“VOICE Australia is 1 of over 200 groups to sign onto a statement to call for the cessation of detaining asylum children. This joint letter follows the release this week of the Australian HR Commission’s report on kids in detention.”<\/p>\n
The\u00a0 report\u00a0 of\u00a0 the\u00a0 Australian\u00a0 Human\u00a0 Rights\u00a0 Commission\u2019s\u00a0 National\u00a0 Inquiry\u00a0 into\u00a0 Children\u00a0 in Immigration\u00a0 Detention\u00a0 provides\u00a0 compelling\u00a0 evidence\u00a0 of\u00a0 the\u00a0 need\u00a0 for\u00a0 Australia\u00a0 to\u00a0 cease\u00a0 the
\ndetention of children once and for all. Drawing on\u00a0 interviews in detention facilities with more than 1000 children and their parents, the report offers a deeply disturbing record of the harm inflicted on so many children by successive governments. The Government, Opposition and all members of the Australian Parliament must take immediate action to ensure that all children are released from Australian-funded detention centres, in Australia and Nauru, and to ensure that these policies are never repeated.<\/p>\n
The indefinite mass detention of children is a national disgrace for which both of Australia\u2019s major political parties bear responsibility. Under the Rudd and Gillard Governments, record numbers of children\u00a0 were\u00a0 detained,\u00a0 reaching\u00a0 a\u00a0 peak\u00a0 of\u00a0 1,992\u00a0 in July\u00a0 2013.\u00a0 Under\u00a0 the\u00a0 Abbott\u00a0 Government, hundreds\u00a0 of\u00a0 children\u00a0 have\u00a0 experienced\u00a0 prolonged\u00a0 detention,\u00a0 with\u00a0 the\u00a0 average\u00a0 time\u00a0 spent\u00a0 in detention rising from three months in August 2013 to more than 14 months in January 2015. In doing this, governments have ignored numerous reports, including from the Commission\u2019s previous national inquiry in 2004, which have outlined detention\u2019s shocking impacts on the mental health of children.<\/p>\n
At the public hearings conducted as part of the inquiry, previous Ministers for Immigration Chris Bowen and Scott Morrison both acknowledged that thedetention of children was not an effective
\nmechanism for deterring boat arrivals or preventingdeaths at sea.<\/p>\n
1
\nWithout a clear policy purpose, it is bewildering that this deeply harmful and exorbitantly costly practice has continued for so long. For more than a decade under successive governments, we have watched Australia\u2019s detention policies\u00a0 go\u00a0 through\u00a0 the\u00a0 same\u00a0 cycle:\u00a0 people\u00a0 are\u00a0 kept in\u00a0 indefinite\u00a0 detention\u00a0 unnecessarily\u00a0 for prolonged periods until the human and financial costs of doing so become so high as to compel the Government to make greater use of community-based alternatives. It is high time that we put an end to this cycle.<\/p>\n
Australia is the only country in the world to detain children as its first option. In the United Kingdom, for example, the number of children simultaneously in UK immigration detention over the past three years\u00a0 has\u00a0 not\u00a0 exceeded\u00a0 four,\u00a0 a\u00a0 tiny\u00a0 fraction\u00a0 of\u00a0 the number\u00a0 detained\u00a0 by\u00a0 Australia.
\n2
\nThe\u00a0 United Kingdom\u00a0 also\u00a0 has\u00a0 legislative\u00a0 limits\u00a0 on\u00a0 the\u00a0 detention\u00a0 of\u00a0 children\u00a0 which\u00a0 restrict\u00a0 the\u00a0 detention\u00a0 of families with children in pre-removal centres to a maximum of 72 hours, or seven days if authorised by the responsible minister.<\/p>\n
Effective alternatives to detention already exist in Australia \u2013 and have done so for a decade. We urge the Australian Government to expand the use ofthese alternatives, ensure that they are used
\nroutinely\u00a0 for\u00a0 children\u00a0 and\u00a0 families\u00a0 and\u00a0 develop\u00a0 safe\u00a0 alternatives\u00a0 to\u00a0 detention\u00a0 for\u00a0 children\u00a0 now detained in Nauru.<\/p>\n
We\u00a0 reject\u00a0 the\u00a0 argument\u00a0 that\u00a0 the\u00a0 welfare\u00a0 of\u00a0 asylum\u00a0 seeker\u00a0 children\u00a0 sent\u00a0 to\u00a0 Nauru\u00a0 is\u00a0 the\u00a0 sole responsibility of the Government of Nauru. The harmbeing inflicted on children detained there is a
\n1
\nFormer Immigration Minister Chris Bowen said that detention was \u201cnot an effective deterrent\u201d and thatthe \u201ccost on children was too great for any deterrence value\u201d. See Bowen, Chris, Testimony at the AHRC Public Hearings on 9 September 2014 (page 1), available at https:\/\/www.humanrights.gov.au\/sites\/default\/files\/Hon%20Chris%20Bowen.pdf; When asked if the \u201cpurpose of long-term detention[is] to deter people from coming to Australia by boat?\u201d, MinisterScott Morrison said \u201cno\u201d. See Morrison, Scott, Testimony at the AHRC Public Hearings on 22 August 2014 (page 25), available at https:\/\/www.humanrights.gov.au\/sites\/default\/files\/Hon%20Scott%20Morrison%20Mr%20Bowles.pdf
\n2
\nA comparison of quarterly statistics for the detention of children in Australia and the UK from 2012 to 2014, compiled by Refugee Council of Australia, can be found at http:\/\/bit.ly\/1CcOG6a.
\npage 2 direct result of Australia\u2019s actions. Australia wasresponsible for sending children and their families to Nauru against their will, in full knowledge thatthey would face prolonged indefinite detention.<\/p>\n
Australia remains responsible for funding the detention centre in Nauru; indeed, without Australia\u2019s support, the centre would cease to operate. After\u00a0 the\u00a0 Commission\u2019s\u00a0 2004\u00a0 report\u00a0 into\u00a0 the\u00a0 detention\u00a0 of\u00a0 children,\u00a0 the\u00a0 Australian\u00a0 Government pledged\u00a0 that\u00a0 children\u00a0 would\u00a0 be\u00a0 detained\u00a0 only\u00a0 as\u00a0 a\u00a0 last\u00a0 resort.\u00a0 As\u00a0 the Commission\u2019s\u00a0 new\u00a0 report clearly\u00a0 shows,\u00a0 such\u00a0 non-binding\u00a0 political\u00a0 promises\u00a0 are\u00a0 meaningless.\u00a0 We\u00a0 urge\u00a0 the\u00a0 Australian Parliament to:
\n1.\u00a0 Introduce legislation to prevent children from being detained for immigration purposes in the future.
\n2.\u00a0 End\u00a0 the\u00a0 offshore\u00a0 processing\u00a0 of\u00a0 asylum\u00a0 claims\u00a0 and return\u00a0 all\u00a0 asylum\u00a0 seekers\u00a0 currently subject to offshore processing to Australia, prioritising children and their families.
\n3.\u00a0 Refer allegations of child sexual abuse in Australian-funded detention centres to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. As the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child has\u00a0 ruled, \u201cthe detention of a child because of their or their parent\u2019s migration status constitutes a child rights violation and always contravenes the principle of the best interests of the child.\u201d
\n3
\nSo long as Australia continues to detain children as a\u00a0 measure\u00a0 of\u00a0 first\u00a0 rather\u00a0 than\u00a0 last\u00a0 resort;\u00a0 so\u00a0 long as\u00a0 our\u00a0 laws\u00a0 fail\u00a0 to\u00a0 protect\u00a0 children\u00a0 against prolonged indefinite detention; so long as any child remains in detention as a result of Australia\u2019s actions, we will be failing in our duty to protect the best interests of children in our care.<\/p>\n
We\u00a0 have\u00a0 comprehensive,\u00a0 consistent\u00a0 and\u00a0 irrefutable\u00a0 evidence\u00a0 of\u00a0 the\u00a0 harm\u00a0 caused\u00a0 by\u00a0 prolonged indefinite detention. We have practical, humane andeffective solutions at our disposal. It\u2019s time to end the detention of children once and for all. It\u2019s time to stand up and say: never again.
\nThis statement is supported by:
\nRefugee Council of Australia (statement coordinator)
\nA Just Cause
\nACT Council of Social Service
\nActionAid Australia
\nAdventist Development and Relief Agency Australia
\nAhmadiyya Muslim Association of Australia
\nAireys Inlet Rural Australians for Refugees
\nAmnesty International Australia
\nAnglican Social Responsibilities Commission, Diocese of Perth
\nApollo Bay Rural Australians for Refugees
\nAsia Pacific Journalism Centre
\nAssociation for Services to Torture and Trauma Survivors (ASeTTS)
\nAssociation for the Wellbeing of Children in Health
\nAsylum Insight
\nAsylum Seeker Resource Centre
\nAsylum Seekers Centre
\nAuburn Diversity Services Inc
\nAustralian Afghan Hassanian Youth Association
\nAustralian Anti-Bases Campaign Coalition
\nAustralian Baptist Ministries
\nAustralian Catholic Migrant and Refugee Office
\nAustralian Catholic Social Justice Council
\nAustralian Churches Refugee Taskforce
\nAustralian Coalition to End Immigration Detention of Children
\nAustralian Council For International Development
\nAustralian Council of Social Service
\nAustralian Council of Trade Unions
\nAustralian Doctors International
\n3
\nCommittee on the Rights of the Child, The Rights of all Children in the Context of International Migration: Report of the 2012 Day of General
\nDiscussion, paragraph 78, http:\/\/www2.ohchr.org\/english\/bodies\/crc\/docs\/discussion2012\/ReportDGDChildrenAndMigration2012.pdf
\npage 3
\nAustralian Jewish Democratic Society
\nAustralian Lasallian (Asia-Pacific) Foundation
\nAustralian Lutheran World Service
\nAustralian National Committee on Refugee Women
\nAustralian Refugee Association
\nAustralia-Tamil Solidarity
\nBallarat Catholic Diocesan Social Justice Commission
\nBallarat Community Health
\nBalmain for Refugees
\nBaptcare (Victoria and Tasmania)
\nBaptist Care Australia
\nBaptistcare Incorporated (WA)
\nBayside Refugee and Advocacy Association
\nBellarine for Refugees
\nBlue Mountains Refugee Support Group
\nB’nai B’rith Australia\/New Zealand
\nBorder Crossing Observatory, Monash University
\nBraidwood Rural Australians for Refugees
\nBridge for Asylum Seekers Foundation
\nBrigidine Asylum Seekers Project
\nBrisbane Refugee and Asylum Seeker Support Network (BRASS)
\nBroadway and Glebe Catholic Social Justice Group
\nBurmese Rohingya Community in Australia
\nCampus Refugee Rights Club, University of Melbourne
\nCanberra Refugee Support
\nCaritas Australia
\nCatholic Archdiocese of Melbourne, Office of Justice and Peace
\nCatholic Diocese of Parramatta, Social Justice Office
\nCatholic Diocese of Toowoomba, Social Justice Commission
\nCatholic Immigration Office (Sydney)
\nCatholic Justice and Peace Commission, Archdiocese of Brisbane
\nCatholic Social Justice Commission, Archdiocese of Canberra-Goulburn
\nCatholic Social Services Australia
\nCatholics in Coalition for Justice and Peace
\nCentacare South West NSW
\nCentral Victorian Refugee Support Network
\nCentre for Advocacy Support and Education for Refugees
\nCentre for Human Rights Education, Curtin University
\nCentre for Multicultural Youth
\nCentre for Refugee Research, University of NSW
\nCentrecare (WA)
\nChildFund Australia
\nChildren’s Healthcare Australasia
\nChildren’s Rights International
\nChilOut
\nChristian Brothers Oceania
\nChristian Brothers Tasmania
\nCoalition for Asylum Seekers, Refugees and Detainees
\nCoalition for Justice and Peace in Palestine (Sydney)
\ncohealth
\nCombined Refugee Action Group
\nCommon Grace
\nCommunicare
\nCommunity Migrant Resource Centre
\nConference of Leaders of Religious Institutes in NSW
\nCouncil of Social Service of NSW
\nCyber Christian Community WA
\nDarwin Asylum Seekers’ Support and Advocacy Network
\nDaughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Overseas Aid Fund
\nDomestic Violence Service Management
\npage 4
\nDominican Sisters of Eastern Australia and the Solomon Islands
\nEdmund Rice Centre Mirrabooka
\nEdmund Rice Centre Sydney
\nEdmund Rice Network Tasmania
\nEthnic Communities’ Council of Victoria
\nFederation of Ethnic Communities’ Councils of Australia
\nFederation of Liberian Communities in Australia
\nFHEAL Foundation
\nFitzroy Learning Network
\nGeelong Interchurch Social Justice Network
\nGeelong Refugee Action and Information Network
\nGlobal Campaign to End Immigration Detention of Children
\nGod’s Dwelling Place Bethany City Church
\nHabitat for Humanity Australia
\nHelp – Himalayan Youth Foundation
\nHorn of Africa Relief and Development Agency
\nHouse of Hospitality, Broadmeadow (NSW)
\nHouse of Welcome
\nHouse of Welcome Ballarat
\nHumanitarian Research Partners
\nHunter Ecumenical Social Justice Network
\nImmigration Advice and Rights Centre
\nIndependent and Peaceful Australia Network (NSW)
\nIndigenous Social Justice Association
\nInternational Commission of Jurists Australia
\nInternational Detention Coalition
\nInternational Society for Human Rights – Australia
\nIslamic Council of Victoria
\nIslamic Relief Australia
\nJesuit Refugee Service Australia
\nJesuit Social Services
\nJosephite Community Aid
\nJustice Connect
\nJustice for Palestine Matters, Sydney
\nJustice, Ecology and Development Office, Catholic Archdiocese of Perth
\nJustice, Peace and Integrity of Creation Commission, Carmelites of Australia and Timor Leste
\nKommonground
\nLabor for Refugees
\nLentara UnitingCare
\nLoddon Campaspe Multicultural Services
\nLoreto Sisters of Australia and South East Asia
\nMacKillop Family Services
\nMarist Sisters
\nMarrickville Peace Group
\nMelaleuca Refugee Centre
\nMercy Community Services
\nMercy Works
\nMigrant Resource Centre of South Australia
\nMissionaries of the Sacred Heart Justice and Peace Centre
\nMulticultural Council of Tasmania
\nMulticultural Youth Advocacy Network Australia
\nNonlethal Security for Peace Campaign
\nNorthern Settlement Services
\nNSW Teachers Federation
\nNT Council of Social Service
\nOccupational Opportunities for Refugees and Asylum Seekers
\nOromia Support Group Australia
\nOxfam Australia
\nPartners Relief and Development Australia
\nPax Christi Australia
\npage 5
\nPax Christi Queensland
\nPax Christi Victoria
\nPeace and Justice Commission, NSW Ecumenical Council
\nPeace and Social Justice Network, Religious Societyof Friends (Quakers)
\nPlan International Australia
\nPresentation People’s Social Justice Group, Ballina
\nPresentation Sisters Lismore
\nPresentation Sisters Queensland
\nPresentation Sisters Wagga Wagga
\nQuakers, WA Regional Meeting
\nQueenscliff Rural Australians for Refugees
\nRefugee Advice and Casework Service
\nRefugee Advocacy Network
\nRefugee and Immigration Legal Centre
\nRural Australians for Refugees, Bendigo
\nRural Australians for Refugees, Daylesford and District
\nSafe Asylum
\nSalvation Army – Eastern Territory
\nSanctuary Australia Foundation
\nSave the Children Australia
\nSCALES Community Legal Centre
\nSCARF Inc, Illawarra
\nSettlement Council of Australia
\nSettlement Services International
\nSisters of St Joseph
\nSisters of the Good Samaritan
\nSisters of the Little Company of Mary, Australia
\nSocial Justice Ministry, Catholic Parish of Chatswood
\nSophia’s Spring Uniting Church, East Brunswick
\nSpring Creek Community House
\nSt Bede’s Social Justice Group, Braidwood
\nSt Vincent de Paul Society National Council of Australia
\nStand Up: Jewish Commitment to a Better World
\nSurf Coast Rural Australians for Refugees
\nSydney Justice and Peace Coalition
\nSydney Multicultural Community Services
\nTasmanian Asylum Seeker Support
\nTasmanian Catholic Justice and Peace Commission
\nTasmanian Council of Social Service
\nThe Grail Australia (NSW)
\nThe Tasmania Opportunity
\nTownsville Multicultural Support Group
\nTrinity Aid for Refugees
\nUnion of Australian Women Victoria
\nUniting Church in Australia
\nVictorian Council of Social Service
\nVietnamese Overseas Initiative for Conscience Empowerment (VOICE) Australia
\nWA Council of Social Service
\nWarrnambool Rural Australians for Refugees
\nWest Wagga San Isidore Refugee Committee
\nWestern Sydney Community Forum
\nWomen and the Australian Church
\nWomen’s Health in the South East
\nWorld Wellness Group Ltd<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
“VOICE Australia is 1 of over 200 groups to sign onto a statement to call for the cessation of detaining asylum children. This joint letter follows the release this week of the Australian HR Commission’s report on kids in detention.” The\u00a0 report\u00a0 of\u00a0 the\u00a0 Australian\u00a0 Human\u00a0 Rights\u00a0 Commission\u2019s\u00a0 National\u00a0 Inquiry\u00a0 into\u00a0 Children\u00a0 in Immigration\u00a0 Detention\u00a0 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[28,4],"tags":[36,32,44,30,31,37,35,40,33,34,38,41,43,39,42,29],"class_list":["post-229","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-advocacy","category-civil-society","tag-chien-dich","tag-dan-chu","tag-dan-quyen","tag-du-an","tag-gay-quy","tag-hien-phap","tag-luat-phap","tag-nguoi-ti-nan","tag-nhan-quyen","tag-phap-tri","tag-tai-tro","tag-thuyen-nhan","tag-truyen-thong","tag-tu-do","tag-van-dong-quoc-te","tag-xa-hoi-dan-su"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vietnamvoice.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/229","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vietnamvoice.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vietnamvoice.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vietnamvoice.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vietnamvoice.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=229"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/vietnamvoice.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/229\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":559,"href":"https:\/\/vietnamvoice.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/229\/revisions\/559"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vietnamvoice.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=229"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vietnamvoice.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=229"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vietnamvoice.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=229"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}