Media Release: Activists protest at Leonora Detention Centre

Activists protest at Leonora Detention Centre

On 21 January a group of 30 Perth activists from the Refugee Rights Action Network (RRAN) travelled to Leonora detention centre in solidarity with the hunger strike at Curtin detention centre and to call for an end to mandatory detention. The group, who are as diverse as the general community, comprising of teachers, students, tradespeople, social workers, as well as teenagers and children, had requested to fly kites and play cricket with the 55 children detained in Leonora detention centre, but were denied by Serco, who run the detention facility.

RRAN are concerned that the children have been locked up in the centre over the school holidays, and have only been able to leave the centre for one hour each week.

Marcus Hampson, a social worker in mental health services and member of RRAN explains: “While DIAC say that they run daily excursions outside the centre, the reality is that each child only gets to do this once a week. I have been told by people employed at the detention centre that while many activities are scheduled on paper they are regularly cancelled due to a lack of staff to conduct them.”

A small group of protestors met with three women detained in Leonora after the group had submitted visitor applications earlier in the week to meet with them. Serco informed the group that some people had declined to receive visitors.

“People declining visitors has been an indication in the past of the deteriorating mental health caused by detention”, Hampson said.

“People who have been detained for long periods of time become so despondent that they give up on life and lose the motivation to socialise with visitors.”

Hampson expressed that people in detention may be reluctant to meet with advocates due to the intimidation they receive from the Serco guards: “We were informed by people detained in Leonora that three men attempted to walk to the fence to wave and greet the group of protestors.

Those men were told by Serco guards that if they communicated with the group, photos would be taken which would get back to Canberra and be very bad for their visas.

Stories of this type of intimidation by Detention Centre Guards are emerging as a pattern from conversations I have had with people detained and employed in many of Australia’s detention centres.”

RRAN were told about the deteriorating mental state of the detainees, with stories of self-harm and suicide attempts, including one suicide attempt two weeks ago.

Gerry Georgatos, a member of RRAN, was relayed a story of a woman who has stopped sleeping and spends her nights roaming the corridors.

“The detainees say she has lost her mind. This is an example of how mandatory detention traumatises people who have already experienced trauma fleeing from the warzones in their own countries.”

Hampson also reports that there have been complaints from detainees as well as SERCO staff about a particular guard who works in the centre, “this guard has been bullying, intimidating and harassing the detainees, as well as sexually harassing at least one female colleague.”

RRAN is energised by the bravery of the families locked in detention and the gratitude expressed by detainees. “One woman told us this was the happiest day they have had for a long, long time and they are very happy that we came to shout for their human rights.”

The group are planning another trip to Curtin detention centre, located near Derby, in April of this year.

For media enquiries contact:
Marcus Hampson: 0432 839 835
Gerry Georgatos: 0430 657 309
Clare Middlemas: 0401 292 914

See also: Letter from Leonora