Looking back: The Australian asylum seeker and refugee policy and Australia’s human rights abuses
http://www.abc.net.au/reslib/201210/r1018312_11528599.jpg
We have been hearing a lot about the potential closure of the Manus Island Detention Centre over the last few days. The Papua New Guinean Supreme Court ruled that it was unconstitutional and could no longer be legally operated in PNG. But what does this mean exactly? Why is the Manus Island detention centre “illegal and unconstitutional”?[1] It does not boil down to complex foreign policy agreements between Australia and PNG. Quite simply, the Manus Island detention centre is illegal because it grossly infringes upon basic human rights, particularly one of the most fundamental rights of all: the right to personal liberty and freedom from arbitrary imprisonment.[2] In Australia we enjoy the benefits and freedoms of a democratic society founded upon strong rule of law principles, but refugees subjected to immigration processing and detention struggle to have their basic rights recognised. Australia’s approach to managing asylum seekers and refugees has been routinely criticised for many years. Keeping in mind that Australian policies may change in the future, it is important to take a look back at the extent of Australia’s human rights abuses. We cannot continue to make the same mistakes.
The rights of the child:
Perhaps the most unsettling aspects of Australia’s detention program were raised in the Human Rights Commission report, The Forgotten Children, which investigated the treatment and living conditions of children detained in the Nauru, Manus Island, and Christmas Island detention centres.[3] While the government has made efforts to reduce the number of children in offshore detention from 869 in August 2014 to 68 in December 2015,[4] it remains that many lives have already been irreparably damaged, while children are still being held in both onshore and offshore facilities. Lets take a look at why this was and continues to be such a problem by considering the extent of Australia’s human rights abuses under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Article 37(2): No child shall be deprived of his or her liberty unlawfully or arbitrarily. The arrest, detention or imprisonment of a child shall be in conformity with the law and shall be used only as a measure of last resort and for the shortest appropriate period of time
Prior to the release of the Human Rights Commission Report in November 2014, 186 children were indefinitely detained on Nauru.[5] Children have and continue to be detained for an indeterminate amount of time, as a measure of first resort in accordance with Australian refugee policy.[6]
Article 24(1): States recognize the right to enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health and to facilities for the treatment of illness and rehabilitation of health
Article 19(1): States have an obligation to take all appropriate measures to protect children from all forms of physical or mental violence, injury or abuse, neglect or negligent treatment, maltreatment or exploitation that includes sexual abuse
Breaches common to all forms of detention:
30% of all parents of asylum seeker and refugee children suffer from a mental health problem. Children with depressed parents have rates of depression two to four times higher than those with mentally stable parents [7]
Nauru Regional Processing Centre breaches:
Of the 20 children that had lived in Nauru and are now being detained onshore at the Wickham point detention centre, 95% are suffering from clinical post-traumatic stress disorder.[8]
Staff often refer to children by their boat numbers rather than their real names. Many children have begun to sign their schoolwork and drawings with their identification numbers. Employees of Save the Children working at the Nauru Centre revealed that many children feel as if they are “just a number” and more like “animals” rather than people.[9]
In November 2013 a 16 year old boy was sexually assaulted by a cleaner in full view of security staff.[10]
The Nauru centre is located in close proximity to a Phosphate mining site. Paediatrician Professor Elizabeth Elliot notes that the high levels of atmospheric phosphate are associated with recurrent asthma and irritated skin amongst detainees.[11]
Detainees lack on demand access to water and are regularly dehydrated.[12]
Bathrooms and showers are not properly cleaned and some are entirely unusable. Outbreaks of infectious disease and skin conditions occur as a result of poor hygiene.[13]
76% of children released from detention on Nauru report that their emotional and mental health has been negatively affected by their experience at the regional processing centre.[14]
Young children in the 0-4 age bracket face serious developmental difficulties. As a consequence of witnessing major trauma, children have not developed appropriate social skills and have not yet reached important developmental milestones. Young children have not learned to speak, have trouble sleeping and have ongoing attachment issues with primary caregivers.[15] Children require constant attention and reassurance from parents and guardians. 100% of the children that have left Nauru and are being held at Wickham point are in the two highest categories of developmental risk.[16]
In November 2014, the Nauru Regional Processing Centre did not have a paediatrician on staff. [17]
As at November 2014, the Nauru immunisation schedule did not include the varicella, rotavirus, human papilloma virus or pneumococcal vaccines.[18]
Wickham Point Detention Centre breaches:
95% of children interviewed at Wickham point have the highest possible score for hopelessness measured on the Hunter Opinion and Personal Expectations Scale. [19]
90% of children interviewed at Wickham point have the highest possible score for despair measured on the Hunter Opinion and Personal Expectations Scale. High despair scores are associated with high levels of anxiety and depression. [20]
Article 28(1): States Parties recognize the right of the child to education, and with a view to achieving this right progressively and on the basis of equal opportunity, they shall, in particular:
Make primary education compulsory and available free to all.
Christmas Island Detention Centre breaches:
Between July 2013 and July 2014 no educational services were provided to school age children.[21]
Conditions inside detention centres:
Australia’s human rights abuses extend beyond their treatment of refugee and asylum seeker children. All refugees are detained in mandatory detention facilities and are subject to the same standards of living. Conditions at the Nauru facility in particular put Australia at risk of breaching its obligations under the International Convention on Civil and political rights (ICCPR) and the International Convention on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR).
Article 11(1) of the ICESCR: The States Parties to the present Covenant recognize the right of everyone to an adequate standard of living for himself and his family, including adequate food, clothing and housing, and to the continuous improvement of living conditions. The States Parties will take appropriate steps to ensure the realization of this right, recognizing to this effect the essential importance of international co-operation based on free consent.
Article 7 of the ICCPR: No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. In particular, no one shall be subjected without his free consent to medical or scientific experimentation.
Nauru Detention Facility Breaches:
Nauru has now been declared an "open centre.” Detainees can freely roam the island but face hostility from locals. There have been numerous attacks and allegations of sexual assault conducted by Nauruans against refugees on the island. Australia has not deployed any additional security to protect refugees on Nauru.[22]
Refugees are housed in vinyl tents, with minimal furniture and no air conditioning. Vinyl screens separate individual rooms and residents lack any real privacy or sense of personal space.[23] Detainees also experience constant high heat and humidity, with little respite. [24]
Tents are constructed on loose gravel. Surfaces are uneven and have been described as “painful” to walk on.[25]
Reports have described rubbish and waste covering areas of the complex. Toilets are often broken or blocked. Bathrooms have been identified as “very dirty and unhygienic”, with wastewater covering the floor and faeces spilling over from blocked toilets.[26]
The breaches identified above are not exhaustive. Capturing the true extent of Australia’s human rights abuses with regard to their refugee policy is difficult to achieve in a single short summary. Australia’s treatment of refugees has been systematically inhumane and is otherwise uncharacteristic of a nation that prides itself on its vibrant migrant culture. If Australia is to move forward and improve it’s standing internationally current practises must improve. The potential closure of Manus Island and the Nauru facility represent an opportunity for the Australian government to initiate a change in policy that could radically improve the quality of life for those detained in processing centres both offshore and in Australia.
References
[1] Nicole Hasham and Michael Gordon, Papua New Guinea court finds Australia's detention of asylum seekers on Manus Island is illegal (April 26 2016) Sydney Morning Herald
<http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/papua-new-guinea-court-finds-australias-detention-of-asylum-seekers-on-manus-island-is-illegal-20160426-gofaaj.html>
[2] Ibid
[3] Commonwealth, Australian Human Rights Commission, The Forgotten Children: National inquiry into children in immigration detention (2014)
[4] Australian Human Rights Commission, The Forgotten Children – 1 year on (11 February 2016) Australian Human Rights Commission Website <https://www.humanrights.gov.au/news/stories/forgotten-children-1-year>
[5] Commonwealth, Australian Human Rights Commission, The Forgotten Children: National inquiry into children in immigration detention (2014) 10
[6] Ibid 152
[7] Ibid 63
[8]Elizabeth Elliot and Hasantha Gunasekera, Submission No 1 to Australian Human Rights Commission, The health and well-being of children in immigration detention: Report to the Australian Human Rights Commission monitoring visit to Wickham Point detention centre, Darwin, NT, October 18 2015, 15
[9] Commonwealth, Australian Human Rights Commission, The Forgotten Children: National inquiry into children in immigration detention (2014), 187
[10] Ibid 188
[11] Ibid 181
[12] Ibid 183
[13] Ibid 183
[14] Ibid 198
[15] October 18 2015, 15
[15] Commonwealth, Australian Human Rights Commission, The Forgotten Children: National inquiry into children in immigration detention (2014), 201
[16] Elizabeth Elliot and Hasantha Gunasekera, Submission No 1 to Australian Human Rights Commission, The health and well-being of children in immigration detention: Report to the Australian Human Rights Commission monitoring visit to Wickham Point detention centre, Darwin, NT, October 18 2015,14
[17] Commonwealth, Australian Human Rights Commission, The Forgotten Children: National inquiry into children in immigration detention (2014), 188
[18] Ibid 189
[19] Elizabeth Elliot and Hasantha Gunasekera, Submission No 1 to Australian Human Rights Commission, The health and well-being of children in immigration detention: Report to the Australian Human Rights Commission monitoring visit to Wickham Point detention centre, Darwin, NT, October 18 2015, 17
[20] ibid
[21] Commonwealth, Australian Human Rights Commission, The Forgotten Children: National inquiry into children in immigration detention (2014), 31
[22] Tom Allard, Nauru's move to open its detention centre makes it "more dangerous" for asylum seekers (October 9 2015) Sydney Morning Herald
<http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/naurus-move-to-open-its-detention-centre-makes-it-more-dangerous-for-asylum-seekers-20151008-gk4kbt.html>
[23] Commonwealth, Australian Human Rights Commission, The Forgotten Children: National inquiry into children in immigration detention (2014), report
[24] Ibid
[25] Ibid
[26] Ibid, 183
