A last resort? - Summary Guide: The facts about immigration detention in Australia

A last resort?

National Inquiry into Children in Immigration Detention

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What is immigration detention?

Since 1992, Australia's migration law has made it mandatory

for any person in Australia without a valid visa to be detained until

they are issued with a visa or removed from Australia. This law applies

equally to adults and children.

Some children are placed in immigration detention because

they enter Australia without a visa (unauthorised arrivals). Other children

are in immigration detention because they overstay or break the conditions

of their visa.

During the period of the Inquiry, the majority of children

in detention were unauthorised boat arrivals. Over this period, other

children made up no more than 5% of the total number of child detainees.

Most unauthorised arrivals seek refugee protection when they

arrive - in other words, they are asylum seekers. However, although almost

all children in detention are asylum seekers, not all child asylum seekers

are in detention. Children who come to Australia on a tourist visa or

student visa and then claim asylum after they arrive (authorised arrivals)

usually live in the community on a bridging visa while their refugee status

is being determined.

How many children have been in immigration detention?

A total of 976 children were in immigration detention in

1999-ߐ 1,923 children in 2000-ߑ 1,696 children in 2001-2002 and

703 children in 2002-2003. Most of these children arrived by boat.

The total number of unauthorised arrival children who

applied for refugee protection visas between 1 July 1999 and 30 June 2003

was 2,184. These figures do not include children transferred to and detained

on Nauru and Manus Island (Papua New Guinea).

Sign outside Woomera indicating ACM and the Department,

June 2002

The highest number of children in detention at any

one time between 1 January 1999 and 1 January 2004 was 842 (on 1 September

2001). Of this number, 456 were at the Woomera detention centre.

When the Inquiry was announced in late November 2001,

there were over 700 children in immigration detention. By the time of

the Inquiry's public hearing with the Department a year later, the number

had reduced by 80% to 139. The number of children in detention has not

decreased at the same rate since that time.

There were still 111 children in immigration detention in

Australia on 26 December 2003.

Where have the children been held?

Children arriving in Australian territory (including Australian

territorial waters) without a visa were detained in any one of the following

detention facilities over the period of the Inquiry:

• Baxter Immigration Detention Facility (opened July 2002)
• Christmas Island Immigration Reception and Processing Centre (opened November 2001, 'mothballed' March 2003, re-commissioned in July 2003)
• Cocos (Keeling) Islands Immigration Reception Centre (opened September 2001, closed March 2002)
• Curtin Immigration Reception and Processing Centre (opened September 1999, 'mothballed' September 2002)
• Maribyrnong Immigration Detention Centre (opened 1966)
• Perth Immigration Detention Centre (opened 1981)
• Port Hedland Immigration Reception and Processing Centre (opened 1991)
• Woomera Immigration Reception and Processing Centre (opened November 1999, 'mothballed' April 2003) or the Woomera Residential Housing Project (opened August 2001, 'mothballed' December 2003)
• Villawood Immigration Detention Centre (opened 1976).

Residential housing projects were opened in Port Hedland

and Port Augusta (near Baxter) after the period of the Inquiry.

Locations of detention centres in and around Australia

After September 2001, and the introduction of the 'Pacific

Solution', children who arrived on Christmas Island, the Ashmore Islands

or the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, or who were intercepted at sea by Australian

authorities, were transferred to detention facilities in Nauru or Manus

Island (Papua New Guinea).

Since late January 2002, most asylum seeker children travelling

without a parent or guardian (unaccompanied minors), were transferred

from immigration detention centres to 'alternative places of detention',

such as foster homes in the community.

The following table provides an overview of where children

were held in detention between July 1999 and July 2003. The figures show

that most children in detention were held in remote centres at Curtin,

Port Hedland and Woomera.

Note: A result of ‘0' means

no children were held at that time. A result of ‘–'

means that facility was not operating at that time.

How long have children been held in detention?

Since 1999, children have been detained for increasingly

longer periods of time. By the beginning of 2003, the average detention

period for a child in immigration detention was one year, three months

and 17 days. As at 26 December 2003, the average length of detention had

increased to one year, eight months and 11 days.

The longest a child has ever been in immigration detention

is five years, five months and 20 days. This child and his mother were

released from Port Hedland detention centre on 12 May 2000, after eventually

being assessed as refugees.

Length of detention of children: 1999-2003

3-6 mths

How many children arrived in Australia without their parents?

Most children arriving in Australia without a visa come with

one or both parents. However, there are a significant number of children

who arrive unaccompanied. Until January 2002, when most unaccompanied

children were transferred to foster homes, unaccompanied children were

detained in the same manner as all other unauthorised arrivals.

At the start of 2000 there was a large rise in the number

of unaccompanied children detained in Australia. On 1 July 1999 there

were just two unaccompanied children, who had been detained for a short

time. Six months later, that figure had grown to 41.

By 1 July 2000 there were 49 unaccompanied children in detention,

37 of whom had been detained for longer than three months. By 1 July 2001,

a year later, there were 121 unaccompanied children in detention, 22 of

whom had been detained for over three months. Their number grew to 143

during that month. On 1 January 2002, there were only 40 unaccompanied

children in detention but 90% of them had been detained for more than

three months.

What is the background of the children in detention?

There were more boys than girls held in immigration

detention. However, the percentage of girls has increased since 1999.

Between 1 July 1999 and 30 June 2003, 37% of asylum seeker children in

detention were girls. The majority of children in detention were under

12 years of age. The following table shows the age of children in immigration

detention as at 30 June for each year from 1999 to 2003.

Some infants (0-4 years) spent substantial portions of

their lives in immigration detention. On 30 June 2000 there were 164 infants

in detention. Five of them had spent more than 18 months in detention.

On 30 June 2001 there were 144 infants in detention. Two of these children

had spent more than two and a half years in detention - more than half

of their lives.

Where do children in detention come from?

Most of the children in detention over the Inquiry period

were from Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, the Palestinian Territories and Sri

Lanka.

How is a person's refugee status decided?

Once asylum seeker children and their families in detention

make an application for a protection visa, the Department begins an assessment

of their cases. Children who arrive with their family are generally included

in the application made by their parents and the claim for asylum is based

on the strength of the father's or mother's claim. Unaccompanied children,

because they are not part of a family unit, need to make an application

for asylum in their own right.

In determining whether a person is a refugee, the Department

uses the definition of a refugee as set out in the United Nations Refugee

Convention.

All applications are assessed on a case-by-case basis. If

the application is successful, the family and the child are granted a

temporary protection visa. If an application is refused, a review of the

decision can be sought from the Refugee Review Tribunal.

Applicants are also entitled to limited judicial review of

a visa decision. This process does not review the merits of a decision

but it ensures that certain standards have been followed during the determination

of an application.

How many children in immigration detention were found to be refugees?

Between 1 July 1999 and 30 June 2003, 2,184 children arrived

in Australia without a valid visa and sought asylum (unauthorised arrivals)

- all these children were held in immigration detention while their refugee

status was being determined. More than 92% of these children were found

to be refugees and were granted a temporary protection visa. For some

nationalities the success rate was even higher (98% Iraqi; 95% Afghan).

Between 1 July 1999 and 30 June 2003, 3,125 children

arrived in Australia with a valid visa and then sought asylum (authorised

arrivals) - these children were not held in immigration detention while

their refugee status was being determined. Only 25% of these children

were found to be refugees. The top three countries of origin for authorised

arrivals were Fiji, Indonesia and Sri Lanka.

Who operates the detention centres?

The Department is responsible for the operation of Australia's

immigration detention centres. However, since February 1998 and throughout

the period of the Inquiry, ACM - a private firm - was contracted by the

Department to deliver all services at the detention centres.

Immigration Detention Standards, developed by the Department,

set out the quality of services expected in the centres and the requirement

to take into consideration the individual needs of detainees. Department

officers at each immigration detention centre are expected to monitor

the performance of ACM against these standards.

What did children say about detention centres?