Refugee advocates call for an end to mandatory detention

By MELANIE LEACH
AFTER the recent disturbances at many of Australia’s detention centres it is obvious that Australia needs to abolish mandatory detention, according to refugee advocate Benjamin Pynt.

Throughout the past week Villawood Detention Centre in Sydney has been the site of many violent protests and some protesters have been on the centre’s roof for a week in the wake of the riots and fires which have sparked protests and unrest around the country.

Two asylum seekers at the Perth Immigration Detention Centre received medical checks after threatening self-harm yesterday, and a small group of detainees at Christmas Island’s Northwest Point facility came down from a roof where up to eight had been staging a protest since Tuesday.

Mr Pynt, the secretary of Canberra Refugee Support, said the refugees were protesting against the inhuman way in which they have been treated and the only way to ensure we don’t have these protests in the future was to eliminate mandatory detention.

“The detention centres have abjectly bad living conditions; it’s not particularly surprising that the refugees are rioting. The Government needs to do more to treat them humanely and the best way to do this is to stop mandatory detention,” he said.

“Australia’s one of the only countries in the world that has mandatory detention for people arriving in any fashion and for any reason in their country. In the international law arena it is not strictly legal.”

The Canberra Refugee Action Committee has also expressed its view that Australia needs to end mandatory detention.

On March 22 the Canberra Refugee Action Committee held a protest at the front the Department of Immigration building in Belconnen, demanding the release of all refugees and the closure of the Christmas Island detention centre.

Harry Feldman, a member of the committee, said it was time for someone to stand up for refugees and welcome them to our country.

“We say no to the government’s racist refugee policy and we demand no deportations, no offshore processing and no mandatory detention,” he said.

Mr Feldman said his organisation would continue to organise protests, write letters to the government and create petitions until the government listens.

“We want them out of detention, we want them free, we want them living in the community,” he said.

Despite the continuing protests and riots Prime Minister Julia Gillard has defended mandatory detention.

“I am a supporter of mandatory detention. We must have a system in which we can assess people’s claims,” she said.

The Canberra Refugee Action Committee contacted the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and asked them to intervene and to stop the abusive treatment of asylum seekers.

However, while the UNHCR condemned the recent Villawood protest and the government use of tear gar on Christmas Island, they said they would not get involved.

“UNHCR remains deeply concerned about the pressure that mandatory detention puts on asylum-seekers and refugees. We believe there are viable alternatives to detention that can satisfy the legitimate security concerns of Australia but also ensure the health, welfare and human rights needs of those arriving by boat,” a UNHCR spokesman said.