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The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates that around half of the 50 million displaced persons in the world are children. Around 10 million of these children are under the care of UNHCR. Approximately 100,000 separated children roam Western Europe.(1) During 1999 alone, more than 20,000 separated children applied for asylum in Western Europe, North America or Australia.(2) Of those 20,000 unaccompanied children, 46 travelled to Australia to seek asylum. In the same year a further 202 children sought asylum in Australia with their families.(3)

The Convention on the Rights of the Child states that unaccompanied children - particularly those seeking asylum - need special protection and assistance. Where unaccompanied children have a legal guardian, their best interests must be the guardian's 'basic concern'.

The National Ethnic Disability Alliance (NEDA) is the peak body in Australia for people from a non-English speaking background (NESB) with disability, their families and carers.

Submissions to the National Inquiry into Children in Immigration Detention

I am delighted to present my first statement as President of the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission. Much of what is reported in this volume occurred before I took up my appointment. The last twelve months have been a time of challenge and success for the Commission as it continues the important task of promoting and protecting the observance of human rights in Australia.

This submission makes brief comment on the education of children in detention. It provides a more complete picture of the education services offered to these children by the Department of Education, Training and Employment in South Australia (hereafter the department) after they have been processed as refugees and released into the community. Note is also made of a group of children who have been sent to Adelaide as detainees in a place of alternative detention and also of recent discussions on the issue of children in detention being enrolled at Woomera Area School.

Although it is not possible to precisely specify all the circumstance that lead people to arrive in Australia through people smuggling routes, there can be no doubt that they undertake perilous journeys which put their lives and that of accompanying family members at risk. Given the very high rates of approval for those who have sought asylum in Australia through these routes, it is reasonable to assume that most detainees have fled their countries for reasons of persecution.

This submission has been produced by the Queensland Program of Assistance for Survivors of Torture and Trauma (QPASTT) and the Youth Advocacy Centre (YAC). The submission is also endorsed by a number of individuals and organisations working directly or indirectly with asylum seekers and refugees (See list on page 2). Their staff hear similar stories and reports from their clients and have come to similar or the same conclusions as those in this report.

The immediate and long-term impact of trauma on children and young people: The implications of placement in detention centres for recovery from trauma and development of resilience

"Like sands shifted by restless winds, refugees spill today across the globe. They constitute a Fourth World, one whose inhabitants have no representation and over which they have no control."

The Melbourne Catholic Migrant & Refugee Office (MCMRO) provides advice and guidance from a Catholic perspective in response to policy and program issues relating to migrants and refugees.

This report contains a summary of observations by the Australian Human Rights Commissioner, Graeme Innes AM, and staff of the Australian Human Rights Commission (the Commission) following visits to Australia’s immigration detention facilities, and to people in community detention, between June and September 2008. The contents of the report are based on direct observations made during the visits, and on discussions with staff and immigration detainees.

I refer to your invitation in December 2001 to make a submission in this Inquiry. I regret that the Law Council has not been able, with its current workload, to prepare a dedicated submission to you in respect of your current inquiry. It would be remiss of the Law Council, however, not to make its general views known to you.

6.1 Commission projects and publications The Commission has considered issues relating to the human rights of people impacted by section 501 visa refusals or cancellations in the following work: The Commission’s report: 2011 Immigration detention at Villawood: Summary of observations from visit to detention facilities at Villawood [106] The Commission’s 2009 submission to the Senate Standing ...

The Commission conducts visits to Australia’s immigration detention facilities in order to monitor conditions in the facilities. The Commission’s aim is to ensure that conditions meet internationally accepted human rights standards.

The lack of coherence and logic in decisions as regards detainees ethnicity and the veracity of their stories - primary decision makers failure rate as compared to RRT decisions which saw many boys kept in detention for up to 12 months longer than boys who arrived at the same time from the same area on the same boat - some friends still remain in detention today up to two years later when the boys know they are Hazara with the same history and the same claim to protection - leading to complete distrust in the whole system