---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Mon, 28 Jan 2002 18:05:24 +0000
From: ainews <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Australia: Ten-year-old policy of detention is failing
* News Release Issued by the International Secretariat of Amnesty
International *
28 January 2002
ASA 12/001/2002
17/02
"As the risk of fatalities increases in ongoing unrest within
Australian immigration detention centres, it is clear that the
ten-year-old policy of mandatory detention is failing and needs
urgent review, "Amnesty International said today.
"Of immediate concern is the mental health of the
detainees -- hunger strikes, self-harm and attempted suicides of
detainees have obvious roots in extreme desperation. This is
created by the combined effects of prolonged incarceration,
social isolation and increasing uncertainty about the future,
with many people fearing for their lives if returned to their
home countries."
No other country imprisons hundreds of children, and
thousands of men and women for lacking a visa under a national
policy requiring their automatic and indefinite detention,
without charge or review by a court. Contrary to the
government's line, the policy of detention has not deterred
refugees -- as most of them are found to be -- trying to arrive
without authorization. The government claims that refugees with
valid travel documents are welcome, but people fleeing
persecution often cannot apply for visa at distant embassies and
then wait months or years for approval.
"Locking up thousands of refugee applicants has proven
not to stop new attempts at reaching Australia. Are Australians
really willing to pay any price, human and financial, to maintain
a 10-year-old detention policy which has failed to halt desperate
actions to seek refuge?" the organization asked.
The focus on the physical conditions in the detention
centres detracts from the key issue behind the unrest - mental
health. Medical professionals and informed observers have
repeatedly raised concerns about the detainees' mental health and
the standards of medical care in detention.
Amnesty International called on the Australian government
to relieve detainee anxieties by easing some of the pressures
which underlie their desperate actions. At the very least,
families with children and those already found to meet refugee
criteria should be released, pending completion of their visa
approvals. Detention should be the exception, not the rule, and
determined case by case.
Ultimately, parliament should reconsider the underlying
factors contributing to acts of desperation in detention, and
enable a substantial increase of efforts to address the causes of
international refugee flows, notably human rights abuses.
Amnesty International does not condone any acts of
self-harm or violence, whether committed by asylum-seekers or
others protesting their conditions. Neither does it believe the
Australian government can escape its share of the responsibility
for the circumstances driving detainees into desperation.
Ongoing fighting and instability in Afghanistan, home to
many of the detainees, makes it unlikely that Afghan
asylum-seekers can safely return in the near future. The
Australian experiment with automatic mass detention proves once
again the need for increased international cooperation to slow
refugee flows and provide humane conditions and solutions for
those unable to return home in safety.
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