origin they come to Australia to escape it. But the camps
as they describe them are places in which violence is endemic, an everyday
occurrence. It is an inevitable product of the forced cohabitation of
large numbers of distressed, insecure people in a confined space in an
extreme environment. The children's accounts of their lives in the camps
describe an atmosphere laden with violence, the potential of violence
and the threat of violence. The effects of these conditions on the children
themselves are evident in their comments and have created an atmosphere
of fear. Fear is linked to a person's ability to recover from trauma and
indeed appears to add to trauma. The cumulative traumatising effects of
detention and violence are well documented in the submissions of the Australian
Psychological Society and the Alliance of Health Professionals concerned
about the Health of Asylum Seekers and their Children.
Another grave risk
arises from the mixing of children and adults. The Migration Act 1989
(Cth) requires that children and adults should not be detained together
because, among other things, of the risk of physical or sexual abuse of
the children by the adults. Yet the camps do not separate children and
their families from other adults, including large numbers of single young
men. In fact some of the children, male and female, said they had been
forced to share bedrooms with single men. In any context within Australian
domestic law, such as care and protection or justice, this is unacceptable.
Fortunately none
of the children interviewed indicated that he or she had been physically
or sexually abused. Their right, however, is not merely a right not to
be abused but a right to be protected and a right not to be placed in
a position of unacceptable risk, as is outlined in the United Nations
Rules for the Protection of Juveniles Deprived of their Liberty and the
United Nations Minimum Standard Rules for the Administration of Juvenile
Justice.
The situations outlined
by the children interviewed indicate that they were not properly or adequately
protected whilst in the camps.
Recommendations
The Commission recommends
that the Department of Immigration, Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs
establish the following requirements for detention centre management;
16. Detention centres
should be required to meet same standards as residential services for
children in out of home care. Conditions in the camps should be monitored
regularly against these standards by an independent Agency familiar
with these standards such as, in NSW, the Office of the Children's Guardian.
Policies and procedures must stipulate that children should not be accommodated
with adults who are not members of their family or home community.
17. Detention centres
should adopt policies and procedures to identify and address potential
situations of conflict and violence. They should have staff trained
in conflict resolution on site at all times.
18. Children should
not be exposed to violence or the threat of violence. They should be
kept away from potentially violent situations. They should be assisted
to deal with any incidents of violence or self harm they might witness,
including through being provided with appropriate information about
the fate and well-being of those they see injured
19. As part of
induction and safety information children in the camps should be taught
about local environmental dangers and how to deal with them safely.
6.6 THE RIGHT
TO PARTICIPATION
The Convention
on the Rights of the Child
One of the key principles
of the Convention on the Rights of the Child is the principle of
participation. The Convention provides in article 12.1
States Parties
shall assure to the child who is capable of forming his or her own views
the right to express those views freely in all matters affecting the
child, the views of the child being given due weight in accordance with
the age and maturity of the child.
The children's
experiences
Participation requires
knowledge and understanding. The children interviewed said that they knew
little about what was happening to them and their application to remain
in Australia. They did not understand the process involved or its progress
or otherwise. They did not know the language.
Nothing was discussed
with us. There was no consultation They gave us no explanation.
(Unaccompanied teenage boy)
They tell us nothing.
(Unaccompanied teenage boy)
We did not have
the language and we did not know the system. When we arrived two other
boats arrived with us. They were full of Afghan Hazaras and Iraqis.
So in those first weeks it was very difficult for us but we did not
know to say anything. (Teenage girl)
The children who
came without their families were interviewed by departmental officials.
The circumstances of these interviews have already been the subject of
comment. However, they were able to play some role in the determination
process. By contrast, children who accompanied their parents said that
they were not asked for their views.
Our mother and
father were interviewed, not us. Some of the other families, their children
were being interviewed but they were older than 16 years. (Did you understand
the process?) We understand from our parents. They want to make sure
they let us stay in Australia or not. (Teenage girl)
There was no process
for the children to express their views on the running of the detention
centres or on issues associated with the centres. The children interviewed
said that there was no committee or other process by which they could
deal with the camp management.
(Was there any
system for the young people there to have a committee to deal with the
camp administration?) No. (Unaccompanied teenage boy)
Commentary
The children interviewed
clearly felt alienated from the camp management. There was no formal or
informal structure through which they could raise their concerns and express
their views. They had no control or even influence over their lives and
futures while in the camps. They could not "express [their] views
freely in all matters affecting [them], [their] views being given
due weight in accordance with [their] age and maturity". Children's
participation is one of the central rights in the Convention on the
Rights of the Child. The Convention recognised for the first time
that child should be participants, subjects of action and not merely passive
objects. Yet the interviews give no indication that the camp managers
appreciated this and responded to it by providing mechanisms for the participation
of child detainees. Indeed whilst recognising dignity of detainees as
a key aspect of the Immigration Detention Standards there is no
mention of participation or being informed about the asylum seeking process,
a key component to being treated with dignity, especially for unattached
minors.
Recommendations
The Commission recommends
that the Department of Immigration, Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs
establish the following requirements for detention centre management;
20. Immigration
officials should inform children of the procedures for determining applications
for protection and the progress of any application affecting them. Children
should be given opportunities to express their own views and to have
their views taken appropriately into account.
21. Interviews
with a child should be conducted in a manner appropriate to the age
and maturity of the child and with due care for and protection of the
child's rights (including the right to have an independent adult present
during the interview) and well-being.
22. Mechanisms
for formal and informal consultation with children should be developed
in each camp . This could include consultation about educational activities
in the centre or the determination of their refugee status. Children
should be encouraged to express their own views and their views should
be given due weight in accordance with Article 12 of the Convention
on the Rights of the Child which deals with the child's right to
participation.
6.7 THE RIGHT
TO RELIGIOUS PRACTICE
The Convention
on the Rights of the Child
Under article 14
children are entitled to enjoy the same rights as adults in relation to
religious belief and practice, subject to "appropriate direction
and guidance" by their parents in accordance with article 5.
States Parties shall
respect the right of the child to freedom of thought, conscience and religion.
The children's
experiences
The children interviewed
said that their right to religious belief and practice was generally respected
in the camps, but that there was difficulty in finding appropriate places
for prayer.
(Did you have a
prayer room?) No special room. We can pray outside the room or at the
basketball on Friday night we can do our prayer, under the tree. (Unaccompanied
teenage boy)
In a room with
three families, we did not have enough space to pray. There was just
a tiny space to put our prayer mats so we had to make a roster. One
person would pray and, when she had finished, another would pray. I
found it uncomfortable as I did not have my own space to pray. (Was
there any other space within the camp where the men could pray together
and the women pray together?) There was no such place in the closed
camp. The single man sharing a room with us went to another room to
pray. (Teenage girl)
We had to pray
in our room. The men would pray together on the sand but it was so hot
to do it. (Teenage girl)
One child commented
that there was nothing to do in the closed camp but pray.
In the closed camp
we had no choice but to pray all the time as we were locked in our rooms.
In the free camp there was a mosque. (Unaccompanied teenage boy)
Another child commented
that there were no visits arranged for Muslim religious leaders and that
this was difficult because of the remoteness of the camps and the small
Islamic populations in those areas.
Halal food was provided
in the camps for Muslim detainees, although one detainee wondered whether
the food was really halal and two did not believe it was.
Food first month
was good and after that I did not know whether we eat halal. They said
it was but who knows? (Unaccompanied teenage boy)
Most of the food
was mixed - it was not halal - we had to eat what there was there. (Teenage
girl)
Arrangements were
made for Muslim detainees to eat during the night during Ramadhan.
3am the restaurant
was open for the people who were fasting, 12 midnight and 3am for breakfast
Just ordinary food but just dates extra Same food we eat
every day but different hours. (Unaccompanied teenage boy)
The crowded conditions
in the camp and the mixed population of detainees made this difficult,
however.
At midnight we
had to wake up to have something to eat and we had to be so quiet, turning
on light for a minute and eating quickly. (Teenage girl)
Commentary
The children's accounts
do not indicate any restriction on freedom of belief but the arrangements
made for religious practice were inadequate. The camp managers appeared
to provide in some cases halal food for Muslim detainees and assisted
during Ramadhan in making food available during the night. However the
children described difficulties in finding appropriate space for prayer.
Nonetheless there was no evidence in their interviews of serious restriction
on the right of religious practice.
Recommendations
The Commission recommends
that the Department of Immigration, Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs
establish the following requirements for detention centre management;
23. Appropriate
and sufficient space in each detention centre for prayer and other religious
activities should be provided in accordance with section 4.2 of the
Immigration Detention Standards.
24. Visits to child
detainees by outside religious personnel should be facilitated as desired
by the children for purposes of worship, instruction and support.
6.8 THE RIGHT
TO A NAME
The Convention
on the Rights of the Child
Article 7.1 of the
Convention provides
The child shall
be registered immediately after birth and shall have the right from
birth to a name and
Article 8.1 of the
Convention provides
State Parties undertake
to respect the right of the child to preserve his or her identity
The children's
experiences
Some of the children
interviewed referred many times to being called by number rather than
by name while they were in detention.
Most of the police
did not know the name, so we have a number. The people all wrote our
card number and he read for us, "[my number], you come". The
first time the police came into my room and he told me, I was very scared.
(During the time in the camp did they call you by your name or always
a number?) By number. (All the time?) Yes. When you go to the DIMA and
they call the name, when the DIMA has any question or we have any problem,
they call [one number], [another number], [another number], like that.
We were outside. The police had a paper and he say, "[My number],
come inside. [Another number], come inside." (Unaccompanied teenage
boy)
Some of them would
speak with us in a very, very humiliating way to put us down. I felt
humiliated and I think many other detainees did too. They called us
by number, never by name Then every now and then they would call
our number and we were not sure whether we had to go for something,
whether it was an interview or doctor appointment or something else.
They gave us no explanation It was around 5 am in the morning
and that guard came and called my number and my brother's number. (Unaccompanied
teenage boy)
[T]hey would come
and ask for my brother by his number. (Unaccompanied teenage boy)
Commentary
Child detainees are
human beings with names, as is their entitlement. The right to a name
is included in the Convention on the Rights of the Child in recognition
of the intimate link between a personal name and being human. The removal
or suppression of a person's name is a dehumanising act that contravenes
several articles of the Convention and the dignity of detainees as covered
in the Immigration Detention Standards.
The Commission acknowledges
that camp staff can have difficulty knowing and pronouncing unfamiliar
names. Also some names are very common in particular cultures and so there
can be more than one person with a particular name even in a small group.
However, the replacement of a name with a number and then the exclusive
or near exclusive use of the number rather than the name reinforce the
sense of loss of personhood and of personal control in detention. It is
especially unacceptable to treat children this way. They are vulnerable
and at great risk of emotional harm when detained. The loss of personal
identity by replacing names with numbers can be particularly harmful to
them.
Recommendation
The Commission recommends
that the Department of Immigration, Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs
establish the following requirement for detention centre management;
25. Children in
detention should always be called by name. Where there may be some confusion,
due, for example, to more than one child sharing the same name, then
a number or other personal identifier may also be used in conjunction
with the name. Numbers should never be used instead of or in the absence
of a name.
6.9 THE RIGHT
TO HUMANE TREATMENT
The Convention
on the Rights of the Child
The right to be treated
humanely, with respect for human dignity, is the most fundamental right
of persons in detention. It applies to all persons in detention, whether
justly or unjustly detained, whether detained following criminal conviction
or not, whether an adult or a child. Article 37 of the Convention on
the Rights of the Child provides in relation to children
(a) No child shall
be subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment
or punishment
(c) Every child deprived of liberty shall be treated with humanity and
respect for the inherent dignity of the human person, and in a manner
that takes into account the needs of persons of his or her age. In particular,
every child deprived of liberty shall be separated from adults unless
it is considered in the child's best interest not to do so
The children's
experiences
The nature and context
of detention affects whether the detainees are treated with humanity and
respect for their inherent dignity. All of the situations already described
by the children, therefore, affect this question. The experience of detention
as a whole must be considered.
For the children
the camp was like a prison.
It was like a prison,
not detention. Whatever that we had to do, just tiny little things,
we had to ask for permission. We were not allowed to have it without
permission .. In the first few weeks their attitude was good
to us, treating us as a human, but gradually it changed, day by day
and week by week We have had enough to deal with, with
the traumatic journey, leaving our families and not knowing about anything
that has happened to them and them not knowing anything about us. We
needed to be treated better than we were treated in detention camp.
(Unaccompanied teenage boy)
Physical accommodation
arrangements are especially relevant to whether detainees are treated
humanely. The comments of the interviewed children on their living conditions
have already been set out in this submission. Some aspects require further
consideration in relation to the humaneness of the treatment.
As already indicated
the situation in the closed camp was particularly disturbing. One child
said they were locked in the building except for one hour in the morning
and one hour in the afternoon.
For just one hour
in the morning we come out of the room to see the sky and one hour in
the afternoon. And then the doors closed. Locked in. (Unaccompanied teenage
boy)
Also disturbing was
the practice of accommodating children and adults who were not family
members in the same room. Several of the children said that they had been
accommodated in rooms with adult men in both the closed and the open camps.
One boy said that he was separated from the only family member he was
travelling with, a young cousin, and placed in a room with a number of
adult males.
I spent another
week sharing with some other detainees, three Iranians and four Afghans.
My cousin was taken to another room sharing with others. We were in
the same area but different rooms.[The others in the room] They were
adults 20-25 year old. . . .all adults. (Unaccompanied teenage boy)
A singe adult male
was also placed in a room with three families, including teenage girls.
We were sharing
a room with families plus a single man in that room too My sister
had to share the bunk bed with a single man, like she on the lower and
he was on the higher. (Teenage girl)
Certainly all children
were within areas of the camps in which single adult males were also detained.
For one child, however,
the greater concern was loneliness and the fear that produced.
For three months
I was in the closed camp. All my friends were transferred from the closed
camp to the free camp and I was the only one left. I tried to find someone
who could translate to find out why I was the only one left. Nobody
could tell me and I was left by myself. (Were the other boys Afghani
too?) Yes, they left after two months and I stayed another month. Basically
I was left by myself for a week and no one else in the room. I was too
scared in the room and I could not sleep and I used to leave the light
on. It was too hot also. I was wandering around. After a week they brought
someone else who was 17 and then they took him away and then they brought
him back and he stayed for the remaining three weeks. I was so lonely
by myself for everybody else was adult and no one was speaking to me.
That was quite scary to be myself for a month without anyone to talk
with. (Unaccompanied teenage boy)
The children interviewed
commented frequently on the attitudes of the camp officers.
Some were good;
some were bad. Some of them treat you like they would give you everything
you want. Not everything - only if they bring. They were eating lollies.
We were watching them eat lollies and ice cream and somebody said, "What
are you doing? You are eating in front of our children and they are
hungry." Some of the children jump on him and say, "Give me
the lollies" Some were nice and some mean. Some people very,
very good. They can understand us. But some not. They think we're like
animals. Just eating like sheep, eat, eat. We not came for eat. In my
country we can eat anything. We came for freedom. Government in Iran
and Iraq is very bad. We came here for freedom. But no freedom, just
10 months in the jail. My friend she came with us and she has one son,
now two years and 4 month, she in the jail, in Curtin. (Boy under 10
years and his mother)
While in the camp
the children were interviewed about their situations and their applications
to remain in Australia as refugees. The interviews as they described them
were often intensive and threatening. Two brothers were required to undergo
a series of tests before the authorities were satisfied that they were
telling the truth about their relationship and their ages. And then they
were questioned repeatedly at great length about their claim to be Afghan
and not, as the interviewer asserted, Iranian. The rigorousness of this
testing contrast starkly with the brothers' requests for medical assistance.
No independent adult support person was present during these interviews.
They more concerned
with other tests than with my health. We had to have tests to prove
that we were brothers and they did some tests, DNA. First time it did
not come through. They did it a second time and it was proved that we
were brothers. Then they said that we were not underage and they did
a bone test and it was proved that we were underage. Finally we were
told that we were not Afghans as we come from a place on the border
with Iran, and we have an Iranian accent. (Unaccompanied teenage boy)
they did
not provide such a thing [an adult support person]. At the interview
there was someone they called a case officer, a female, a male interpreter
and a male that was doing nothing but sitting and listening and I do
not know what was his role. (Teenage girl)
When [staff from
DIMA] came they kept asking me where did I come from, which part of
Afghanistan. He finished a whole tape, both sides, asking me questions
We were not told that we could have anyone else with us. They
took ten boys at the same age and they took pictures of us all and asked
us to smile and we smiled. After that they took us to a room and interviewed
each of us. I cannot say exactly but approximately 2 hours or so. They
interviewed us and then sent us out another way, so we would have not
contact with the others (Who else was in the interview room?) One interpreter
and probably two others. (Did they explain who they were and where they
had come from?) Yes. They asked us about our experience in Afghanistan,
why did we come and how did we come. I was very scared. It was the first
time I had been interviewed and I was scared and crying. They did not
care about what was my experience. They were so focused on the interview
I wasn't important. They could have explained about the type of questions
they would ask and explain the purpose, why they were interviewing us
and try and calm us down. They could have made it easier for us
[When I cried] they just kept interrogating me. (After the interview
did they tell you what would happen with what you had told them?) No
I was afraid that I would stay in this camp forever for there
were people there that had been years in the camp and they were totally
mad. They had lost their mind and I thought I would be in the same situation.
(Unaccompanied teenage boy)
After two weeks
they interviewed us again and then a week later a third time, three
interviews in a month. Because the fighting was happening between the
Iranians and Afghans, even though they were in the camp, they
also told us that all the visas were stopped for a month. Each time
they had a visa they would take out a few people and on the fourth time
I was released. (Unaccompanied teenage boy)
The first time
that they interviewed us they told us, "If you lie to us or make
up stories that the smuggler has told you, you will be in trouble. We
will interview when your turn has arrived." We were in a queue.
It was more official information than an interview Three interviews,
but individual, not with my sister or brother. At first they interviewed
my older sister. They took her away so there was no contact with her
in between. Then my brother and, when he finished, [my sister and my
brother] were taken back to the camp and I was left by myself
It was three hours and they asked me if I needed water or the toilet
and I said no but they did not offer me food For example they
asked if I did commit any crime. I was shocked and I asked, "What
do you mean by this?" and they said had I killed anybody. I was
very uncomfortable and very difficult to answer the questions. How could
I do that? I am this age and very young. Some silly questions like that
made me uncomfortable. (Teenage girl)
We were interrogated
as though we were criminals. The interviews were hours and hours and
repeatedly asked the same questions: why did you leave your country,
what did the Taliban do, where is your father. Quite traumatic as in
our special circumstances, we had to prove our identity, whether we
were brothers, our age. English was frustrating. A few interviewers
from outside the camp came in and the interview just went on and on.
It was very uncomfortable to be in that situation. (Can you remember
fairly accurately how many hours?) Around four to five hours. I was
interviewed five times [for that long] and one was a short interview,
about half an hour. That was about what we eat, our customs. But, if
it was an interview about what I was, then it was five times that length.
I spent a month in the camp just doing interviews. The last interview
we had it was 9am until 4.45pm. The lady that interviewed us, at the
beginning she told us that, because we were children, she would not
interview us for too long. But she kept all the day, question after
question. Even if I had to leave the room, she would ask me something
as I opened the door and I would have to answer and it was very uncomfortable
for me. (During this time did you break for lunch and time to walk around?)
She had a break but we didn't. I took a glass of milk with me but did
not have an opportunity to drink my milk. The guards kept our lunch
aside for us. The lunch was cold [when given to us later]. We had water,
but no food. (Unaccompanied teenage boy)
Another child spoke
about the interview process. On this occasion he had a support person
present, a lawyer. He said that, after his visa had been approved, his
release and that of others in his group was delayed for twenty days because
of earlier disturbances at the camp.
My case officer
at the interview and I tell him if you have any question about Afghanistan
tell me now and ask me now about Afghanistan. I have not time to live
in the camp and she understand. She asked me a lot, a lot questions
about myself, about the situation of Afghanistan, about the quality
of Afghanistan, how the women wearing, how's the marriage, how you build
a house, how's your life in Afghanistan. But when I give the interview,
my lawyer he tell me good, and I was waiting for 20 days ... The Afghani
people they are starting the fighting, they are fighting in the centre
and they are hating the centre. Our legs, our bones are broken. And
for 20 days more, the visa was approved and they didn't give to us and
you must wait in here. After 20 days they call us and give to us the
visa One lady said, "I am sorry about that. We can't give
you your visa for more than 20 days. We are not allowed to give
to you because you are fighting." (Unaccompanied teenage boy)
Commentary
While an individual
act can constitute inhuman or inhumane treatment, the whole context and
experience of detention must be taken into account when evaluating the
nature of the treatment accorded detainees and whether it meets the standards
set by law.
International human
rights jurisprudence establishes a very high threshold for an act to constitute
torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. The treatment
described by the children does not reach that threshold.
The standard of inhumane
treatment is a lower standard. A lesser level of mistreatment is sufficient
to constitute failure to treat "with humanity and respect for the
inherent dignity of the human person, and in a manner which takes into
account the needs of persons of his or her age". Several aspects
of the children's treatment fail to meet this standard, both generally
for all the detained children and in relation to particular incidents
affecting individual children. This includes:
- The general conditions
in the camps, the living conditions of the children, accommodating children
with adult detainees who were not relatives, the denial of opportunities
for useful activity, being routinely called by number rather than name,
lengthy interrogation in the absence of an independent adult support
person and other aspects of the detention described by the children
combine to establish conditions of detention that violate the requirement
of treatment "with humanity and respect for the inherent dignity
of the human person, and in a manner which takes into account the needs
of persons of his or her age" under article 37(c) of the Convention
on the Rights of the Child.
- The interrogation
of children for lengthy periods, without food and in the absence of
an independent adult is a violation of the requirements of article 37(c).
These practices are not permitted in Australia during the interrogation
of juvenile criminal suspects and they are even more unacceptable during
the interrogation of traumatised child asylum seekers. Those children
who were interrogated under these circumstances were treated inhumanely.
- The conditions
in the closed camp have been described. They are unsuitable for children.
The child who was detained in the closed camp for a period of three
months was subjected to inhumane treatment and possibly to inhuman treatment.
Recommendations
Recommendations already
made in relation to particular aspects of detention would address some
of the concerns in relation to humane treatment that respects the inherent
dignity of the children. The additional issue raised in this section is
the process of interviewing or interrogating the children and maintaining
a duty of care.
The Commission recommends
that the Department of Immigration, Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs;
26. Adopt standards
and procedures for interviewing children. These standards should accord
child asylum seekers protection and safeguards at least as high as those
accorded children interviewed in the course of criminal investigation,
whether as a potential offender or as a victim of crime. The procedures
need to include that:
- Child detainees
should not be interviewed for lengthy periods of time and during the
course of an interview they should be provided as required with food,
drink and opportunities for breaks.;
- The number
of interviews with child detainees should be kept to the absolute
minimum necessary to establish the basic facts of the child's claim
for protection;
- A child detainee
should not be interviewed without the presence of an independent supportive
adult who has the confidence of the child;
- Each child
detainee should have an advocate who will speak on his or her behalf,
if the child so desires. A child detainee is entitled to legal advice
and representation before and during an interview; and
- Child detainees
should not be interviewed in threatening or hostile environments.
The interview should be conducted in a child friendly location and
in a supportive manner.
6.10 THE RIGHT
TO ASSISTANCE
The Convention
on the Rights of the Child
Article 22 obliges
states to provide special measures of assistance to child refugees and
asylum seekers.
1. States Parties
shall take appropriate measures to ensure that a child who is seeking
refugee status or who is considered a refugee in accordance with applicable
international or domestic law and procedures shall, whether unaccompanied
or accompanied by his or her parents or by any other person, receive
appropriate protection and humanitarian assistance in the enjoyment
of applicable rights set forth in the present Convention and in other
international human rights or humanitarian instruments to which the
said States are Parties.
2. For this purpose,
States Parties shall provide, as they consider appropriate, co-operation
in any efforts by the United Nations and other competent intergovernmental
organisations or non-governmental organisations co-operating with the
United Nations to protect and assist such a child and to trace the parents
or other members of the family of any refugee child in order to obtain
information necessary for reunification with his or her family. In cases
where no parents or other members of the family can be found, the child
shall be accorded the same protection as any other child permanently
or temporarily deprived of his or her family environment for any reason,
as set forth in the present Convention.
In the context of
detention while seeking asylum the assistance required by article 37(d)
is also relevant.
Every child deprived
of his or her liberty shall have the right to prompt access to legal
and other appropriate assistance, as well as the right to challenge
the legality of the deprivation of his or her liberty before a court
or other competent, independent and impartial authority and to a prompt
decision on any such action.
The right to "appropriate
protection and humanitarian assistance" includes the right to assistance
"to trace the parents or other members of the family of any refugee
child in order to obtain information necessary for reunification with
his or her family". This provision supplements other rights that
deal with the place of a child with his or her parents and the obligation
of states to facilitate that. Under article 7 the child has, "as
far as possible, the right to know and be cared for by his or her parents".
Under article 10.1
applications
by a child or his or her parents to enter or leave a State Party for
the purpose of family reunification shall be dealt with by States Parties
in a positive, humane and expeditious manner.
Under article 18
1. States Parties
shall use their best efforts to ensure recognition of the principle
that both parents have common responsibilities for the upbringing and
development of the child
2. States Parties shall render appropriate assistance to parents
and legal guardians in the performance of their child-rearing responsibilities
These provisions
recognise the particular vulnerability of children generally and of refugee
and asylum seeker children in particular. They give priority to assisting
child detainees separated from their parents with family reunification.
The children's
experiences
All the children
interviewed recounted experiences of isolation, confusion and ignorance
of the procedures under which they were detained and by which their application
for protection was to be processed.
They tell us nothing.
(Unaccompanied teenage boy)
We were not told
about the process of our application Nothing was discussed with
us. There was no consultation. Then every now and then they would call
our number and we were not sure whether we had to go for something,
whether it was an interview or doctor appointment or something else.
They gave us no explanation One of my memories from the closed
camp, in the male or single section, everyone went on hunger strike
as they were not being given any explanation about how long they would
be in this closed camp or when we are going to be transferred. Myself
and my brother and we had to go like for 24 hours in this hunger strike
and then they transferred us to the family section. The same camp but
the family section. When we had any question and we would ask the guards
they would say, "It is nothing to do with us. It is DIMA."
All the time we lobbied for us and they would tell us to write it down.
We did not have enough English and we did not know whom to ask. If we
wrote it in our own language there was no translation for it. (Unaccompanied
teenage boy)
Nobody told us
one single word and we didn't know if we were going to stay a month
or years. We did not know what was going to happen to us. The only time
there was an interpreter available was at the time that they interviewed
us Other detainees in this closed camp were all in the same situation.
They did not know what was happening either They explained to
me why they were interviewing but there were things that I had never
heard before and even if they interpreted I did not know the words.
(Teenage girl)
Yes, there was
one interpreter. He was just helping us No, we did not know how
long. We thought one year like other people or one year and half, and
two years and after two years they were sending them back to their country.
We thought we were going to be locked in this place for a long time.
(Teenage girl)
I have a lawyer
and a case officer. (Unaccompanied teenage boy)
The interview process
itself seems to have been designed to catch the children out rather than
assist them. The comments of the children have already been reported in
this submission.
Detainees depended
on earning some money to buy small items. Children with families could
rely on them for support. Parents worked whenever they could to provide
additional items for their children.
I worked in the
kitchen for one week from 6am to 1pm for $26 for one week We
buy chips, clothes. We clean the toilet - but the toilet was too yucky
- picked up the garbage They don't give you money - we work,
they give us points when we go shopping and they know our points and
we buy Yes, we work only for the children. We clean the toilet,
clean the outside, pick the rubbish, work in the kitchen - only for
the children. (Boy under 10 years and his mother)
Children without
adult family members in the camp had no access to additional money and
so no means of acquiring additional items they needed or wanted. Children
were not permitted to work and so could not earn money themselves. Unaccompanied
children were not paid any allowance or pocket money.
We had one shop,
one week open one day 7am to 1pm. The people who have money buy and
most of them that lived with me brought money with them. They buying
tapes and cassettes. I did not have any money and I applied for a job
but they said, "No, you are underage and we cannot give you a job".
I had a 100 US dollars and I lost it. I was very sick and everything
was wet and I put it inside my Holy Koran and put it in my bag and when
I arrived in the camp they take it. "What is this?" I said,
"the Koran, my money is not there". And totally lost. I do
not know who took it the people who have the money you can buy
anything. I was given no pocket money. (Unaccompanied teenage boy)
None of the children
who had come without parents had had contact with their families since
leaving their homes to come to Australia. When accepted as refugees they
are given temporary protection visas that do not permit them to be re-united
with their families in Australia.
I have not had
one single contact since I left Afghanistan. I don't know if they are
alive or dead or if the Taliban killed them or if they were killed by
the earthquake and they don't know about me either. So I don't know
where they are. (Unaccompanied teenage boy)
When we were released
we were told that we had a temporary protection visa for three years.
We would not be able to go back to Afghanistan to see our family. After
three years our visa will be reviewed and we have permanent residency.
They told us that we can't bring our family in. (Unaccompanied teenage
boy)
Children separated
from their parents required special care and consideration but they said
none was given.
(Did they help
you in any special way because you were without your family?) No, we
were the same as anybody else. There was no special attention or special
feeling from them. (Teenage girl)
Commentary
The Convention
on the Rights of the Child recognises the particular needs and vulnerability
of children who are refugees and asylum seekers. It therefore places a
specific obligation on states to provide them with protection and assistance.
The children's accounts indicate that no special assistance was provided
to them, not even to those separated from their parents and families.
The Convention singles
out a special obligation of assistance with family contact and reunification.
Not only does the Australian Government fail to assist but Australian
law specifically prohibits this assistance by denying refugees on temporary
protection visas the right of family reunion in Australia and the right
of re-entry to permit family reunion elsewhere. Many of the children interviewed
said they had had no contact with their families since they had fled their
homes. This is especially concerning. It appears that no agency, governmental
or non-governmental, is taking steps to assist unaccompanied child detainees
to re-establish contact with their families even to enable each to assure
the other of safety and well-being. Clearly this process is adding to
the stresses that children are experiencing and in the case of unattached
minors raises ethical and legal questions over the duty of care being
exercised by the Immigration Minister as guardian for these children.
The interview process
has already been discussed in relation to the obligation of humane treatment.
It is also of particular concern in relation to the obligation to provide
assistance. The safety of these children depends on accurate determination
of their status, that is, of whether they or their families have a well-founded
fear that they are at risk of persecution in their countries of origin.
However, the interviews were often conducted without appropriate assistance
being provided to vulnerable minors. As already indicated, the children
had no support person and no lawyer present while being interviewed. Alone
and under interrogation by stern officials in a foreign language, children
are likely to freeze, to be unable to tell their stories, to forget critical
events and facts, perhaps even to withhold information for fear of the
consequences of it becoming known. Immigration officials, therefore, may
not obtain all the information or all the relevant information required
for the right decision to be made. As a result, there is a real risk that
refugee children may be denied the protection to which they are entitled
under Australian and international law.
Recommendations
The Commission recommends
that the Department of Immigration, Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs:
27. Develop guidelines
that set out the assistance it will provide to child detainees to fulfil
its obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
In particular it should state clearly its understanding of its responsibilities
towards child detainees who come to Australia without adult family members
to support and care for them. It should ensure that its guidelines and
procedures are consistent with Refugee Children: Guidelines on Protection
and Care and Guidelines on Policies and Procedures in dealing with Unaccompanied
Children Seeking Asylum issued by the United Nations High Commissioner
for Refugees in 1994 and 1997 respectively.
28. Make every
possible effort to enable child detainees to contact their parents and
other family members outside Australia as soon as possible after arrival
to assure them of their safety and well-being and to obtain information
from their families. These children should then be assisted to maintain
regular contact with their separated family members.
The Commission also
recommends that;
29. The Government
should amend migration legislation to permit reunification in Australia
of refugee children and their parents, guardians or carers and their
child siblings, in line with sound child development practice.
7.0 BEING
RELEASED
All the children
interviewed spoke of their longing for release while detained. The success
of their applications for protection and their release from detention
should have been occasions of joy and celebration for them. However, all
spoke of the period of their release as if it were a further hardship,
a further trauma, they had to endure. It was generally sudden, threatening
because the children feared rejection of their application, confusing
and physically difficult because of the long journeys they had to make
to reach the city to which they had been assigned.
They just called
us at 9am and said, "You have to be ready by 10am. You are going."
No time to say goodbye. Just put our clothes in a bag. They said, "You
have to go by this car and put in a city" and then we went in airplane
and we went to Tasmania. It was hard and we had no food. (Did someone
meet you?) Yes, we were met. She was not from our detention centre.
There was some men who came out before us and the men had a friend.
Her name was Suzy. And she came to meet and help us. She took us to
a hotel and then - it was so hard as we did not talk English and we
had to change our train and airplane. We did not know where we were
to go. When we arrived in Tasmania we did not know where it was and
they showed us a map as we thought we had left Australia [T]he
woman who met us was so kind to us. She was an Australian. She was so
kind and nice. First person that was nice to us. (Teenage girl )
One day they come
tell us the number and you go in the office and, when we go in the office,
he say we can go out. (Did he ask where you want to go or just tell
you?) Just tell you. No, he did not ask us, only saying, "You going
Canberra or Melbourne". We came at 6.30am and waited for two hours
and got so tired. We were very happy, going outside and other people
were crying, "Why we in here?" Some of my friends were staring.
I say bye bye. (Were you sad to leave your friends behind?) I was so
sad. I was not happy because I could not take my best friends with me.
(Boy under 10 years and his mother)
We were outside.
The police had a paper and he say, "[My number], come inside. [Another
number], come inside." We go to inside. "This is visa, a photocopy
not original, and you give when you arrive in Brisbane to someone who
is working here". And we came to Brisbane. For this it take a week.
It was very long time. I was taken to the hospital on the way as I was
sick on the bus. Four days - four days on the bus, day and night, two
drivers. They had a bed. All the time we sit like this and our legs
became very fat. (Unaccompanied teenage boy)
Then they got a
map and they chose us and called out our name. Then they said, "Melbourne.
Canberra. Melbourne. Canberra." And me and my family got Canberra
and then we went on the bus for three days Officer chose. If
you went on that side you went to Canberra on the same bus. (Did you
understand what was going on?) We just found out. (Do you think Mum
and Dad understood what was going on?) No. (Boy under 10 years and his
mother)
It was around 5
am in the morning and that guard came and called my number and my brother's
number. My brother was praying and he was not in the room. He said,
"Pack up your things. You have half an hour. You need to go somewhere
else and you have got your visa." I had to wait for my brother
and I did not know where we were going. Just in half an hour we had
to pack up. (Unaccompanied teenage boy)
Around noon time
they told us that we would be released the following morning and we
were to pack up our belongings. They released us around 9 am the following
morning. They gave us a sheet of paper with something written on it
but they did not give us one single explanation of what would happen
to us We were taken from there in a small car and went to Derby and
from there we were sent to Perth by plane. We spent 3 hours in Perth.
The person from DIMA that came with us gave us $30 so that we could
buy some food. Then they arranged another trip for us from Perth to
Melbourne by plane. Then we were taken to a church in Melbourne. In
the church there were very nice people and they gave us different food
and fruit. A lady explained that this bread was halal They told
us to wait another hour. Other people were also released at the same
time as us but, because we took a flight, we had to wait for them to
arrive They told us we could stay in the evening in the church and they
would try and provide us with some accommodation. When they first arrived
they gave us food and fruit for free but they told us after that if
we needed any food we had to pay for it. (Teenage girl)
We went for four
days and four nights in a bus. (Did they explain how far it was and
how long it would take?) They did not tell us anything. But we were
so happy to be leaving that, if they had told us to walk, we would have
walked. (When you were travelling on the bus did you get breaks, food
and water?) We had stops in different places but the food was just a
slice of bread and a little jam and the same for all the meals
Usually we had three stops in the daytime. (Unaccompanied teenage boy)
The youngest child
interviewed explained the release experience well.
I was happy
to be leaving Curtin. (How come you were happy to leave Curtin?) Because
we did not have freedom for ten months. (So once you had left Curtin
you were going to be free?) Yes. (Boy under 10 years and his mother)
8.0 LIFE
AFTER RELEASE
All the children
interviewed have been recognised as refugees and granted temporary protection
visas. These visas do not provide entitlement to permanent residence in
Australia. Originally holders of temporary protection visas could apply
within 30 months for permanent resident status but changes to the law
on 26 September 2001 removed this right and replaced it with an entitlement
only to seek another temporary protection visa. Those on temporary protection
visas before that date could have applied for permanency before they lost
the right to do so but some of the children said they were not informed
of this or did not understand the information provided to them. As a result
they failed to apply and lost the opportunity to obtain permanent resident
status.
They told us that
we had a temporary protection visa and that we could lodge our application
within 30 months but it did not matter if we did this today or in 30
months. So we did not do it. Later on we were told that we should have
done it, because we can't get permanent residency because we lodged
our application after the law changed. (Who gave this wrong information?
Was it the guards or DIMA?) It was DIMA. (Teenage boy)
So life for these
children remains insecure and their futures uncertain.
The children were
interviewed in Sydney. Most had originally been sent to other cities,
including Launceston, Brisbane, Perth, Canberra and Melbourne, but they
had felt isolated, alone and unsupported and without contact with people
of the same culture and language. All had come to Sydney, where there
are larger numbers of people in these small immigrant communities. Some
unaccompanied children came here because people who had come earlier from
their region offered them accommodation and support. In fact the generosity
of people in a very new and very poor immigrant community was astounding.
When I came to
the Renmore Centre [in Brisbane] to give the visa, a man sit next to
me and he said, not in English, in my language, and asked how was I.
"Where do you come from? How old are you? What is your name? What
is your father's name? Which camp were you? Who are you staying with?
It is hard for you to stay by yourself." I said, "I have no
relative here, so God help me." "Are you the son of____?"
I said, "Yes". He said, "Oh, I know that his friend is
here in Australia. He came from Afghanistan. Do you know him?"
I said, "Yes, I know him". "He is in Sydney and has a
job here. Do you want his mobile number?" And he give me this number.
I rang him and he said, "Hello, who are you/" And I said.
"I am [name deleted]" I said, "I am his son". And
he said, "You must come here. I have room for you. You must come
here. You have no mother and no father. I will look after you."
(Unaccompanied teenage boy)
Accidentally one
day, in the station, I saw somebody. I was with my cousin and I told
him that I know this person. He was from Afghanistan and had a kind
of business or shop there. We hesitated and then we introduced ourselves
and we were right. He was from our village. And we asked him if we could
stay with him. We explained our circumstances and he said he was from
Sydney and that he was on a trip to Melbourne. We asked if we could
come to Sydney. He accepted us but he said we have to go to Sydney.
(Unaccompanied teenage boy)
I was sharing a
room [in Melbourne] with two other boys and they were underage with
no adult supervision and they kept fighting all the time. I was scared
that something would happen to us. I kept asking the immigration to
move me from Melbourne I came to stay with these people in Sydney,
two adults. All TPV holders, single males. I am happy with them, not
the same as family, but what can I do? For a month I was wandering
around but I heard that there was something called DOCS and then I found
DOCS and they told me to wait for a week. There were other children
being released from detention and they would provide a service for us
all together Several case managers changed. The first one enrolled
us in school and another brought us some bedding and stuff. But it is
the experience of all of us, the case manager now is not good. He does
not care about us. He does not treat us as human. (Unaccompanied teenage
boy)
Most were studying
at school or technical college or doing language classes. Some were working.
The temporary nature of their status in Australia is making it hard for
them to focus on study or work. They remain in limbo, not knowing their
futures.
I did not study
well in my country and now I am not studying well in Australia as I
think of too many other things. If they send us back to our country,
it is not going to work for our education. We have to keep starting
again and again (You go to school here?) Yes, in [name deleted]
and it is a good school and we have friends at that school, lots of
Afghani children but also mixed friends now. We are learning at that
school. (Teenage girl)
I am now in Year
10. Before, I was in intensive English centre and some of my Afghani
friends said, "Why are you studying? You have to work to earn money
because after two years your visit will be over and you have to go back.
Just earn money." That is why I didn't really study hard in the
intensive English center, because I thought I had to work and I was
just wasting my time in the IEC. Then I went to the high school and
I am not thinking about that anyway, just trying to study. Money is
not everything. (Teenage girl)
When I came here
for 25 days I did not go to school. After 25 days I was taken by another
friend who thought it a good idea to go to school. He asked me do I
want to study or go to work and I said, "I want to have an education.
I like to study." He said, "Good, I think you should go to
school too as you are too young". Now I am at school. I am a student.
(Unaccompanied teenage boy)
Some of the children
have regained a sense of ambition, of determination to succeed.
I want to be a
doctor. I want to be things that I can't be, but I wish that I could
[be] like a professor. Then after that a doctor. Or after that the boss
of immigration, look after refugees, think about what is going on for
them. To help them feel better and happy in Australia. They flee their
country to come to Australia because they are refugee and it is really
difficult. (Teenage girl)
All the children,
however, were still finding life difficult. Almost all showed signs of
anxiety and continued to be distressed about their experiences both prior
to detention and in detention itself. They showed symptoms of continuing
trauma and there is a real concern about their ongoing mental health and
well-being and the uncertainty of their status makes it almost impossible
for them to adjust and resolve their psychological trauma. During the
interviews, one boy scratched himself constantly, arms, legs and abdomen,
although there was no sign of rash or other irritation on his skin. Another
had a facial twitch. Another blinked continually. Well after their release
from detention they still bore the marks of their experiences before leaving
their countries of origin, during the dangerous travel to Australia and
while detained in Australia.
Recommendations
Many of the recommendations
already made would assist in making the process of release and life after
release smoother and more informed, thereby reducing the anxiety and stress
currently associated with the process.
The Commission recommends
that:
30. Similar to
care and protection and juvenile justice systems an emphasis needs to
be placed by the Commonwealth Government on post immigration detention
release for children and young people. These children and young people
need to be able to access the full range of services available to all
other members of the community to assist their transition to the community.
The emphasis needs to be placed on community integration and associated
levels of servicing not temporary and partial servicing.
9.0 CHANGING DETENTION
The children interviewed
were asked to reflect on their experiences and nominate their priorities
for changing the detention centres.
Some of the comments
reflected their feelings and reactions to their own experiences, like
the young boy already quoted who wanted to reduce the camp manager to
the size of an ant and then put him in an ant jail.
Other comments were
very practical, addressed to the physical deficiencies in the camps. They
demonstrated insight into the difficulties the children encountered and
how these difficulties could be corrected.
Helping the people
- put in taps and TV and playgrounds and toys in the detention centre,
clothes. No washing the toilets. (Teenage girl)
More teachers,
a nice room, computers and they have to put effort in to teach them
so they can use their time effectively. Probably, entertainment and
activities like football and swimming in a timetable, something that
is structured Also I would suggest have maximum four people in
one room under 18, because the situation with children is different
to adults as adults are mature and they can control their talking and
negotiate but children cannot do this. And I experienced real difficulties
with shared room with 22 others because everybody had their own rule
and their own king. Adults are not like this and I would have liked
to have something like this. (Unaccompanied teenage boy)
We were never allowed
to go out. Better to take us out for sightseeing, better than just being
imprisoned. (Unaccompanied teenage boy)
For children Port
Hedland camp was too small for in five minutes you could finish walking
around - in the free camp that is. There should be very special facilities
for children if they have to be detained. They would have something
to distract them, to play, like a basketball court in a nicer area than
where it is located at the moment. Then for education they have to have
more hours and more teachers and different subjects and according to
their age. Because they are putting people of different age in one group
and it is hard to catch up. The closed camp was like a prison, no freedom
and only one or two hours [outside] but this was not enough. They should
make it available to have access to outdoor games and to education system
because it was awful in the closed camp. (Unaccompanied teenage boy)
They need to change
the food in the third camp. It was awful and not good for children.
(Teenage boy)
Implicit in all the
comments is the wish to be treated as children, as a human being. Two
boys said it explicitly.
If they have to
detain people, some things have to be changed. They have the right to
be human and treated as human, to live free within the camps. In the
closed camp you feel like a prisoner. Even if there is a camp, people
should have access outside the camp, children especially. There is no
need for them to be in prison. At the moment the Australian government
is getting bad reputation, getting attention of the world, the way they
are treating detainees, especially children. Even if the detention is
there, they should have freedom to walk inside and outside the camp.
If someone is knocking on your door seeking help, you would not kick
that person out. If you don't want them in, tell them go back. But if
you allow them in, treat them as humans. (Unaccompanied teenage boy)
[Unaccompanied
children] should be treated as human and given special attention. They
should have a separate room with another boy or girl their age. They
should have someone to pay attention to them. They do not have their
family and they need someone to care for them. I would have liked to
have someone come at least once a week to check on me to see if I was
OK but they didn't. (Unaccompanied teenage boy)
The fundamental issue,
however, raised by many of the children, was the detention itself.
First of all there
should not be any detention or camp and it is absolutely difficult to
be in a camp situation, particularly for a child without parents, as
in my circumstances. (Unaccompanied teenage boy)
What is the point
of having detention camp? So I wish it would never happen, we would
never have camps, because of how difficult it is to be in a camp situation.
I know someone who is 16 and he is still in the camp and when I remember
him I feel so sorry for him. He is only 16 and his life in the camp
for that period of time. (Unaccompanied teenage boy)
Not so much time
in detention. They need to go to school, education, medicine. (Teenage
girl)
I think there should
not be any detention for children at least. All these Afghans that are
spending months or years in detention, they have not done anything wrong,
they are not criminals and they should listen to them. But there should
not be any detention for children. They should be free. (Teenage boy)
And there was also
the question of security and permanency for those recognised as refugees.
The visa - can
we live here forever or not? Schools and education for all the people,
whether they are on temporary visa or not. (Teenage girl)
This visa that
they gave me. Everywhere I go they say, "Oh, this is temporary
visa. I can't do this for you." What is this visa? (Unaccompanied
teenage boy)
10.0 CONCLUSION
Nothing can justify
the present treatment of children who come here seeking protection from
persecution. The children interviewed for this submission spoke freely
and courageously, often with difficulty and emotion, about their experiences
in Australia's detention centres. No doubt their statements were coloured
by those experiences. No doubt some may have misinterpreted events or
not remembered or not remembered perfectly what happened. However, the
children presented a clear and consistent picture of life for child detainees.
It is a picture of routine, everyday human rights violation that does
not recognise their needs as children.
The long-term implications
of such treatment for these individual children and young people are problematic.
A perception of being unwanted, unwelcome and unsupported is concerning
not the least for its lack of humanity but also for the long term cost
to the individual and the Australian community as these children are released
and will need to be supported within the community, to overcome their
traumatic experiences.
A picture of a culture
of punishment and dehumanisation emerges from the camps; a picture that
is not considered acceptable within prisons yet appears to be in place
for 'administrative detention'. The emergence of such a culture is in
breach of Australia's international obligations and for children is so
detrimental as to jeopardise the very development of children and young
people into sound functioning adults. To counter this a radical change
is required to make Immigration Detention as humane as possible and not
damaging to a child's development. The Commission considers the most humane,
sensible and pro-child development option is to not detain children in
immigration detention, as the children have expressed themselves. The
Commission acknowledges this may take some time to develop humane community
options in line with our international obligations and therefore calls
for the immediate implementation of all the recommendations in this report
to assist in making "immigration detention" more child-friendly
and ultimately humane.
The needs of these
children encompass the almost entire range of human needs. Some of can
be addressed by services that are traditionally the responsibility of
the Commonwealth government; other by services which generally fall within
State/Territory jurisdictions.
Recommendation
The Commission recommends
that:
31. Commonwealth,
State and Territory Governments, as a matter of priority, agree on their
respective responsibilities in relation to children and young people
in immigration detention centres and those who have been released. This
agreement should be confirmed through a formal memorandum of understanding.
The submission has
sought to give voice to the views of the children themselves. The concluding
words, therefore, belong to them.
It was like a prison,
not detention In the first few weeks their attitude was good
to us, treating us as a human, but gradually it changed, day by day
and week by week We have had enough to deal with, with the traumatic
journey, leaving our families and not knowing about anything that has
happened to them and them not knowing anything about us. We needed to
be treated better than we were treated in detention camp. (Unaccompanied
teenage boy)
I had never been
in a camp in my life. I was by myself and it was enough trauma to leave
my family and I would have expected that they take us somewhere to see
some pleasure sight of Australia, not just concentrated in a camp, at
least taken us in a bus on an excursion to a beach or somewhere and
at least we have something to hold on, to a better view of Australia
than just the camp. We had lost our family. (Unaccompanied teenage boy)
I am not sure how
people who are out of detention could sense or feel the situation of
the person who has been in detention. It is that bad. (Unaccompanied
teenage boy)
That is what we
want, that our message will be heard. (Unaccompanied teenage boy)
APPENDIX A:
INTERVIEW CONSENT FORM
I understand that
the purpose of the interview is to share my experience as a child or young
person who has been in immigration detention for the purposes of a submission
that the NSW Commission for Children and Young People are making to an
enquiry by the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission. The data
may also be used by STARRTS for their submission.
I understand that:
1. I am participating
in this research voluntarily;
2. The information will only be used to assist the Commissioner for
Children and Young People, Gillian Calvert, and STARRTS to make a submission
to an enquiry being undertaken by The Human Right and Equal Opportunity
Commission.
3. The submission will be a written report but, if I am interested,
there will be an opportunity to tell my story in person;
4. Anything that I talk about today is confidential. That means my information
may be used but that my name or any unique details that could identify
me will not appear in the report;
5. The interview will be taped however the only people who will hear
the tape will be the project team and the transcriber. The tape will
be destroyed after transcription.
6. The transcripts will be kept at the Commission for Children and Young
People for one year after which they will be destroyed;
7. I can end the interview or take a break whenever I like during the
interview and that I don't have to talk about anything I don't want
to;
8. I can talk to someone after the interview if I want to
9. Regardless of the length of the interview I have received $40 to
cover expenses.
I _________________________
agree participate in the NSW Commission for Children and Young People's
interviews.
Signature of participant:
Date:
APPENDIX B:
INTERVIEW GUIDE
1) Could you tell
me your story of being in detention?
2) How did you
arrive?
3) What did you
think of the detention centre(s) you were in?
4) What were the
good and bad things?
5) What do you
think were the good and bad things about the:
a) Food and drink
b) Shelter including bedroom and bathroom (also ask about issues of
privacy)
c) Clothing you were provided (also ask whether you got to keep personal
possessions)
d) access to medical attention
6) How would you
describe the level of support and respect for yours or others religious
practice?
7) Describe your
level of understanding of what was occurring to you and your family
whilst in detention? For instance:
Were interpreters available?
Did you know what was happening to your application or your family's
application to stay in Australia?
Were you kept informed about the likelihood of release?
8) What was the
health of people in the detention centre(s) like?
9) What education
did you receive at the detention centre? Please tell us about how you
spent your day and what you did at school and elsewhere. Did you go
on school excursions?
10) What opportunities
did you have for play, sport and games? What equipment was there? Did
you go outside the centre for excursions or sport or play? How often
and where to?
11) Did you able
to participate in decisions that affected you? In what ways?
12) Did you feel
safe in the centre?
13) Tell me about
how you got on with others specifically
Staff
Family
Other detainees
14) Tell me about
your experiences at the time of leaving detention?
15) Did you have
access to people from outside the detention centre either by phone,
or
face-to-face specifically:
family that weren't detained
representatives from NGO
16) How could your
own experience of immigration detention been improved and how could
it be improved for other children and young people?
APPENDIX C:
INTERVIEWER GUIDE
Hi, my name is _____________
and I work for the Inspire Foundation. We have been asked by the NSW Commission
for Children and Young People to talk with about 12 young people who have
been in immigration detention. The reason for the interviews is that the
Commissioner, Gillian Calvert, is making a submission to an enquiry being
undertaken by Human Right and Equal Opportunity Commission. She wants
to make sure that, when she is making her submission, the experiences
of young people are being told. She believes it is important that children
and young people are heard so that people and places can change to be
more child friendly and supportive. The submission will be a written report
but, if you are interested, there will be an opportunity to tell your
story in person. I will leave you some information on the Commission for
Children and Young People behind after the interview.
I expect that we
will talk for about one hour and that we will discuss things such as your
experiences when you arrived, what it was like living in the detention
centers, including things like the food, whether you went to school or
had time to play. I also want to talk about how you got on with staff
and other people at the centre and what happened when you left.
Anything that we
talk about today is confidential. That means we may use the information
you give us but your name or any unique details that could identify you
will not appear in the report. If it is OK with you I will record the
interview. However the only people who will hear the tape will be the
project team and the transcriber. After your interview has been transcribed
it will be destroyed. What you and other children and young people say
will be analysed into themes, that is common experiences and ideas will
be grouped together. These themes will be reported and quotes will be
used to illustrate them though these will not use names or any unique
details that could identify you.
If something we talk
about is upsetting to you or you do not want to talk about something,
then that is OK. And if you want to speak with someone who can help you
deal with upsetting things from the past, then we can arrange that for
you. We can end the interview at any time or take a break if you need
to. Regardless of the length of the interview we will provide you with
$40 to cover expenses. Before we start can we fill out a consent form.
APPENDIX D:
DEMOGRAPHIC QUESTIONNAIRE
1. Are you [ ]male
[ ] female
2. What is your year
of birth?
3. What is your country
of birth?
4. What is your ethnic
background
5. What is your religious
affiliation
6. Did you live anywhere
else prior to coming to Australia
7. How many of your
family members did you arrive with (please list)?
8. What was your
age when you first entered immigration detention in Australia?
9. What was your
age when you left immigration detention in Australia?
10. Length of time
spent in immigration detention?
11. What Australian
immigration detention centres have you been detained in? (include details
of how long you spent in each centre)
Act 1989 (Cth).
2. Detention is imposed on all unlawful non-citizens from
arrival until a visa is granted on refugee or humanitarian grounds or
until deportation.
3. Although technically the lawfulness of detention can
be challenged, the Act requires detention of unlawful non-citizens and
the court has no jurisdiction to examine the reasonableness or necessity
of detention and order release. There is therefore no effective right
of judicial review.
5. Other international human rights treaties also contain
relevant provisions, most significantly the International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic,
Social and Cultural Rights. The law, policy and practice of indefinite
mandatory detention, including of children, also violates provisions of
these treaties. However, this submission deals specifically only with
the situation under the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
6. See for example, Human Rights and Equal Opportunity
Commission Those who've come across the seas 1998 and the decision of
the Human Rights Committee under the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights in A v Australia 1999.
7. According to the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity
Commission the initial period of segregated detention is to prevent new
arrivals learning from other detainees what rights they have under Australian
law to make an application for protection and to request and obtain independent
legal advice: Those who've come across the seas 1998.
8. See, for example, Human Rights and Equal Opportunity
Commission Those who've come across the seas 1998.
Last
Updated 30 June 2003.
