Amnesty concerns over Christmas Island

16 Dec 2009, 9:10 am   -   Source: AAP
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Amnesty International is worried about overcrowding and the treatment of children at Christmas Island (AAP)

Amnesty International is worried about overcrowding and the treatment of children at Christmas Island (AAP)

Amnesty International has raised concerns about overcrowding and treatment of children at the Christmas Island immigration centre.

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Amnesty International has raised serious concerns about overcrowding and the treatment of children being held in immigration detention on Christmas Island.

The human rights group has criticised in particular what it describes as prison-like conditions for children, many of them without a parent or guardian, and the use of tents to house asylum
seekers.

Amnesty Australia's Graham Thom, who recently inspected facilities on the island, said the conditions made it impossible for the federal government to maintain it had a humane immigration policy.

But Immigration Minister Chris Evans rejected Amnesty's assessment.

Asylum seekers on Christmas Island "are receiving fair and human treatment", Senator Evans said. "Australia is not in breach of its international obligations."

Asylum surge

The surge in asylum seekers arriving in Australian waters - 54 boats have arrived so far this year - has prompted the government to introduce tents as temporary accommodation.

Of the 1,487 detainees on the island, 82 are in tents at the detention centre.

Another 229 are housed in facilities near the detention centre, of whom 123 are children, including a third who are considered unaccompanied minors. There are eight minors in community detention.

Dr Thom said after inspecting the construction camp, where families with children and unaccompanied minors are housed, Amnesty had found "the facility is blatantly unsuitable for this purpose." 

"Families with young children, unaccompanied minors and women are housed in cramped demountables, behind guarded fences," Dr Thom said.

The children are under guard for much of their time on the island, with the exception of when they attend school.

Many asylum seekers, including some unaccompanied minors, had been in detention for more than six months, while some had been there for close to a year, Amnesty said.

Overcrowding concerns

Christmas Island's isolation made it impossible for the government to implement a humane immigration policy, and had led to extreme detention conditions that were out of step with the government's stated detention values, Dr Thom said.

"Of particular concern are the significant and disturbing levels of overcrowding within the North West Point Immigration Detention Centre, which has led to the use of tent and demountable accommodation, and the lack of ready access to essential services such as adequate mental health care."

Dr Thom said the use of Christmas Island to detain asylum seekers was inappropriate, adding that its excision from Australia's migration zone had not reduced the number of illegal boat arrivals.

"It does not have a deterrent effect on people seeking protection from persecution, and constitutes a fundamental breach of Australia's international obligations under the 1951 UN Refugee Convention.”

"These people are being housed in what is effectively a high-security prison facility at a cost of hundreds of millions of dollars to Australian taxpayers."

Government reaction

However, Senator Evans said Labor's policies were "essential components of strong border control."

"No unaccompanied minor has been accommodated on Christmas Island for six months and the government ensures priority processing for them, with the average processing time for unaccompanied minors being about 90 days," the immigration minister said.

"It is Rudd government policy that no child be held in an immigration detention centre… The low-security construction camp, where some children are housed, is not an immigration detention centre and it has appropriate recreational facilities."

Senator Evans said the government remained committed to mandatory detention and offshore processing of "irregular maritime arrivals" at Christmas Island.
 

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