Australian immigration detention facilities

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Australian immigration detention facilities
Yongah Hill Immigration Detention Centre (7505722558).jpg
Barriers surrounding the Yongah Hill Immigration Detention Centre in Burlong, Western Australia.
Wickham Point Immigration Detention Centre (6457503853).jpg
The Wickham Point Immigration Detention Centre in Darwin

Australian immigration detention facilities comprise a number of different facilities throughout Australia, including the Australian territory of Christmas Island. [1] Such facilities also exist in Papua New Guinea and Nauru, namely the Nauru Regional Processing Centre and the Manus Regional Processing Centre.

Contents

They are currently used to detain people who are under Australia's policy of mandatory immigration detention. Asylum seekers detected in boats in Australian waters have been detained in facilities on the offshore islands of Nauru and Manus Island, previously under the now defunct Pacific Solution and (since 2013 and as of March 2019) under Operation Sovereign Borders.

The facilities' existence is controversial and has been condemned on human rights grounds and have even been likened to concentration camps by some critics and human rights groups. [2] [3] The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has cited these centres as a "damning indictment of a policy meant to avoid Australia's international obligations". [4]

Background

The Migration Act 1958 allowed discretionary detention of unauthorised arrivals until 1992. Since the 1990s when the Keating government created a policy of mandatory detention of unauthorised arrivals, with non-citizens arriving by boat without a valid visa being detained until they were either granted a visa, or deported. [5]

Towards the end of the 1990s, a large increase in the number of unauthorised arrivals exceeded the capacity of the existing Immigration Reception and Processing Centres (IRPCs) at Port Hedland and Curtin. [6]

Facilities

Immigration Detention Centres (IDCs)

Northern IDC, Darwin, 2010 Northern Immigration Detention Facility in April 2010.jpg
Northern IDC, Darwin, 2010

Immigration detention centres detain people who have overstayed their visa, breached their visa conditions and had their visa cancelled or have been refused entry at Australia's entry ports. [7] This includes irregular maritime arrivals claiming asylum without passports, identity papers or valid entry visas. Under the Migration Act 1958, people arriving in this manner are classed as unlawful non-citizens and are currently subject to mandatory detention. However, in 1954 the Australian government ratified the United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees. Under Article 31 of the convention, the Australian government is legally obligated to grant anyone fleeing persecution and seeking asylum the right to enter the country by whatever means possible. Furthermore, the Article states that signatory countries are not to impose penalties on or indefinitely restrict the freedom of movement of those seeking asylum. [8]

Australia's Migration Act 1958 requires people who are not Australian citizens and who are unlawfully in Australia to be detained. Unless they are given legal permission to remain in Australia by being granted a visa, unlawful non-citizens must be removed from Australia as soon as reasonably practicable. The Australian government claims that immigration detention is not used to punish people. Instead, they claim it is an administrative function whereby people who do not have a valid visa are detained while their claims to stay are considered or their removal is facilitated. [9]

There are, or were, centres located at:

Immigration Residential Housing Centres (IRHC)

Immigration residential housing provides an option for accommodating people in independent family-style housing in a community setting while still formally being detained. This type of facility is one of several types of alternative residential accommodation for detained people, subject to them meeting eligibility criteria. [11]

Immigration Transit Accommodation Centres (ITAC)

The Brisbane Immigration Transit Accommodation opened in November 2007 and the Melbourne Immigration Transit Accommodation opened in June 2008. Further immigration transit accommodation opened in Adelaide in 2011. ITCs are for short-term, low-risk detainees, [12] however the Melbourne facility was extended with a high-security compound in 2018. [13]

Alternative Places of Detention (APOD)

Alternative Places of Detention (APOD) can accommodate any person who is in immigration detention. APOD may range from hospital accommodation in cases of necessary medical treatment, schools for the purpose of facilitating education to school-aged minors, rented accommodation in the community (hotel rooms, apartments), or accommodation in the community made available through arrangements with other government departments. [14]

Manus Island regional processing facility (Image by DIAC) Manus Island regional processing facility 2012.jpg
Manus Island regional processing facility (Image by DIAC)

Pacific Solution facilities

Since the implementation of the Pacific Solution Australia also funded immigration detention centres on:

Services to immigration centres


Most facilities were operated by Australasian Correctional Management (a subsidiary of G4S) under contract from the Department of Immigration until 2003, when ACM exited the market. Between 2003 and 2009, G4S was appointed as the contractor to manage a large number of facilities. Its contract was not renewed and in 2009 Serco Australia was awarded a five-year contract.[ citation needed ]

Manus Regional Processing Centre was operated by the International Organization for Migration, then by G4S, then by Broadspectrum (formerly Transfield) with security sub-contracted to Wilson Security.[ citation needed ]

Nauru Regional Processing Centre was operated by Broadspectrum and Wilson Security, and then later by Canstruct International (with a $591 million contract) and finally by a Nauruan Government Commercial Entity.[ citation needed ]

The 3 new immigration detention facilities in Lorengau on Manus Island have security and some services provided by Paladin Group under a contract worth more than $423 million.[ citation needed ]

Christmas Island Immigration Detention Centre was once operated by G4S [17] but is now operated by Serco as of April 2019. [18]

Controversy

Detainees protesting on the roof of the Villawood Immigration Detention Centre in Sydney Asylum seekers on the roof of Villawood Immigration Detention Centre 2.jpg
Detainees protesting on the roof of the Villawood Immigration Detention Centre in Sydney

The facilities have been a source of much controversy during their time of operation. There have been a number of riots and escapes, [19] as well as accusations of human rights abuses from organisations such as refugee advocates, Amnesty International, the Australian Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, Human Rights Watch, and the United Nations. Journalists are forbidden from entering the detention centres. [20]

In January 2014, the Australian Labor Party and the Australian Greens accused the government of a cover-up over a violent clash on 18 October 2013 at the Manus Island facility between the Papua New Guinea army and the Papua New Guinea police mobile squad hired for the facility's security, leading to Australian expatriate staff being evacuated, while local staff and asylum seekers remained. [21] On 5 May 2014, it was reported that several Salvation Army staffers had alleged that refugees were regularly subjected to beatings, racial slurs, and sexual assaults within the facility. [22]

In March 2002, Irene Khan, the Secretary General of Amnesty International, said:

It is obvious that the prolonged periods of detention, characterised by frustration and insecurity, are doing further damage to individuals who have fled grave human rights abuses. The detention policy has failed as a deterrent and succeeded only as punishment.
How much longer will children and their families be punished for seeking safety from persecution? [23]

Refugee "Swap" with the US

In 2016 the Australian government announced an intention to exchange some proven refugees from either Nauru and/or Manus Island for certain displaced people presently in Central America as part of an agreement with the Obama administration of the United States.

In early 2017 Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced that he was confident the agreement would proceed, despite the change of President to Donald Trump. However, latest information appears to cast doubt on the willingness of the US government to honour any such agreement, especially in light of Trump's executive order suspending entry to the US from several countries. [24]

On 2 February 2017 Australian news outlets, quoting the Washington Post, reported that a telephone conversation between Trump and Turnbull had been acrimonious in relation to the "swap", and that Trump had terminated the call ahead of time. [25] Trump has expressed admiration over the detention facilities, opining that the US should do the same. [26]

On 4 February 2019 the remaining 4 children who had been detained on Nauru were sent to the U.S. [27]

In May 2019, it was revealed that some of the U.S. detainees sent to Australia in the "swap", were Rwandan men, former members of the Army for the Liberation of Rwanda, who had been accused of mass-murdering tourists in 1999. They had been held in U.S. immigration detention for over 15 years, but were on the verge of being released into the U.S. after a court ruled that their confessions had been obtained by torture. In November 2018 the men were secretly brought to Australia. The Turnbull government knew about the allegations against the men when they agreed to accept them. The Australian and U.S. Governments initially refused to comment on the matter, but later Prime Minister Scott Morrison said that the men had been assessed by security agencies. [28] [29]

The former New Zealand foreign affairs minister Gerry Brownlee described Australia's behaviour as "incredibly insensitive" and said that New Zealand would have "appreciated a heads up" that Australia was about to resettle men accused of brutally murdering two New Zealanders [among others]. [30]

Suicide and self-harm attempts increase on Manus

After the Australian Liberal Party were re-elected in the 2019 Australian federal election, reports of despair and attempted self-harm and suicide were reported from Manus. The men had hoped with Labor in government, the New Zealand offer would be accepted and they would at last be resettled. By 4 June there had been at least 26 attempts at suicide or self-harm by men in the Lorengau camps and Port Moresby (in the hospital and accommodation for sick asylum seekers). [31] The PNG paramilitary police squad was deployed around one of the camps in an attempt to deter suicide and self-harm attempts. Lorengau general hospital has been handling many of the self-harm and suicide cases, despite the Australian government contract with Pacific International Health (PIH), because of the seriousness of the cases. The police commander commented that they were doing all they could, but severe mental illness arose because of the effect of long-term detention on the men. [32]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Manus Island</span> Island within Manus Province, Papua New Guinea

Manus Island is part of Manus Province in northern Papua New Guinea and is the largest of the Admiralty Islands. It is the fifth-largest island in Papua New Guinea, with an area of 2,100 km2 (810 sq mi), measuring around 100 km × 30 km. Manus Island is covered in rugged jungles which can be broadly described as lowland tropical rain forest. The highest point on Manus Island is Mt. Dremsel, 718 metres (2,356 ft) above sea level at the centre of the south coast. Manus Island is volcanic in origin and probably broke through the ocean's surface in the late Miocene, 8 to 10 million years ago. The substrate of the island is either directly volcanic or from uplifted coral limestone.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pacific Solution</span> Australian asylum policy from 2001

The Pacific Solution is the name given to the government of Australia's policy of transporting asylum seekers to detention centres on island nations in the Pacific Ocean, rather than allowing them to land on the Australian mainland. Initially implemented from 2001 to 2007, it had bipartisan support from the Coalition and Labor opposition at the time. The Pacific Solution consisted of three central strategies:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Villawood Immigration Detention Centre</span>

Villawood Immigration Detention Centre, originally Villawood Migrant Hostel or Villawood Migrant Centre, split into a separate section named Westbridge Migrant Hostel from 1968 to 1984, is an Australian immigration detention facility located in the suburb of Villawood in Sydney, Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nauru Regional Processing Centre</span> Offshore Australian immigration detention facility

The Nauru Regional Processing Centre is an offshore Australian immigration detention facility in use from 2001 to 2008, from 2012 to 2019, and from September 2021. It is located on the South Pacific island nation of Nauru and run by the Government of Nauru. The use of immigration detention facilities is part of a policy of mandatory detention in Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Australian migration zone</span> Territory in which Australias visa policy applies

The Australian migration zone is a legal device created by the Australian Government for the purpose of Australia's visa policy and immigration policy, as the territory in which Australia's visa policy applies. The Australian migration zone covers such Australian controlled territories as the government may determine. Prior to 2001, the Australian migration zone consisted of the mainland, as well as some external territories. Norfolk Island, for example, was not part of the Australian migration zone until 2016. Under Australia’s universal visa policy, a non-citizen must hold an Australian visa within the Australian migration zone. Without such a visa, or a bridging visa, the non-citizen is an unlawful non-citizen and treated as an "unauthorised arrival". However, the main effect of the migration zone is that unauthorised arrivals outside the zone have very limited access for review by Australian courts.

Immigration detention is the policy of holding individuals suspected of visa violations, illegal entry or unauthorized arrival, as well as those subject to deportation and removal until a decision is made by immigration authorities to grant a visa and release them into the community, or to repatriate them to their country of departure. Mandatory detention refers to the practice of compulsorily detaining or imprisoning people seeking political asylum, or who are considered to be illegal immigrants or unauthorized arrivals into a country. Some countries have set a maximum period of detention, while others permit indefinite detention.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lorengau</span> Lorengau Town in Manus, Papua New Guinea

Lorengau is the major town in Manus Province, Papua New Guinea. The town is located on the edge of Seeadler Harbour on Manus Island, in the Admiralty Islands, and in 2000 Lorengau was recorded to have a population of 5,829.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Broadspectrum</span> Australian infrastructure maintenance services company

Broadspectrum, formerly known as Transfield Services, was an Australian and New Zealand company that provided infrastructure maintenance services. Formerly listed on the Australian Securities Exchange, and later owned by Ferrovial, it was then acquired by Ventia who integrated Broadspectrum alongside Visionstream.

Mohammed Sagar is an Iraqi, who was detained on Manus Island and Nauru between 2001 and 2006. Sagar became the last of approximately 1,300 refugees from the Middle East to be detained on Nauru under the Australian Government's "Pacific Solution" after an adverse security assessment was issued by the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO). He resettled in Sweden in 2007 after the UN High Commissioner for Refugees' efforts to secure asylum in a third country finally met with success.

Muhammad Faisal is an Iraqi refugee who was detained on the island of Nauru between 2001 and 2006 under the Australian Government's "pacific solution". Faisal became the second last Iraqi refugee to leave Nauru after he was initially refused a protection visa on the basis of an adverse security assessment issued by the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Immigration detention in Australia</span>

The Australian government has a policy and practice of detaining in immigration detention facilities non-citizens not holding a valid visa, suspected of visa violations, illegal entry or unauthorised arrival, and those subject to deportation and removal in immigration detention until a decision is made by the immigration authorities to grant a visa and release them into the community, or to repatriate them to their country of origin/passport. Persons in immigration detention may at any time opt to voluntarily leave Australia for their country of origin, or they may be deported or given a bridging or temporary visa. In 1992, Australia adopted a mandatory detention policy obliging the government to detain all persons entering or being in the country without a valid visa, while their claim to remain in Australia is processed and security and health checks undertaken. Also, at the same time, the law was changed to permit indefinite detention, from the previous limit of 273 days. The policy was instituted by the Keating government in 1992, and was varied by the subsequent Howard, Rudd, Gillard, Abbott, Turnbull, Morrison and Albanese Governments. The policy is regarded as controversial and has been criticised by a number of organisations. In 2004, the High Court of Australia confirmed the constitutionality of indefinite mandatory detention of non-citizens. However, this interpretation was overturned in a landmark decision, NZYQ v Minister for Immigration, in 2023, with the High Court concluding the practice was unlawful and unconstitutional.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christmas Island Detention Centre</span> Australian immigration detention facility

Christmas Island Immigration Reception and Processing Centre or commonly just Christmas Island Immigration Detention Centre, is an Australian immigration detention facility located on Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean.

Illegal immigration to Australia is defined by the Migration Act 1958, which distinguishes between "lawful non-citizens" and "unlawful non-citizens".

Asylum in Australia has been granted to many refugees since 1945, when half a million Europeans displaced by World War II were given asylum. Since then, there have been periodic waves of asylum seekers from South East Asia and the Middle East, with government policy and public opinion changing over the years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Manus Regional Processing Centre</span> An offshore Australian immigration detention facility

The Manus Regional Processing Centre, or Manus Island Regional Processing Centre (MIRCP), was one of a number of offshore Australian immigration detention facilities. The centre was located on the PNG Navy Base Lombrum on Los Negros Island in Manus Province, Papua New Guinea.

Immigration is the movement of an individual or group of peoples to a foreign country to live permanently. Since 1788, when the first British settlers arrived in Botany Bay, immigrants have travelled from across the world to establish a life in Australia. The reason for people or groups of peoples moving to Australia varies. Such reasons can be due to seeking work or even refuge from third world countries. The health of immigrants entering Australia varies depending on the individual's country of origin and the circumstance of which they came, as well as their state of travel to Australia. Immigrants are known to enter Australia both regularly and irregularly, and this can affect one's health immensely. Once in Australia, immigrants are given the opportunity to access a high quality of healthcare services, however, the usage of these services can differ dependent on the culture and place of birth of the individual. Researchers have proven this. Australia has strict health regulations that have to be met before one is allowed access into Australia and can determine if one is granted or denied such access. The quarantine process of immigrants into Australia has been in place since 1830, starting at the North Head Quarantine Station and continues all over Australia.

International Health and Medical Services (IHMS) provides primary and mental health care services within the Australian immigration detention network under a contract with the Department of Immigration and Border Protection. It is a subsidiary of International SOS.

Paladin Group, also known as Paladin Solutions, Paladin Holdings and Paladin Solutions Group, is a security and project services contractor which operates in South East Asia, Australia and Oceania.

Mental health consequences of immigration detention include higher rates of depression, anxiety, PTSD, schizophrenia conduct issues, hyperactivity, compared to the general population. These harmful impacts exist regardless of past traumatic experiences, age, or nationality, or even time elapsed. Immigration detention may take place at country or state borders, in certain international jurisdiction zones, on offshore islands, boats, camps, or could even be in the form of house arrest. The use of immigration detention around the world has increased recently, leading to greater concerns about the health and wellbeing of detained migrants. A 2018 scoping review from BMC Psychiatry gathered information showing that immigration detention consistently results in negative impacts on detainees.

References

  1. ↑ "Australia". Immi.gov.au. Archived from the original on 5 November 2013. Retrieved 1 December 2013.
  2. ↑ Charles, Stephen (4 May 2016). "Our detention centres are concentration camps and must be closed". Australia – via The Sydney Morning Herald.
  3. ↑ "No Pacific paradise: Trump's call to PM shines light on detention camps". NBC News.
  4. ↑ Davidson, Helen (21 November 2017). "Manus humanitarian crisis a 'damning indictment' of Australia's refugee policy: UNHCR". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 April 2022.
  5. ↑ Archived 29 July 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  6. ↑ "Report" (PDF). Australia: Commonwealth of Australia. 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 August 2008. Retrieved 10 August 2008.
  7. ↑ "Fact Sheet 82 - Immigration Detention". Immi.gov.au. Archived from the original on 7 May 2012. Retrieved 1 December 2013.
  8. ↑ "The Refugee Convention - Article 31: Refugees unlawfully in the country of refuge". Archived from the original on 20 March 2014.
  9. ↑ "About immigration detention". Immi.gov.au. Archived from the original on 28 May 2013. Retrieved 1 December 2013.
  10. ↑ Ireland, Judith (14 January 2014). "Scott Morrison announces closure of four immigration detention centres". The Sydney Morning Herald . AAP. Retrieved 30 July 2015.
  11. ↑ "About the facilities". Immi.gov.au. Archived from the original on 22 May 2009. Retrieved 1 December 2013.
  12. ↑ "About the facilities". Immi.gov.au. Archived from the original on 15 March 2009. Retrieved 1 December 2013.
  13. ↑ Hall, Bianca (10 January 2019). "'Brutality': protests and violence at Melbourne detention centre". The Age . Retrieved 11 September 2019.
  14. ↑ Ujjal, Thakur (18 October 2019). "Emigrate to Australia ⋆ Information (Vetted)". Lets Go Global Australia Immigration. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
  15. ↑ "First Asylum Seekers Sent to Manus Island". Theaustralian.com.au. Retrieved 1 December 2013.
  16. ↑ "Troops ready to reopen detention centres on Nauru and Manus Island". Theaustralian.com.au. Retrieved 1 December 2013.
  17. ↑ "Immigration Detention Services". G4S. 2008. Archived from the original on 26 May 2010. Retrieved 7 October 2010.
  18. ↑ "Government sends 140 Serco staff to Christmas Island despite no refugees being there". The Sydney Morning Herald. 4 April 2019.
  19. ↑ "ASIA-PACIFIC | Australia's asylum policy". BBC News. 31 August 2001. Retrieved 1 December 2013.
  20. ↑ "Lack of media access into detention centres is shaping the asylum seeker conversation in Australia". www.ibtimes.com.au. 18 March 2016.
  21. ↑ "Cover-up of violent PNG police-army clash on Manus". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 5 January 2014.
  22. ↑ "Ex-Manus Island workers report beatings, rapes of asylum seekers". The Sydney Morning Herald. 6 May 2014. Retrieved 6 May 2014.
  23. ↑ "Secretary General Irene Khan to respond to Woomera Incidents" (Press release). Amnesty International. 8 March 2002. Archived from the original on 13 January 2006. Retrieved 13 January 2007.
  24. ↑ "Australia will be expected to 'reciprocate' eventually". NewsComAu. 31 January 2017. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
  25. ↑ "Trump 'blasts, hangs up on Turnbull'". The Daily Telegraph. 1 February 2017. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
  26. ↑ "Trump urged Mexican president to end his public defiance on border wa…". The Washington Post . 3 August 2017. Archived from the original on 3 August 2017.
  27. ↑ Kennedy, Merrit (5 February 2019). "Last 4 Children Detained on Nauru Are Heading to the U.S." NPR.
  28. ↑ Josh Gerstein (15 May 2019). "'That's Just Insane': Australia's Secret Deal to Take in Rwandan Guerrillas From the U.S." POLITICO . Retrieved 24 May 2019.
  29. ↑ Andrew Greene (17 May 2019). "Rwandans accused of 1999 tourist murders in Uganda secretly brought to Australia in deal with United States". Australian Broadcasting Corporation . Retrieved 24 May 2019.
  30. ↑ Ben Fordham (16 May 2019). "'Incredibly insensitive': NZ outrage as accused Rwandan murderers resettled in Australia". 2GB . Retrieved 24 May 2019.
  31. ↑ Boochani, Behrouz (3 June 2019). "How many more people must die on Manus before Australia ends indefinite detention?". The Guardian. Retrieved 4 June 2019.
  32. ↑ McGowan, Michael (4 June 2019). "Notorious PNG police unit deployed at Manus refugee camp as tensions rise". The Guardian. Retrieved 4 June 2019.
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