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Submission to National Inquiry into Children in Immigration Detention from
the Queensland Independent Education Union (QIEU) Equity Committee
Introduction
1. Refugee Rights and the Rights of the Child
2. Health and Nutrition
3. Prevention, Treatment and Accommodation of Disabilities
4. Psychological and Social Well-being
5. Education
6. Culture
7. Legal Issues
8. Detention and Alternatives to Detention
Introduction
The Queensland Independent Education Union (QIEU) Equity Committee is a committee of employees in the non-government sector of education who are concerned with issues of justness and fairness in relation to employees and students in the non-government sector of education specifically and wider contemporary society generally. Members of the Equity Committee are currently or have in the past been employed as educators in the non-government sector of education and draw on a background of experience in primary and secondary education as well as experience in adult education.
In regard to immigrant detention this Equity Committee believes and calls for:
- The replacement of mandatory detention with a compassionate and humanitarian system for processing asylum seekers consistent with our international obligations. Introduction of compulsory processing to replace mandatory detention. All asylum seekers to be released after initial processing of health and security checks unless a court order is obtained for their detention. Priority to be given to children and families. Asylum seekers to be housed in the community whilst their claims for asylum are being processed.
- An end to the Temporary Protection Visa (TPV) system. Give all refugees immediate access to a permanent Protection Visa (PV).
- An enacted commitment from our Government to provide children of asylum seekers with access to an education in accordance with Article 28 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child 1990.
- An end to the system of tendering for the management of detention facilities and a return of these facilities to direct government control.
- Initial screening of all asylum seekers to identify torture and trauma victims in accordance with UNHCR guidelines.
- The repeal of legislation excising parts of Australia from Australia's migration zone.
- Establishment of a fast-track processing facility on Christmas Island, using resources currently directed towards the 'Pacific Solution' and detention.
- A re-evaluation of the powers of the Minister and the right of appeal in order to ensure due process and the maintenance of the doctrine of the separation of powers.
- An end of the 'Pacific Solution' and multilateral negotiations with Indonesia and source countries to develop a more workable offshore program.
- A de-coupling of the onshore and offshore programs.
- Re-evaluation of the special humanitarian program in conjunction with the family reunion program to ensure all places go to those most in need and all refugees currently resident in Australia have access to family reunion rights.
- Re-evaluation of the total number of refugee places including consideration of a flexible quota to take account of overseas crises.
1. Refugee Rights and the Rights of the Child
The committee believes that Australia has a social obligation under a number of conventions including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, to provide a safe haven to refugees who would seek settlement in Australia. We believe that children, because of their age, are more vulnerable than adult refugees and hence should be offered even greater protection and security than older refugees.
It is our belief that immigration detainees and asylum seekers should not be held and treated as criminals, criminal suspects or presented as a threat/risk to community safety.
Rather the primary focus of any supervision and/or detainment should be one of care for the well being of the detainees. Such care should be as favourable as possible and should not function as a punishment or continuation of adverse conditions of migrants who have already suffered punishment/harshness or social instability/dysfunction.
Children detained should be kept within the intact family group. Unaccompanied minors should be:
1. Assigned to a family group; or
2. Kept with same sex similar age refugees for processing.
It would be our position that families should be housed together in discrete groups rather than housed en mass.
Detainees of racial or ethnic groups should be housed together and separated from groups that are antagonistic to each other.
2. Health and Nutrition
All refugees/immigrants in detention should be subject to relevant screening for disease and otherwise medically assessed. Such screening/assessment should be carried out by:
1. Medically qualified personnel;
2. Personnel who are able to converse with the detainee in their first language or where this is not possible in the presence of an interpreter;
3. Medical personnel of same sex as detainee;
Detainees should be informed as to why and which tests are being done and at the appropriate time provided with comprehensive results to such tests;
Detainees with specific medical needs, eg pregnant women, should be provided with services and information to meet those needs, should also have access to cultural beliefs/behaviours associated with condition;
Detainees should be provided with full medical records when/if they are released into the community and given guidance in regard to accessing suitable medical personnel in the wider community.
In medical assessment of children, special care needs to be exercised in alleviating fears of and explaining reasons for medical tests and procedures.
Children should be accompanied by a parent to such procedures. Unaccompanied minors should have a same sex adult who speaks their language available to accompany them to such procedures.
Nutrition
Detainees should be provided with access to nourishing food and water. Such food should reflect the cuisine of the culture from which they derive and its preparation/presentation should reflect cultural/religious beliefs of the detainees.
Taking the above requirements into consideration food/meals should be:
1. Provided by detention authorities prepared especially for unaccompanied minor; or
2. Ingredients and facilities provided to detainees such that they are able to prepare their own meals in a family situation.
3. Prevention, Treatment and Accommodation of Disabilities
Immigrants/detainees who have or develop medical conditions or physical/mental disabilities should not be automatically barred from entry into the wider Australian society.
However, children with existing disabilities will require special care and assistance initially on arrival and stay in country of asylum.
Consequently, every child should undergo initial assessment via a comprehensive medical examination by trained health care professionals.
Needs and requirements of children with disabilities and concomitant special needs must be taken into consideration in construction of housing and centre facilities. This is especially necessary in regard to access to buildings, ablutions and eating areas. As well suitable play and exercise facilities must be provided for children with physical or mental handicaps.
Families of children with disabilities should be given access to trained workers who can educate them in regard to how to assist the mobility and social integration of children with physical handicaps and how to develop social behaviour and skills of their children with mental disabilities.
4. Psychological and Social Well-being
In dealing with refugees/detainees it needs to be noted that these people will most probably have suffered severe trauma and social dislocation which may potentially be exacerbated by treatment in a new country.
Given, the potential for such deleterious psychological problems new immigrants should be subject to psychological evaluation and provided with a supportive and affirming social environment.
It should be assumed that refugees arriving in Australia may be suffering from psychological and/or social dislocation. Given this assumption, all refugees/asylum seekers should be assessed by appropriate means and by qualified personnel as to their psychological and social well being.
As well there should be ongoing monitoring and assessment both during any period of detention and when the refugee/asylum seeker is released into the wider community. To minimise psychological and social disease while in detention detainees should be detained for as short a period as possible. Child detainees should be detained with family members. Unaccompanied minors are especially at risk - where possible such detainees should be assigned to a family grouping.
All children should have available ongoing counselling and support.
5. Education
Education should be available to all immigrants in detention.
Adults should be given assistance to learn the written and spoken language of the country to which they are seeking immigration as well as to cultural and social practices particular to that country.
Children in detention provide special challenges in regard to education.
A number of barriers exist for education of children who are in detention specifically:
1. Trauma associated with fleeing/leaving a country;
2. Trauma associated with being kept in mandatory detention often isolated from family;
3. Socio-physical problems - lack of motivation to study, space, time and isolation for study;
4. Problems with language and customs of host country;
5. Lack of assessment as to what level of education needs to be provided;
6. Lack of qualified educational personnel to conduct assessment, development and implementation of independent learning programs;
The degree of and a response to the trauma associated with leaving another country to be detained in a host country needs to be assessed by qualified personnel. Such trauma needs to be addressed/dealt with before or if possible at the same time as formal education continues.
Students who are being given education in the host country need to be provided with the physical necessities to undertake such studies including:
- Books
- Writing materials
- Lighting
- Time
- Space to undertake studies.
Students need to have instruction provided in their first language and need to be given intensive immersion in the language of their host culture.
As well, while formal education should be progressed all asylum seekers/detainees should be provided with education in regard to the social practices of day to day living in their host country.
6. Culture
The traditional cultural and religious values that form part of a child's self construct should be fostered and maintained for children in detention. Such cultural and religious values should be acknowledged by those in charge of detainees and the organisation of day to day life of immigrants in detention should reflect such religious and cultural belief. Such organisation should respond to:
- Culturally significant days or events;
- Dietary requirements;
- Religious practices and freedom to practice religion including access to relevant religious leaders and teachers;
- Children in detention should be given access to religious and cultural education if this isn't provided in the wider educational context.
The importance of maintaining an immigrant child's first language shouldn't be overlooked. Children as a function of their age/development may not be highly proficient in their first language and probably not proficient in English.
Children in detention should be provided with high level education and practice in their first language. Such education should be more than functional language education and should prove the rich language and literature of their country of origin.
Part of the ongoing education of children in immigration detention should involve teaching of English. Such teaching should consist of immersion in the English language and be of a functional nature. English language immersion should be aimed at providing new immigrant children with the language skills necessary to function in day to day activities in a country where English is the first language.
Ideally, such English language immersion should occur with teachers who are qualified and experienced in teaching English as a second language as well as teachers who appreciate/are proficient in the first language of their students. As well, where possible, such English immersion should occur outside of detention centres and in the wider Australian educational environment.
7. Legal Issues
Asylum seekers and refugees entering Australia should be entitled to natural justice and the due process of law available to individuals in the wider society.
Detention itself should only be used as a last resort and for the shortest period of time possible. Article 37 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child states that children deprived of their liberty have the right to access legal and other assistance and the right to challenge the legality of their deprivation of liberty.
Consequently, all child detainees (as well as adult detainees) should have ongoing access to and advice from competent legal authorities, in regard to their detention and their right to challenge such detention and other matters as necessary.
8. Detention and Alternatives to Detention
It would be realistic to suggest that the impact on detainees, and young children especially who are detained is negative.
Given the social and physical situation from which detainees arrive their incarceration for indefinite periods of time can only be detrimental to their physical and mental well-being.
Where immigrants are detained and held in a detention centre such detention should be of a short time and for a fixed length period of no longer than 30 days. As well detainees should be both involved in and kept informed of the processing of their applications. Under no circumstances should detainees be kept:
1. Uninvolved and uninformed in regard to the processing of their application;
2. For indefinite and/or extended lengths of time.
A more humane and less harmful method of dealing with unprocessed immigrants may involve, after initial health checks and care, dispersing families into the wider community where they can be both supervised and monitored while their processing occurs.
Last Updated 9 January 2003.
