The uncertainty caused by being held indefinitly was triggering serious mental health issues.
SYDNEY: Australia’s asylum seeker policy came under more fire Thursday with the Human Rights Commission warning that suicide and depression were major concerns in the country’s detention centres.
A new study focusing on the Villawood Immigration Detention Centre in Sydney was released as criticism mounted of Canberra’s plan to send boatpeople to Malaysia, where detainees can be caned.
Detention is mandatory for asylum seekers who arrive in Australia until their claims are processed, with some remaining locked up for over a year.
The Australian Human Rights Commission said three apparent suicides at Villawood last year and high rates of self-harm should serve as a warning.
Commission president Catherine Branson said that the uncertainty caused by being held indefinitly was triggering serious mental health issues.
“What we saw at Villawood was the result of the system of mandatory and indefinite detention, where people can see no end in sight because there is no set time limit on the period a person can be held in detention,” she said.
Sixty percent of those in detention when the commission visited Villawood had been held for longer than six months, and 45 percent for more than a year.
“We saw people scarred from self-harming. We heard others talk of sleepless nights, days of depression and frequent thoughts of suicide,” said Branson.
“The commission has been deeply concerned for some time about the detrimental impacts of prolonged and indefinite detention on people’s mental health and wellbeing.”
She added that the concerns had escalated over the past year as thousands more people arrived, usually on boats from Indonesia.
“I urge the government to make greater use of community-based alternatives that are cheaper, more effective and more humane, such as the use of bridging visas or community detention,” she said.
Illegal deal
Some 8,000 boatpeople have arrived in Australian waters since the beginning of 2010, and recent violent riots and rooftop protests have prompted the government to approach Malaysia about taking some for processing.
Canberra plans to send 800 there and in return will accept 4,000 people already assessed to be refugees from Malaysia for resettlement over four years.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights this week warned Australia the plan could be illegal, with Malaysia not a signatory to the UN Refugee Convention nor the UN Convention against Torture.
According to Amnesty International, Malaysia canes up to 6,000 detainees a year, claims seized on by critics Thursday.
“I would have thought this is a fairly fundamental, basic check-off in terms of the human rights issues that will need to be squared away if you were going to conclude this sort of deal,” said opposition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison.
SYDNEY: Australia’s asylum seeker policy came under more fire Thursday with the Human Rights Commission warning that suicide and depression were major concerns in the country’s detention centres.A new study focusing on the Villawood Immigration Detention Centre in Sydney was released as criticism mounted of Canberra’s plan to send boatpeople to Malaysia, where detainees can be caned.
Detention is mandatory for asylum seekers who arrive in Australia until their claims are processed, with some remaining locked up for over a year.
The Australian Human Rights Commission said three apparent suicides at Villawood last year and high rates of self-harm should serve as a warning.
Commission president Catherine Branson said that the uncertainty caused by being held indefinitly was triggering serious mental health issues.
“What we saw at Villawood was the result of the system of mandatory and indefinite detention, where people can see no end in sight because there is no set time limit on the period a person can be held in detention,” she said.
Sixty percent of those in detention when the commission visited Villawood had been held for longer than six months, and 45 percent for more than a year.
“We saw people scarred from self-harming. We heard others talk of sleepless nights, days of depression and frequent thoughts of suicide,” said Branson.
“The commission has been deeply concerned for some time about the detrimental impacts of prolonged and indefinite detention on people’s mental health and wellbeing.”
She added that the concerns had escalated over the past year as thousands more people arrived, usually on boats from Indonesia.
“I urge the government to make greater use of community-based alternatives that are cheaper, more effective and more humane, such as the use of bridging visas or community detention,” she said.
Illegal deal
Some 8,000 boatpeople have arrived in Australian waters since the beginning of 2010, and recent violent riots and rooftop protests have prompted the government to approach Malaysia about taking some for processing.
Canberra plans to send 800 there and in return will accept 4,000 people already assessed to be refugees from Malaysia for resettlement over four years.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights this week warned Australia the plan could be illegal, with Malaysia not a signatory to the UN Refugee Convention nor the UN Convention against Torture.
According to Amnesty International, Malaysia canes up to 6,000 detainees a year, claims seized on by critics Thursday.
“I would have thought this is a fairly fundamental, basic check-off in terms of the human rights issues that will need to be squared away if you were going to conclude this sort of deal,” said opposition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison.
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