Refugee Rights Action Network WA
Health and refugee groups continue to await the Commonwealth Ombudsman’s investigation into detainee self-harm, originally expected in April 2012.
Monday, 23 April 2012 06:00, Rob Payne
Announced in July 2011, the investigation received immediate support, including a letter published in the Medical Journal of Australia (MJA) by Dr Louise K Newman, Chair of Developmental Psychiatry at Monash University.
“What happens – and this is well documented in research and reports – is that after three months of indefinite detention there is often a decline involving anxiety, depression and sleeplessness.”—Dr Fleay
Dr Newman’s letter urged the government to act swiftly to prevent more human tragedy, noting that the 2010-11 financial year had seen 1100 incidents self-harm and that detainee suicides were again on the rise.
Dr Newman emphasised research showing time in detention correlates to high levels of mental health problems.
This is apparent and on-going at WA’s Curtin Immigration Detention Centre (CIDC) near Derby.
“The investigation and [Dr Newman’s] letter are welcome,” says Dr Caroline Fleay of Curtin University’s Centre for Human Rights Education, who visited CIDC five times in 2011.
“I witnessed people falling apart,” she says.
“What happens – and this is well documented in research and reports – is that after three months of indefinite detention there is often a decline involving anxiety, depression and sleeplessness.”
“Not only is there very little capacity for individuals to engage, they simply don’t feel that they can, especially for activities that involve concentration.”
“You have to remember these are people desperately worried about the outcomes of their claims, and they often have family living unsafe lives in their homeland.”
“It all compounds.”
In her report Hidden Men, written with Linda Briskman, Dr Fleay notes the wide-spread use of anti-depressants, sleeping tablets and medication for stomach ailments at CIDC.
Mental anguish manifests in physical pain, headaches, panic attacks, loss of consciousness, weight loss, memory loss and thoughts of self-harm.
Unfortunately, very little is being done to improve the situation.
Hidden Men highlights grave structural problems, including a clear lack of understanding and expertise by some staff on how to handle traumatised detainees.
There are also myriad stress factors, including CIDC’s remoteness (2500km from Perth), poor communication (18 computers for up to 1400 men, no access to incoming phone calls, a ban on mobile phones), limited opportunities for recreation and harsh conditions (extreme heat in the day, high numbers of mosquitoes at night).
And all of this is exacerbated by overcrowding.
“Curtin was built to house 1200 people, but at one point last year had 1400,” says Dr Fleay.
“This meant that rec rooms were converted to dorms, taking away opportunities to relieve stress.”
“This communicates the message, ‘you’re not that important’, which just makes the situation worse.”
The Ombudsman’s final report is now expected in June.
Three Afghan Hazara asylum seekers who were tortured and beaten unconscious by guards at the end of February after attempting to escape the Pontianak detention centre in West Kalimantan, Indonesia have been refusing food since the night of Wednesday 18th April.
Mark Goudkamp from the Refugee Action Coalition and Ridwan Bakar from the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) visited the traumatised men in Pontianak’s St Augustus hospital on April 16.
Goudkamp said: “On February 28, six Hazaras escaped through the roof of their room detention centre, which is partially funded by the Australian government.
One of the men, Taki Nakoyee, was beaten to death after he was recaptured. More than ten guards beat him with wood, burnt him with cigarettes, whipped him with cables, and gave him electric shocks.
The three witnesses to the killing were also tortured and beaten by the guards.”
Detainees inside Pontianak’s “Rumah Detensi Imigrasi” told Goudkamp that they’d heard the screaming for 2 to 3 hours from about 2am on the night the men were re-captured.
Two other Hazara escapees caught after Mr Nakoyee had been murdered, were stripped and forced to sleep naked on the floor of an isolation cell.
The other three Hazara escapees weren’t so lucky. They are slowly recovering in hospital, but Mohammed still has two broken ankles and a large cut across his scalp. Ali has an enormous gash along his left arm which required surgery. Abdul had black eyes, and badly injured ribs and legs.
The five men are currently held at the Merpati Hotel.
“Ten low level guards charged with killing Mr Nakoyee are now behind bars in a neighbouring city awaiting trial,” said Goudkamp, “Yet detainees told me they believe that the problem goes much higher. ‘We pleaded with the head of the centre, Ageng Pribadi to tell his staff that we were asylum seekers, not criminals, but nothing changed.’ ”
“Abdul, Ali, and Mohammed, already traumatised as a result of being tortured alongside Mr Nakoyee and seeing him die, are now terrified of recriminations for giving evidence against the guards.
“Desperate for Australia to process their refugee claims as soon as possible, they are continuing their hunger strike. It’s actually very worrying because their bodies are only just recovering from their beatings.
“The local UNHCR has recommended that Indonesian immigration immediately transfer them to Jakarta and to submit their cases to be Australian embassy, but so far there has been no response,” said Goudkamp.
To prevent further tragedy, the Australian government needs to act swiftly to process the men’s claims and ensure their future safety. Last Monday night, a message from the strikers said, “We think we have to continue (sic) strike with no eating and drinking. We are the real sacrification (sic) of this cruel action…We humbly want humanitarian help of Australia people and Australia (sic) state. Please don’t put us alone here.”
“Taki Nakoyee’s killing dramatically shows that Hazara asylum seekers are not safe in Indonesia. Australia is pushing the Indonesian government to detain and warehouse asylum seekers in Indonesia,” said Ian Rintoul, from the Refugee Action Coalition.
“There are now 996 desperate people (924 asylum seekers and 72 UNHCR refugees) in just 12 identified detention centres scattered across the Indonesian archipelago.
“The Australian government and opposition both feign concern about asylum seekers’ losing their lives at sea. Yet the death of Taki and the brutal bashing of three others reveals the fact that there is no security for asylum seekers in Indonesia. To get to safety, asylum seekers have to get on boats to get to Australia.
“Australia should be committed to re-settling all UNHCR recognised refugees in Indonesia. Yet according to UNHCR Indonesia’s latest factsheet, Australia has taken just 17 in the first three months of this year.
For further comment, in Australia call Mark Goudkamp on +61 422 078 376, Ian Rintoul on +61 417 275 713. In Indonesia, Ridwan Bakar (Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) on +62 8 138 854 4332
DASSAN Reports:
A 10 year old year old Vietnamese asylum seeker has provided a community visitor from the Darwin Asylum Seeker Support and Advocacy Network (DASSAN) with a letter pleading for help. The 10 year old girl arrived in Australia by boat in March 2011 and has been detained in three different centres located in three different states since arriving in Australia.
The girl is one of around 50 children detained in Darwin detention centres and hundreds in immigration detention centres across Australia. The NT branch of the Australian Medical Association has reported that child asylum seekers are presenting to Darwin hospitals after self harming.
DASSAN spokesperson Rohan Thwaites said “this plea for help highlights the need for all children to be removed from detention centres. Australian detention centres are rife with self harm and suicide attempts. Children should not be exposed to these sorts of incidents.”
“The guardian of this child and all children in detention is the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship. The Minister cannot act as jailer and act in a child’s best interests as their guardian at the same time. He should be removed as the guardian of this child all children in detention and an independent person appointed”
The girl is detained in the Darwin Airport Lodge where Serco management had previously prohibited the use of crayons and textas by children inside their own rooms.
For media comment: Rohan Thwaites, DASSAN: 0402 555
In here, our lives are very sad, depressing and hopeless. As each day passes, we feel heavy-hearted and lacking any sense of hope. We have no way of knowing what our future holds for us. All the Vietnamese living here have done so for over 1 year, they feel very sad, and do not know what else they can do. In summary, our lives in this place is extremely depressing, we are suffering and lack any sense of a future. We don’t know who will help us.
Tagged with: Children in Detention • Chris Bowen • Darwin Airport Lodge • DASSAN NT • Self-harm • Serco
By Jane Bardon
Updated April 24, 2012 10:47:23
The Immigration Department says it is considering a letter written by a 10-year-old Vietnamese girl appealing for her release after more than a year in detention.
The girl is one of 26 Vietnamese minors who are being detained at the Darwin Airport Lodge, which is being used as an immigration detention centre for children and families.
She says the children are “depressed” and “suffering” in detention, and they do not know who will help them.
Rohan Thwaites, from the Darwin Asylum Seeker Support Network, says even if the Immigration Department is finding it complicated to check their stories, the children should not be in detention.
“A lot of children, including this ten-year-old girl have been locked up for over a year now,” he said.
“Whatever they are claiming, whether it be for asylum or otherwise, children should not be locked up in these detention centres.”
The girl who wrote the letter has been interned in three different detention centres since arriving in Australia by boat in March last year.
In a translation of her letter she describes living there as “extremely depressing”.
“We don’t know who will help us.”
The girl said their lives were “very sad and hopeless” and they “lack any sense of a future”.
“As each day passes, we feel heavy-hearted and lacking any sense of hope,” she said.
“We have no way of knowing what our future holds for us.”
The Immigration Department says the group of 26 Vietnamese children are being “well cared for”.
Mr Thwaites says the Federal Government and public should respond.
“She’s hoping, I think as we are, that she can be removed out of detention so that she can start to live in the community and not be subject to incidences of self-harm and suicide and all the other things that come with being detained,” he said.
An Iranian asylum seeker in Darwin’s notorious Northern Immigration Detention Centre (NIDC) has attempted suicide around 10.30pm Friday, Darwin time.
The man was cut down by Serco staff and has been taken to hospital. He was breathing went he was cut down, but his present condition in not known. It is understood that he has been in detention for around 20 months.
NIDC has had the worst rates of self harm and attempted suicide across the whole detention regime.
The attempted suicide comes only a day after Serco tactical response group broke up a roof-top protest at NIDC. The four protesters taken off the roof are now in the high security isolation section of the detention centre.
It is also only a day since a suicide attempt in the Melbourne Immigration Transit Accomodation centre by a refugee in detention for almost three years.
“There is no excuse for the damage that long term detention is inflicting on asylum seekers and refugees. The Minister has stated that vulnerable asylum seekers would have priority to be released on bridging visas or community detention. But it is obvious that the Minister is prioritising mandatory detention which day by day is taking a terrible toll on the mental health of asylum seekers.
“The roof-top protesters were right to protest. It’s long past time for the Minister to release all those in NIDC,” said Ian Rintoul, spokesperson for the Refugee Action Coalition.
For more information contact Ian Rintoul 0417 275 713
A medical team is attending a Tamil refugee at the Melbourne Immigration Transit Accommodation centre in Broadmeadows this (Thursday) afternoon.
The Tamil refugee, who has a negative ASIO security finding went to his room after speaking with human rights officials this afternoon.
It is believed that he has taken a tablet overdose.
It is the man’s second suicide attempt in a little over a month.
The negative ASIO security finding condemns refugees to indefinite detention. The Tamil has been in detention for almost three years. There is no right to know what evidence ASIO relies on for the negative security finding and there is no right to review or appeal negative decisions.
“The mental health of many of the ASIO negative refugees has been seriously deteriorating in recent months,” said Ian Rintoul, from the Refugee Action Coalition.
“Having no appeal rights is such an obvious violation of natural justice – something that would completely unacceptable in the criminal justice system. Yet these refugees and their families are being given a life sentence with no opportunity to see the evidence against them and no opportunity to refute the evidence against them.”
For more information contact Ian Rintoul 0417 275 713
Four long-term Iranian asylum seekers are maintaining their roof top protest at Darwin’s most notorious detention, the Northern Immigration Detention Centre.
The four, who started the protest on Wednesday afternoon, say they plan to stay on the roof until they get answers from the Immigration department.
The high security NIDC facility is notorious for its toxic environment – producing one of the highest rates of self-harm and attempted suicide of any of the detention centres.
“The place is a jail,” said Ian Rintoul, spokesperson for the Refugee Action Coalition, “The immigration department has admitted that it is not a suitable place for asylum seekers, but efforts to move people away from the toxic environment seem to have stalled.”
But inside the detention centre, Serco and Immigration are maintaining their harassment and intimidation tactics. There are fears that two asylum seekers taken by Serco guards may be placed in North 3 – the punishment compound in NIDC or are being moved to punishment cells on Christmas Island.
On Thursday morning, Serco began more efforts to intimidate asylum seekers and prevent others joining the protest by conducting a room-to-room search. Over the Easter weekend, Serco management warned NIDC asylum seekers that any moves – even waving a hand – to support protests would result in their files being handed to the federal police and put an end to any hopes of the detainees being released on community detention.
“There is no excuse for Serco’s threats. Asylum seekers have a right to protest,” said Ian Rintoul.
“It is simply government bloody-mindedness that is keeping these asylum seekers in NIDC. They are suffering the mental health consequences of long term detention simply because the government does not have the political will to act.
“Some of the people have friends and relatives in the community willing to accommodate and support them, but still the government stalls. That Serco would punish asylum seekers for daring to protest against and indefinite detention is further proof that asylum seekers human rights are being abused in detention.”
For more information contact Ian Rintoul mob 0417 275 713
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Attempted Suicide at Melbourne Detention Centre – Pamela Curr Reports
Tonight at a Melbourne detention centre a man sat on a bench next to me and sobbed silently, his whole body shaking. He asked me to visit his house to see his daughter and mother. He led me to his donga door and with a shushing finger to his lips, pointed at a small red balloon on the bed saying that it was his baby daughter and that she was sleeping. Next to the red balloon lay a green balloon. He told me that this is his mother and that she is crying because his brother has been killed by the militia. He said that his brother was with Jesus and that he wanted to go to Jesus too.
Yesterday after discussions with the Human Rights team, he went to his room and took an overdose of tablets. He was found by a visitor lying on the floor with his feet hanging out the door. The visitor thought that he was dead at first and checked his pulse. He was unconscious. The day before he had begged a staff member to kill him.
Today he can hardly walk unaided as he is heavily sedated. He has not been to hospital but has been placed on PSP (Psychological Support Program formerly SASH- Suicide and Self Harm). I told the Serco officer that this did not constitute treatment, just surveillance. He agreed but could do nothing else. A staff member told me that he had just seen a psychiatrist on site. I reminded her that the man was clearly experiencing hallucinations and psychosis and under the guidelines should not remain in detention.
At Reception I checked the staff sign on book with a senior Serco officer for IHMS staff on duty that day. IHMS is the contractor providing health services. No psychiatrist or psychologist had been on site that afternoon. It was unclear who assessed this man as psychologically fit enough to remain in detention. He is certainly so sedated that he would be unable to harm himself. He is chemically restrained from physical harm but this does not alleviate the terrible mental pain which is torturing his mind. Guards stand at arm’s length to back up the drugs.
He has been quietly compliant until now but after nearly three years in detention his mind has broken.