Commission Website: National Inquiry into Children in Immigration Detention

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Submission to National Inquiry

into Children in Immigration Detention from

the Salvation Army - Eastern

Territory

General

Introduction and Comments

1.

The provisions made by Australia to implement its international human

rights obligations regarding child asylum seekers, including unaccompanied

minors.

2.

The mandatory detention of child asylum seekers and other children

arriving in Australia without visas, and alternatives to their detention.

3.

The adequacy and effectiveness of the policies, agreements, laws,

rules and practices governing children in immigration detention or

child asylum seekers and refugees residing in the community after

a period of detention, with particular reference to:

4.

The impact of detention on the well being and healthy development

of children, including their long-term development.

5.

The additional measures and safeguards which may be required to protect

the human rights and best interests of child asylum seekers and refugees

residing in the community after a period of detention.

General Introduction and Comments:

The Salvation

Army appreciates the opportunity to contribute to this inquiry.

• The Salvation Army upholds the principle that a high standard of care, protection and healthy development of all children within Australia without discrimination should be regarded as the normal expectation. Australia's quality standards of child care are high, as reflected in the charters of such state government bodies as, for example the New South Wales Department of Community Services. We assert that any lower quality standards for children who find themselves in immigration detention is not only unwarranted but is damaging to the child and to future community well being. This is especially so when it is noted that the children in immigration detention become the world's adult citizens, possibly in this country.
• The Salvation Army is aware that international conventions are not legally binding on Australia without there having been appropriate legislation enacted. However, we do acknowledge that such conventions often set standards which we are morally obliged to uphold as being appropriate for the care of human life.
• It is our understanding that the Australian government, through the Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs (DIMA), is responsible for the management of all immigration centres. DIMA, in turn, has contracted the actual operation of these centres to Australasian Correctional Management (ACM), a commercial service provider. This arrangement means that ACM is obliged to provide certain minimum standards of care. The Salvation Army is concerned at the potential for a conflict of interests whereby need for profit impacts negatively on the delivery of high standards of care.

Therefore, we

suggest that there should be a high level of accountability by ACM

to the Australian community. Also, the level of accountability to

DIMA should be at least as high as the level of accountability to

the Commonwealth Department of Health and Aging required of providers

of aged care in the Australian community. This, we assert, is especially

so where children are involved.

The following

comments are direct responses to individual terms of reference.

The adequacy

and appropriateness of Australia's treatment of child asylum seekers

and other children who are, or have been held in immigration detention,

including:

1. The provisions made by Australia to implement its international human rights obligations regarding child asylum seekers, including unaccompanied minors.

• Family life. The Salvation Army affirms that the family is the basic social unit in any community, and that the quality of family life is particularly important for the healthy development of children. We are concerned that parental depression and despair as a result of being in detention centres, can result in impaired quality of care being given by parents, even to the point of neglect and abuse. All too often, dealing with a restrictive lifestyle can lead to depression which takes on a higher priority for the parents than caring for the children.

Recommendations:

• Families (which include children) seeking asylum should be accommodated outside of detention immediately following initial health and security checks and appropriate registration.

• When it is necessary for parents to be held in immigration detention, children should remain with their parents in accommodation that allows for some family space and privacy.
• As boredom has been identified as a major cause of depression and threat to family life we would suggest that 'minimum standards' within detention centres should include maintenance of routines and constructive employment of time for both adults and children.

• Unaccompanied minors . We would understand that children who arrive in Australia without proper guardians should be regarded in the same way as Australian children whose guardianship is the responsibility of the state. Their unaccompanied arrival may provide a greater risk of abuse over and above the trauma they have already experienced. Subject to appropriate checks we would recommend the placement of these children in suitable accommodation within the community.

2. The mandatory detention of child asylum seekers and other children arriving in Australia without visas, and alternatives to their detention.

Recommendations:

• Children need to be given the highest priority in terms of time in screening for health issues, and for other issues such as the reasons for their arrival without visas etc…especially those arriving unaccompanied.
• As already stated, we believe children ought not to be removed from their families unless there are extreme circumstances where it would be judged to be in their best interests to be removed.

3. The adequacy and effectiveness of the policies, agreements, laws, rules and practices governing children in immigration detention or child asylum seekers and refugees residing in the community after a period of detention, with particular reference to:

• The conditions under which children are detained ; Detainees and refugees spoken with have usually said that accommodation and facilities are reasonably clean and generally safe, although very cramped.

However, the

children are acutely aware of their isolation, especially in the more

remote centres such as Woomera and Curtin.

The Salvation

Army clearly supports the rules and practices that allow for children

to remain with their parents unless there are special circumstances.

We recognise also that certain conditions in immigration detention

centres are designed such that asylum seekers will be deterred from

choosing to arrive in Australia without proper authority. Therefore

it must follow that children who arrive with their parents will also

be subjected to those 'deterrent' conditions.

While we do not

comment on the appropriateness or otherwise of a 'deterrent' policy,

we are concerned to note that among the most vulnerable and impressionable

people impacted by such a policy, and therefore the conditions in

detention, are children of all ages. As already indicated, we believe

that the impact made on a child has long term repercussions for individuals

as well as the wider Australian community.

The potential

for children to be abused by some adult detainees within the centres

is a matter of concern.

• Health, including mental health, development and disability ; Both mental and physical health and development is clearly influenced by physical surroundings. Stress is identified as a major factor in some physical illnesses, such as "ear problems". Stress of course can be induced by a range of factors, and young people we have spoken with have overwhelmingly commented on the lack of vegetation such as trees and grass in the detention centres, therefore contributing to depression and anxiety.

Similarly overwhelming

have been comments on the food provided not reflecting adequate consideration

being given to the kinds of foods that are familiar to the detainees.

Although there has been enough food provided, the food has been largely

unpalatable, and so not eaten. This has led to problems related to

lack of adequate diet, as well as contributing to depression.

There is also

the problem of parents not being able to meet the needs for very small

children to be fed at irregular times. The lack of access to food

other than at strictly observed meal times creates this problem.

Recommendation:

Standards of

food and physical environment need to be at an appropriate level and

well monitored to achieve a less stressful / anxiety producing situation.

• Education: Assessment of education levels of children is difficult to gauge due to: Some effects of trauma suffered by the children in various situations prior to their arrival in Australia. The differing levels of English language skills. The lack of interpreters provided to the detention centres.

• Assessment of education levels of children is difficult to gauge due to:
• Some effects of trauma suffered by the children in various situations prior to their arrival in Australia.
• The differing levels of English language skills.
• The lack of interpreters provided to the detention centres.

• English as Second Language (ESL) becomes the primary focus of education in the centres. We are aware that in some centres the guards have been the primary English 'teachers' in informal ways. Reports we have had have suggested that the guards have been helpful in playing with children and in general interaction.

We are given

to understand that unfortunately there is a high turnover of staff

in most detention centres. We are concerned that, particularly for

children in the centres on a long term basis, this fact is counterproductive

to providing a sense of continuity necessary for good learning and

indeed, for good mental health.

• There are extremely limited classroom resources, including classroom availability itself.
• The provision of basic equipment such as books, pens/pencils etc., is lacking, despite repeated appeals to ACM for these items.
• ACM, as the operator of the detention centres, is the employer of education staff
• The state departments of education do not recognise ACM - they do not take responsibility for providing education in the centre.
• In most centres children are given very little schooling unless it is provided by adult detainees.

Recommendations:

• The provision of a dedicated classroom or school building close to but reasonably separated from activities in the main centre would be more conducive to the purposes of education.
• The state education departments should be funded and given authority sufficiently to allow them to undertake:
• The proper assessment of the education needs and levels of the children in the centre, enabling a smoother transition to formal schooling in the community, especially when the child is released from detention.
• English to be taught in a more efficient way. We would encourage the continued help of guards in reinforcing the English language.
• A less random approach to education in the centres. It was reported to us that during one child's 20 month detention, she was only offered one term of schooling.
• That teachers employed in detention centres should be trained and adequately prepared to handle children affected by trauma.

4. The impact of detention on the well being and healthy development of children, including their long-term development.

• The Salvation Army as an international organisation is very aware that children in immigration detention centres have been exposed to traumatic experiences prior to their arrival in Australia. Most, but not all detainees or former detainees we have spoken to, declared they had not been overly exposed to further violence or overt ill treatment during detention. One comment we received was that the violence in Woomera was much less than the violence witnessed previously in the country of origin. However, the fact that children are in this mandatory detention where they do witness further violence, exacerbates the effects of already existing trauma.

Recommendation:

We submit that

if children are to be kept in mandatory detention the opportunity

is there for specialised post trauma treatment to be provided. This

would be a best possible outcome for the detention experience.

Particularly

in focus would be specialised group therapy designed to help children

accept the changes in their circumstances, having been removed from

their home country and environment. A similar kind of therapy situation

has proven very effective for children of divorced parents who must

grow to cope with a situation that cannot be changed.

• The Salvation Army has been made aware that in many cases, periods of detention in Australia for children have been for as long as 14 to 20 months, in some cases longer. This may have been after longer periods of detention or some other kinds of confinement in other places. It is well known that such time spans are experienced as being much longer for children than they are for adults.

Recommendations:

• The Salvation Army would welcome measures that:
• speed up the processing of the claims and appeals of asylum seekers who are in detention, and/or
• investigate means whereby asylum seekers could be monitored in the community while waiting for a final decision to be made on residency, and/or
• investigate and implement ways of helping to alleviate the conditions in those countries of origin which lead to refugee flight.

5. The additional measures and safeguards which may be required to protect the human rights and best interests of child asylum seekers and refugees residing in the community after a period of detention.

• Provision of better information to families concerning cultural and legal expectations of people living in Australian community is necessary.
• A Temporary Protection Visa (TPV) precludes enrolment in TAFEs and universities without 'up-front' payment of fees. This becomes a disincentive for children to take school seriously, or to aim for any education. It is also a factor in ongoing depression. This in turn has an affect on the smooth running of those schools involved.

Recommendations:

• That a visa indicating permanent residency should be made available within a time frame that would be an incentive for children to maximise their potential in school.
• That adult and higher education should be available to holders of a TPV without inflicting extra financial hardship on those seeking to enrol in appropriate courses. This is especially the case for those seeking to enrol in English language classes.
• Provision of better information concerning resources legitimately available to families/children for education, health care etc.

Concluding

recommendation:

We would submit

that there should be:

• A renegotiation of the contract between DIMA and ACM.
• A review of the role of ACM by an independent body to ensure a high standard of service delivery congruent with the Immigration Detention Guidelines.

Last

Updated 9 January 2003.