RR Phantom
Location : Wasted Space
Job/hobbies : Cayman Islands Actuary
 |  Subject: OZschwitz slave pen: The indignity of detention  Sat Oct 18, 2008 7:41 pm | |
| Australians should hang their heads in shame as they contemplate the treatment of asylum seekers, writes Kerry-Anne Walsh.
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A REPORT by the Immigration Ombudsman into the cases of 25 long-stay immigration detainees was quietly tabled in Parliament last week with no fanfare and no publicity.
No wonder. It's appalling reading. It should make civilised Australians hang their heads in shame.
Take case 479/08 - in detention centres they have no names - a Kenyan who stowed away on a ship. This is a showcase example of callous indifference; indifference that grew over two decades to become the hallmark of the detention system.
For the purposes of this story, I'll humanise 479/08 and give him a name. "Matu" arrived in March 2006, was detained at Perth immigration detention centre, transferred to Baxter centre in South Australia, then moved on to Sydney's Villawood centre.
He was refused a protection visa almost immediately. The decision was affirmed by the Refugee Review Tribunal. It took another nine steps, costing the taxpayer an undisclosed but no doubt outrageous amount in departmental and legal fees, before the validity of his claim was recognised. While locked up, Matu suffered depression and started taking medication - a scenario repeated in most cases outlined in the ombudsman's report.
He was placed on "Suicide and Self Harm" observation for 23 days in October 2006 and 14 days in June 2007. He was finally granted a temporary protection visa and released in April this year. But his troubles were far from over.
On the day he was freed, he was given little notice to pack and depart. He was tossed out with a taxi fare and a plane ticket to Canberra, where a refugee advocate was waiting. She had wanted to greet him in Sydney but the lack of notice about his departure made it impossible.
Matu had to return to the detention centre and ask staff to call him a cab as he'd never caught one before. He relied on strangers at Sydney Airport to guide him through check-in and boarding procedures as he'd never been on a plane, either.
Matu was owed $1200 for work undertaken at Villawood but was paid only $200 when he was released. No explanation was given why the money, which he needed to live, wasn't made available.
Still on anti-depressants and sedatives, he wasn't given any scripts or medication to take with him. It was four days before his advocate could get him in to see a Canberra doctor.
Still experiencing post-release nightmares, sleeping only three hours a night and suffering short-term memory loss, Matu is slowly putting his life together. He works as a kitchen hand and aspires to study catering. The human spirit can overcome most things, it seems, even appalling treatment in the land of opportunity.
The ombudsman didn't see Matu's case as indicative of systemic failure, even though elements of it were echoed in the cases of the other long-term detainees.
The department noted in a laughable understatement that "the situation was far from ideal". In classic bureaucratic blather, it acknowledged that "internal communication protocols were not properly followed". Whatever that means.
The ombudsman recommended - presumably with a straight face - that the Immigration Department consider sending Matu a letter "acknowledging the inconvenience he suffered upon his discharge from Villawood". A letter should fix him up, for sure.
A society is only as good as the way we treat those less fortunate. Christians - and we boast when it suits us that Australia is a strong Christian society - also believe that special care should be shown to orphans, widows and strangers to our shores.
Some of the detainees had been incarcerated for years - one for nine. Nine years incarceration for daring to want what we've all got? The case files of most showed that their dehumanising treatment and isolation caused psychosis, suicidal tendencies and other serious psychological injuries - including, in one case, grand mal fits.
The Federal Government has vowed to humanise this inhumane system. In May, minister Chris Evans moved to end the misery of many long-term detainees, releasing dozens and moving others into community detention.
It was an important step. The end of such an entrenched system of barbarism, through a new minister and more enlightened department, is hopefully in sight.
Only then can Australia say with pride we have returned to being a civilised society that treats asylum seekers - whose only sin is to want a better life - with a dignity deserved by everyone.
LNK
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