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Summary: An asylum seeker support group says Australia's Government is unfairly holding a group of Vietnamese children in immigration detention in Darwin.
[26 June 2012] - The Darwin Asylum Seeker Support and Advocacy Network says the children are part of a group of about 40 Vietnamese asylum seekers held in Darwin for more than 400 days. The support group says the fact that other Vietnamese asylum seekers have escaped from detention in the past shouldn't be used to justify detaining these children. Correspondent: Sara Everingham Speakers: Rohan Thwaites, Darwin Asylum Seeker Support and Advocacy Network SARA EVERINGHAM: The Darwin Asylum Seeker Support and Advocacy Network says the group of 40 Vietnamese asylum seekers has been held in detention for too long. The network's Rohan Thwaites says the group includes 20 children under 18, and that one of them is around six years old. ROHAN THWAITES: We're calling for immediate release of all these people into the community. They have been detained now for over 400 days. No one should be locked up in immigration detention for 400 days, particularly not a six-year-old child. SARA EVERINGHAM: The Asylum Seeker Support Network has released a letter from one of the asylum seekers written to the Federal Immigration Minister, Chris Bowen. The letter was written as the group of asylum seekers marked a year of being in detention. The letter says the group has asked several times to be moved into community detention but has not had a response. Jon Jureidini, a child psychiatrist at the University of Adelaide, says long periods of immigration detention can have a serious impact on children. JON JUREIDINI: Oh look, I think any child placed in circumstances away from a family environment at that age for that amount of time is going to suffer significantly. When you add to that the uncertainty and the hostility of the environment that the child's likely to have experienced over that time, you can only be concerned about the possible outcomes. SARA EVERINGHAM: Jon Jureidini says he supports the recommendation of a parliamentary inquiry that people should not be held in immigration detention for more than 90 days. JON JUREIDINI: I think 90 days is generous and, you know, you can only assume that that more prolonged detention is at least partly about trying to use it as a deterren[t]. Doing that at the expense of children is unforgivable SARA EVERINGHAM: But, the Federal Government argues it's acting in the children's best interests. In a statement the Minister for Immigration, Chris Bowen, says, for privacy reasons, the Government cannot speak about specific cases. But the statement says, in this case, the risk of absconding is high and of particular concern when it relates to children, especially unaccompanied minors, as this could leave them without appropriate supervision and care. But Rohan Thwaites does not accept that argument. ROHAN THWAITES: I believe what the department is referring to is that perhaps...some Vietnamese people have previously absconded. So if that's the department's suggestion, that they have to lock up all the Vietnamese children because in the past some Vietnamese people have escaped from community detention, that seems like a...concerning and weak argument. SARA EVERINGHAM: The Immigration Minister's statement says because of the risk of absconding, the current detention placement is the most appropriate option for these minors, as it provides the necessary support and supervision, while still ensuring the children attend school. But Rohan Thwaites says the Vietnamese asylum seekers are all being painted with the same brush. ROHAN THWAITES: I think it's incredibly concerning, yes, the department seems to essentially be locking people up based on their ethnicity in this case. That because these children are Vietnamese, these children therefore need to be locked up. How you can argue that, one, it's in the best interests of a child to lock them up for 400 days, and that you have to lock a child up because you're scared of what they might otherwise do is just incredibly concerning and seems like a very weak argument. SARA EVERINGHAM: The Federal Government says the small number of children who remain in detention are not eligible for community detention due to security, behaviour or risk requirements. Further Information:
pdf: http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/international/radio/program/connect-asi...