Given that journalists receive their information, in particular information on the reasons for the protests and escapes from the Immigration Department, supplemented by some information from the security staff who have invariably called for more security staff, the reasons give in the articles below are not to be regarded as entirely factual. The Port Headland Detention Centre is in a very remote part of Australia's north, the independent legal advisors have been removed from the site since changes to the Migration Act in 1994, and the prison is (as are all refugee prisons in Australia) run by a private company (Australian Correctional Management, a subsidiary of the US Wackenhut Corporation), and information on the prison is subject to commercial confidence legislation. Moreover, that this is the first time such protests and escapes have been reported, even though it appears that there have been a number of protests and escapes in particular over the last month suggests the extent of the prisoners' isolation. It appears that the only reason this recent breakout appeared in the media is because of a push by security staff, strongly backed by the opposition Australian Labor Party in a supposed commitment to worker's rights, to increase security staff at the prison. Let's hope the escapees remain in good health, are never caught, and are joined by others who are now in prison. All of the Port Headland detainees arrived into Australia by boat, a long and dangerous journey. Because of changes to the Migration Act in recent years, the numbers of boat arrivals officially granted stay has gone from 78% in 1989 to 2% in 1997, according to the Australian Human Rights Commission Report of 1997. The HRC Report also noted that conditions and treatment at the refugee prisons were particularly appalling, including forcing people to sleep on floors because of overcrowding; cells with no windows; regular isolation of protestors and 'troublemakers' in observation rooms; often subject to the use of chemical restraints; routine mail and body searches; hourly checks on cells by male security staff (including throughout the night); mass strip searches; force feeding of hunger strikers; and in one instance, the refusal by management of blankets and food for the children during a hunger strike protesting at conditions. I would doubt therefore that recent protests have been specifically over cigarettes and videos. It should also be noted that just a month ago, the Immigration Dept gave the capacity of Port Headland as 600, indicating that it is indeed significantly overcrowded. The Labor Party's call for the building of another refugee prison, for more security, should be strongly opposed. As should their constant claims that boat arrivals paid smugglers $30,000 to come to Australia be treated with nothing but disdain for the manipulation of public opinion that it clearly is: it is more than clear that boat arrivals are amongst the poorest of immigrants, mostly from China and Viet Nam who, rather than ever having such amounts of money, have bonded themselves to smugglers to work to pay off such amounts, most likely in occupations and conditions that are both miserable and dangerous and amount to little more than slavery. If any of them actually possessed such amounts of money, they would easily have arrived by plane instead of faced the immense risks of a boat journey in these waters. Just last week, twelve refugees, presumed to be from Sri Lanka, drowned near Christmas Island to Australias' north-west. The Labor Party's nationalist manipulations are indistingushable from those of One Nation. There is only one solution: close the refugee prisons. two articles on the recent escapes below. Angela _________ http://www.theaustralian.com.au/index.asp?URL=/national/4335723.htm Illegal immigrants run wild and free By NATALIE O'BRIEN, ROGER MARTIN and PENNY GREEN 28jul99 SECURITY was under review at Port Hedland detention centre last night after a breakout by 26 illegal immigrants, the third escape in six weeks. Two guards were overpowered when the detainees, eager for cigarettes and videos, stormed the administration block of the centre, then scaled the security fences. Two of the Chinese were restrained before they could get away and last night 21 had been recaptured. Three were still on the run in the remote north-west of the country. The escape was one of the biggest from an Australian detention centre, the second in 24 hours and follows a breakout last month by 11 people. A spokeswoman for Immigration Minister Philip Ruddock declined to comment but said the minister was being kept informed of the situation. West Australian Premier Richard Court said the facility needed to be upgraded. "It concerns me that there is obviously a lot of pressure on that particular facility, and you have got to ask the question, 'is it designed to do what it is being asked to do?'," he said. "It started off as a construction camp in a mining industry. "It has been used now for many years for its current purpose and I think that the Federal Government needs to assess just what resources it is putting in to these types of facilities. "I hope they don't have an attitude 'out of sight out of mind'."The Department of Immigration spokeswoman said extra security staff were yesterday on their way to Port Hedland to relieve staff. The spokeswoman said that the escapees, who were from two boats that arrived illegally in May and last month, "made a number of demands for more cigarettes and recreational facilities, such as videos". The escape followed a breakout by four other detainees on Sunday and a riot on Saturday involving about 30 detainees. Federal Opposition immigration spokesman Con Sciacca blamed government funding cuts for the breakouts, claiming Port Hedland was "chronically understaffed", with the centre almost at capacity with 700 inmates. "The bottom line is that officer safety must be a priority and cost-cutting by the Government has reduced it to a side issue," he said. Mr Sciacca called on Mr Ruddock to increase funding and resources for the centre, and expedite the development of an additional nearby site with a capacity of 200. He also urged Mr Ruddock to revisit the contract with private operator Australasian Correctional Management in light of the "dramatic change" in the level of illegal arrivals since the tender was signed in 1997. "If measures are not taken immediately by the Government, it will only be a matter of time before we have a tragedy on our hands," Mr Sciacca said. ----- Wednesday 28 July 1999 Illegals on run after breakout battle http://www.theage.com.au/daily/990728/news/news16.html By JANINE MacDONALD CANBERRA Three illegal immigrants were still on the loose in Western Australia last night as Australia's largest private prison operator flew extra staff to the Port Hedland detention centre. In separate incidents on Monday, four Chinese escaped early in the morning and another 26 later tried to escape, after overpowering two guards and scaling a high-security perimeter fence. An Immigration Department spokeswoman said the incidents were sparked by demands for cigarettes and recreational facilities such as videos. She said Port Hedland currently held 685 people in a centre that takes 700. The breakouts have increased pressure on the Federal Government to address the problem of detaining the massive influx of illegal immigrants, with the Western Australian Premier, Mr Richard Court, calling for the Government to review the resources it was putting into Port Hedland. Labor's Imigration spokesman, Mr Con Sciacca, who visited Port Hedland last week, said it was ``chronically understaffed'', and warned that it was only a matter of time before there was a fatality or serious injury. Tension at the centre also erupted on the weekend when 34 Chinese barricaded themselves in a room for four hours and threatened self-mutilation. It is the latest in a series of escapes from centres run by Australasian Correctional Management, including a mass breakout from the Villawood detention centre in western Sydney in May, which prompted the Federal Government to threaten ACM with fines written into the contract. ACM also runs the Fulham prison and Melbourne Custody Centre in Victoria, the Arthur Gorrie prison in Queensland and the Junee prison in New South Wales. But the Immigration Minister, Mr Philip Ruddock, said detention centres were not prisons and some breakouts were to be expected. ``They're not out of control,'' he said. ``Obviously it is a facility that is pressed with very large numbers of people who are in a situation of some difficulty - as far as they are concerned, they are being detained. ``We have boosted the number of staff ... and we hope to be able to ... release some of the pressure that has been in place.'' Mr Sciacca said the Government should open another centre as a matter of urgency. A spokeswoman for ACM said there was no comment and inquiries should be referred to the Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs.
