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[12 September 2012] - A girl who was wrongfully detained at Sydney's Villawood detention centre has received a government apology and been recommended for $250,000 in compensation. The apology follows a finding by the Australian Human Rights Commission that the Department of Immigration breached the human rights of Judy Tuifangaloka, who was nine years old when detained in 2004. The commission's former president, Catherine Branson, QC, found the department committed a string of legal and human rights breaches in its handling of the girl and her family. Australian-born Ms Tuifangaloka, whose parents are from Tonga, spent nine months in Villawood where she witnessed acts of self-harm by other detainees. The department is considering compensation options after Ms Branson recommended it pay her $250,000 "to reflect the loss of liberty caused by her detention ... and the interference with her family". Ms Branson's report, released on Wednesday, found that the father was removed from Australia in February 2004, with the department later conceding his removal was unlawful as he held a valid visa. She found his four-year separation from his family breached the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child. On October 19, 2004, department officers detained the mother, Kalolaine Taufa, and her six children, ostensibly for questioning about their visas. Ms Branson found that none of the suspicions required to detain them under the Migration Act were held by the relevant officer and their detention was unlawful and breached human rights covenants. She also found the family's visas were unlawfully and arbitrarily cancelled, leading to their detention at Villawood until July 2005. Two days before Ms Tuifangaloka turned 10 and became an Australian citizen, the department invited her mother to sign a written undertaking [stating] her daughter would remain with her in detention as a temporary visitor. Ms Branson found that also breached her human rights. The department has reached a settlement in relation to the other five children in the family, who were all born in Australia. In a separate ruling, Ms Branson found the department breached the rights of a Chinese national and Falun Gong practitioner who spent 522 days in Villawood. After entering Australia in August 2005 on a tourist visa the man, known only as Mr SD, breached conditions of his bridging visa and was sent to Villawood before being removed from Australia in August 2011. Ms Branson found his detention inconsistent with the prohibition on arbitrary detention under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. She recommended the Commonwealth pay Mr SD $300,000 and formally apologise. Ms Branson also recommended the government amend its practices so people not deemed a flight risk or risk to the community be referred to the minister for consideration of a residency determination. The Commonwealth has advised the commission it will not be acting on those recommendations but will take the policy comments into account in any consideration of ministerial guidelines. Further Immigration:
Owner: Lloyd Jonespdf: http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/immigration-slammed-over-g...