Conditions at Maribyrnong Detention Centre

"All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law. All are entitled to equal protection against any discrimination in violation of this Declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination." Article 7, Universal Declaration of Human rights, 10 December 1948.


“ 1. Everyone has the right to liberty and security of person. No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest or detention...
“ 4. Anyone who is deprived of his liberty by arrest or detention shall be entitled to take proceedings before a court, in order that court may decide without delay on the lawfulness of his detention and order his release if the detention is not lawful.
“ 5. Anyone who has been the victim of unlawful arrest or detention shall have an enforceable right to compensation.” Article 9, International Covenant on Civil snd Political Rights, 16 December 1966.
From Migration Act 1958
[Section]209  Detainees liable for costs of detention
Subject to section 211, a non-citizen who is detained is liable to pay the Commonwealth the costs of his or her detention.
[Section]210  Removed or deported non-citizen liable for costs of removal or deportation
Subject to section 212, a non-citizen who is removed or deported, other than an unlawful non-citizen who came to Australia on a criminal justice visa, is liable to pay the Commonwealth the costs of his or her removal or deportation.

For more information on day-to-day developments at the centre, please refer to the MDC Watch news list at www.topica.com/lists/mdc-watch


The Minister Speaks

“I appreciate that the situation portrayed in the media, and by others, often paints a distressing picture of the treatment of persons in immigration detention and it is natural, therefore, for members of the Australian community to be concerned for such people...”

Extract from a letter from Philip Ruddock to Petro Georgiou MP, in a reply to the latter's reference to him of concerns raised by a constituent. For the whole letter, click here.

And from another Minister...

“It is of concern to me that unsubstantiated allegations are being repeated, and given credence by people without questioning the motivations, knowledge or competence of the people making the allegations.”

From a letter written on Philip Ruddock's behalf by Gary Hardgrave, Minister for Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs, concerning allegations about conditions at Baxter. For the whole letter, click here. (Readers may find it instructive to compare the second paragrapgh of Minister Hardgrave's letter with the paragraph in Minister Ruddock's reply beginning “It is of concern to me ... ”.)


A recent visit to Maribyrnong, and a response

(It might be interesting to compare this and the account by Senator Lyn Allison with an article written in March 2001 by Age reporter Chloe Saltau - see below)

Dave McKay of the Woomera Refugee Embassy was in Melbourne recently (early September 2002). Here is his account of a visit to Maribyrnong IDC, followed by a response from Damien Lawson, originally posted to [email protected]:

A Face-to-face Visit at Last!

Ross and I were finally allowed a face-to-face visit with detainees this week. For those who do not know, in April of this year, we were banned ("indefinitely") by the Department of Immigration from visiting detainees, because we represented some kind of a threat to the national security. This was after we set up the "Refugee Embassy" at Woomera.

We stayed there for more than four months, trying every way we could, to get clearance to visit detainees. No luck. And then this week we walked up, unannounced, to a security guard, flashed our drivers' licenses, and were immediately allowed inside the detention centre.

The main difference was that we were making application at the Maribyrnong Detention Centre in Melbourne, and not the Woomera Detention Centre in South Australia. But we spotted other differences at Maribyrnong too.

ACM employees there are, on the whole, polite, helpful, and orderly. There was a level of efficiency with regard to processing visitors that would be unheard of at Woomera.

The conditions inside were better too. Detainees seemed dramatically more contented. The environment was bright and cheerful. They said that they get good food and plenty of it. One detainee said that he would prefer to spend the rest of his life there in detention than to be sent back to his home country (China). (Remember, that all of these observations are relative. Compared to Woomera things at Maribyrnong appeared idyllic. We don't doubt that there are things which could be improved at Maribyrnong too.)

But the most significant difference is that the people we asked to visit (taken more or less at random from a list of people detained at Maribyrnong) turned out not to be asylum seekers at all. They were people who had previously been given visas, but who had been caught trafficking in drugs. Now they were being threatened with deportation because of their criminal record. One man had lived in Australia for six years, another for 22 years. Seeking asylum had nothing to do with their presence at Maribyrnong.

In other words, we had been given permission to visit real "illegals", i.e. people who had been convicted of real crimes, who were awaiting deportation. And these people have been placed in the best of the best facilities, there at Maribyrnong, while the innocent victims of cruel atrocities in other countries were assigned to places like Woomera and Port Hedland.

Now the latest news is that DIMIA is forcibly sending genuine asylum seekers from Maribyrnong to Port Hedland, apparently to make them more inaccessible to the media and to the general public. This includes one detainee who is in great pain, following an operation and a botched medical procedure by authorities at Maribyrnong.

But what about Baxter, the showpiece detention centre in Port Augusta that was supposedly "opened" by the Minister for Immigration over a month ago? Who is living there?

Apparently no one... although they are still saying that some of the families in Woomera may be sent down there in a few weeks... if they behave themselves well. In the meantime, the population at Woomera is actually growing. Seventeen detainees from Curtin have been sent to Woomera as punishment for disagreements they had with the management at Curtin. They begged to be sent to Baxter, but their pleas went unheeded.

Maribyrnong residents shifted to Port Hedland, Port Hedland and Curtin residents shifted to Woomera, but no one shifted to Baxter. Why is that? And why do drug traffickers get the best facilities, while asylum seekers are dumped in cruel, harsh concentration camps in the middle of the Australian outback?

Is our Government going to keep Baxter just as a showpiece, for UN, Amnesty, and Red Cross tours, while the atrocities continue at Woomera? Time for the media to ask some more questions...

Dave McKay


Response from Damien Lawson:

Dave,
thanks for your email on your recent visit to Maribyrnong, your courage and perseverance at the embassy in Woomera and your on going work is an inspiration.

That is why I am a pretty disturbed by your comments regarding what you call real "illegal" detained at Maribyrnong.

Surely you do not support the double jeopardy of being deported after receiving a criminal conviction. Surely you question the manner in which the criminal justice system operates on the basis of racial profiling and criminalisation of the poor. Surely you see how the "war on drugs" is part of a system of social control used to legitimate enormous resources and power in repressive state institutions. Surely you would be aware that over a hundred people languish in state prisons and detention centres around the country one, two, three, four years after serving their sentence for criminal convictions awaiting deportation. Many of these people were once refugees, that is why they were issued with a visa, but that is irrelevant unless we place ourselves in judgement over who is more deserving then another. Or if we are willing to engage in the division of the world into the categories of "good immigrant" and "bad immigrant" - refugee/economic migrant, citizen/non-citizen, law-abiding/criminal, assimilate/ghetto. Or if we are comfortable with the arbitrary power placed in the Immigration Minister's hand to revoke visas on all sorts of grounds.

Surely you would agree with the slogan we have chanted, painted and written at countless rallies "no one is illegal". Surely you support a world in which people are free to move and free to stay regardless of who or what they are?

I think is useful to highlight how DIMIA and ACM have different practices as a result of the level of scrutiny and opposition there is around the country, but surely this should not then translate into proposing some hierarchy of misery or that some are treated better then others because of who they are. I think those who cooperate or inform may get better treatment, those who resist or protest may sometimes win better treatment sometimes worse treatment. But the criminals vs refugee distinction you make as the basis for the difference is just not true.

Solidarity
Damien


ACM's version of what Maribyrnong IDC is like:

From the article on Maribyrnong on page 10 of ACM Review, Issue 2 for 2002:
(Best read before eating - for a table of detainees' comments on these claims, see here)-

The Centre boasts a large grassed area at the rear of the male accomodation unit. Following completion of the upgraded security package and fence installation (over the past eight months), it can again he utilised for recreational and leisure activities, and a much-requested vegetable garden. Effective use of recreational facilities has been identified as a priority for MIDC in 2002 - detainees have been asked to complete a questionnaire to identify those activities they would like made available within the Centre as a whole, but specifically within this grassed area.

A wide range of activities is on offer at Maribyrnong. Over the past six months, detainees have visited Melbourne Zoo, Brimbank park and other local parks. They have been taken to a puppet show, on shopping trips, to the movies and to participate in story time at the local library.

Many sporting and artistic activities also take place within MIDC. These include volleyball, tennis, cricket, soccer, board and card games, a variety of arts and crafts, jewellery making, musical and sewing classes, Egyptian dancing classes, discos, book reading and video/pay television viewing.

Detainees have been treated to a visiting puppet show, women's afternoons of hair, beauty and music, regular coffee afternoons and access to cooking facilities to create their native dishes. They also enjoyed an AFL Grand Final day barbecue.

Current proposals under consideration include the introduction of Irish dancing classes and a Tai-chi instructor.

The Centre employs a full time teacher who runs six English classes daily. All education programs are voluntary.

MIDC has negotiated an agreement with a local school to educate primary school children, subject to existing class numbers. Secondary school age detainees are able to access the International Students Project via the Victorian Department of Education, Employment and Training.

Maribyrong underwent a refurbishment in the middle of last year - this included the acquisition of new furniture and curtains (made by the detainees) and repainting.

MIDC employs a full time registered nurse, who is also a qualified psychiatric nurse. Nursing assistance and advice is available seven days per week. A doctor attends the Centre for two hours each Tuesday and Yhursday. MIDC also has the services of a full-time social worker and a part-time activities/recreation officer.

Given the number of detainees at Maribyrnong, the Centre encourages strong interaction between residents and staff. This is regarded as an important ingredient in the smooth operation of the ACM facility, as it enables the staff to treat every detainee as an individual and to focus on and address their specific needs.




Photos taken inside Maribyrnong IDC

In the light of the glowing account above, it might be interesting to look at some photos of the reality - click here for more.

Victorian Democratic Senator Lyn Allison visits Maribyrnong

Media release 21 May - Maribyrnong condition report

Following complaints from the general public I visited Maribyrnong Detention Centre in Melbourne again yesterday to talk with detainees and Department of Immigration officers and to inspect sleeping and living conditions there.

I found:

The majority of these people have committed no crime and present no security risk and yet they are all being held in high security.

Senator Allison will use Senate Estimates next week to quiz Immigration Dept officials over the Government's and Australasian Correctional Management's (ACM) failure to provide appropriate low security detention and will table her report of the visit in the Senate in the next sitting week in June.

Note: Senator Allison's grilling of Immigration Department officials can be viewed here. Please refer also to the correspondence with Senator Allison reported on this site on the page dealing with the Petition.

Letter to the Editor, 27 May

From Senator Allison to The Age, regarding the article by Lindsay Tanner and Richard Wynne mentioned below

Dear Editor
Labor duo, Lindsay Tanner and Richard Wynne (22/5) are careful to stay on politically safe ground by calling for children to be released immediately from detention centres. However, releasing children and not the rest of their family would greatly intensify the fear and sadness that children experience in detention. It is also contrary to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which requires that a child not be separated from parents (meaning both mothers and fathers) against their will except when it is in the child's interests.

Removing children from their parents is a political not a human rights strategy and it shows Labor hasn't learned anything from the stolen generation. Lindsay Tanner's call for a change to 'our approach' to mandatory sentencing is welcome but doesn't appear to have been heard by Mr Crean and Labor's complicity in the Government's agenda should not be forgotten. Labor consistently votes to erase asylum seekers rights under the Migration Act and did so as recently as March this year.

I have twice visited Maribyrnong Detention Centre. It feels and looks like a high security prison. It is no place for children and it is not right for children to live amongst adult strangers experiencing such deep despair. For the young mother at Maribyrnong and her children aged 5, 3 and 8 months, evading authorities would not be an option and nor is she any threat to anyone and yet they have already been incarcerated for a year with no end in sight.

A civil society like ours has no good argument for mandatory, ongoing detention of people who have committed no crime.

SENATOR LYN ALLISON

Lindsay Tanner visits Maribyrnong

The Age Wednesday 22 May carried a report by Labor federal MP Lindsay Tanner and Labor state MP Richard Wynne on their recent visit to the centre. They were particularly shocked by the thought of the inevitable effects of incarceration in such a place on young children, and nded, the article bore the headline "Bananas in Pyjamas behind razor wire: this is inhumane". Here are a few extracts:

... One young female detainee has three children, all under five, living with her in one small room. The youngest is only eight months old and was born in detention.

Occasionally, the children are taken for walks outside the centre by guards, but their mother is not allowed to accompany them.

When you witness such things first hand ... it is impossible to come to any conclusion but this: any system that allows this to happen is wrong."

...

During our visit we saw 50 or so detainees in the common areas. The sense of listlessness, hopelessness and despair was overwhelming. They appeared drained of energy, even drained of any interest in life. Many avoided eye contact...

Ruddock's version of conditions in Australia's camps

Philip Ruddock appears to have been stung a little by recent criticisms of the two- three- or four-star holiday camps his department is responsible for, and has gone public with his own account of what these places are 'really' like. The following is taken from his 'rebuttal' of the Edmund Rice Centre's pamphlet "Debunking the Myths":

Readers might like to compare this story with accounts published here and on other sites - and decide for themselves who to believe...

(The full story on  The DIMIA website.)

Detention Centres provide safe, secure accommodation and a range of facilities and services.

Our detention facilities provide an administrative detention environment, accommodating a mixed population, including women and children. Every effort is made to maintain the routines of normal community living.

The Immigration Detention Standards, which have been developed by the Department in consultation with the Commonwealth Ombudsman's office, outline the quality of life expected in detention centres and take into consideration individual needs such as gender, culture and age of the detainees.

Emphasis is placed on the sensitive treatment of those in detention who may have suffered torture and trauma, family groups, children, the elderly, persons with a fear of authority, and persons who are genuinely seeking Australia's protection under the Refugees' Convention.

People in detention centres are provided with safe and secure accommodation and a wide range of facilities and services including health services, religiously, nutritionally and culturally appropriate meals, religious services, educational opportunities and recreational pursuits.

For example:

detainees have access to videos, cassette players and books - there are a number of televisions, computers and DVDs at the centres;

there are organised sporting and recreational activities, such as swimming, soccer, table tennis and volleyball;

detainees have access to health, counselling, psychiatric and welfare services, including torture and trauma counselling;

there are curriculum-based educational programs for children and adults including English language tuition;

facilities are made available for religious observance; and

public telephones and mail facilities are provided.

The fact is that the level of amenity and range of these services, particularly the medical services, are the same as those available to the wider Australian community and exceed those in some regional areas.

There is said to be no truth in rumours that the minister's recent departure for China and Europe was actually to seek treatment for a sudden abnormal elongation and lignification of his nose.

(See also Messages from Maribyrnong for an account by detainees themselves.) Here are some reports that have already been posted to the mdc-watch announcement list:

Sunday 12th October

A reminder to people visiting Maribyrnong that there are listening devices on the outer doors - so be careful what you say, even in the car park ...

Monday 9th September

New visiting hours now apply (sorry to whoever cooled their heels outside for half an hour last week as a result of my earlier announcement)
10 - 11.30 am
1.30 - 4.30 pm
6.30 - 9 pm

Visits limited to 1.5 hours after which visitors must return to the locker area. If there is room they can fill in another form and be readmitted (and if they say so beforehand and want to continue conversations, the person they are visiting can wait in the meeting area.)

Wednesday 28th August

Hi Peter,
The order has apparently come from Canberra that dumbbells and other weights are to be removed from detention centres around Australia. This has now happened. This is very sad, because exercise is one of the FEW enjoyable things left to refugees inside the centres. (As we know, endorphins are released through vigorous exercise.) Using weights has been an important part of their exercise program. An exercise machine has been replaced at Maribrynong, and the new one is apparently hopeless. Hurt upon hurt upon hurt is heaped on these innocent people. All part of Ruddock's regime of soul destrucion, to force a return home for these troubled people.
Regards ...

Sunday 25th August

A COLD RECEPTION

Detainees from Maribyrnong Immigration Detention Centre report that the heating system that has been out of action for three weeks, has still not been fixed. Detainees were informed that there were no more blankets available and continue to freeze in their beds. A recent delivery of thirty new blankets, organised and donated by a church group and a blanket manufacturer, arrived at the centre last week. However, blankets appear to have only been allocated to female detainees. When questioned about the further distribution of the blankets, a male detainee was aggressively informed by Management that according to their records, all the blankets had been distributed. As temperatures hover around freezing at night, the detainees continue to experience the cold shoulder of Australia's mandatory detention policies and ACM's services, for which they are billed $149 for each day of their detention.
Craig Wentworth

Wednesday 12 June

From Craig Wentworth:
ONSCREEN VIOLENCE
12/6/02

Last night detainees at Maribrynong Immigration Detention Centre described an incident glimpsed on the internal security monitors. A detainee raised the alarm about four guards who 'bashed', dragged and man-handled a 'new arrival' at the Centre, after he [the detainee] viewed the scenes through the window of the guards' station on the closed-circuit television monitors. The new arrival has been put into isolation and detainees expect him either to be released into the main detention centre community in several days, or to 'disappear' and be deported. They have no other information about the new arrival, but are concerned about his health and his safety. It is alleged that this violent handling of new arrivals, often involves drugging individuals to 'pacify' them and is a regular occurence in Maribyrnong.
Craig Wentworth

Wedneday 5th June

As suggested by a contributor, I referred the question of detainees' access to the grassed area to Senator Lyn Allison of the Australian Democrats. Her very prompt reply follows - the extracts from Hansard to which she refers are rather too long to post here, but I have placed them on the MDC Watch website at http://home.vicnet.net.au/~mdwatch/reading/reading.html . The passage specifically referring to the grassy space follows Senator Allison's letter:

...

Thank you, Peter. I did raise this and other matters at Senate Estimates last Wednesday night. Attached is the Hansard. It is rather lengthy and many of the answers by DIMIA are long-winded or taken on notice but you might find it of interest. I don't think they are enjoying this level of scrutiny! Regards and keep up your good work in support of the detainees.
Lyn Allison

...

Senator ALLISON �Okay. There was discussion earlier about the four-metre high razor wire fence which now surrounds the entire area. Access to a grassed exercise area was promised, I think, in the Senate committee's report into detention centres more than a year ago, and certainly six months ago the fence was up around this area. But even as I speak there is no general access to the area. Given that most of the detainees, I would imagine, pose no security threat, it is hard to understand why, when this is completely surrounded by such a fence, it is not available. Can you shed any light on that?

Ms Godwin �The fence is there, but there has been a range of issues about the fence. Without delaying the committee too long, part of the issue is that in the case of Maribyrnong the project to build the fence was in fact managed by the department of finance and not by us. There has been a range of issues around the detailed completion of the project, including some problems with final completion with some of the security issues to do with the fence�the computer system and various things. As a result�again, this is the advice I have�the green area is being used but only under supervision. So you are right: there is not general access to the green area, which is what we would hope to move to as soon as we can, but the area is being used by groups under supervision.

Senator ALLISON �Today's advice was that only one person at a time was permitted to be in the area and then there would be four detention officers present at the time. Why would there be the need for such a small number�

Ms Godwin �Sorry? Today's advice from whom?

Senator ALLISON �Maribyrnong.

Ms Godwin �Sorry, are you saying that is from the centre or from a detainee?

Senator ALLISON �From a detainee.

Ms Godwin �Again, that is not my advice, but I will check.

Senator ALLISON �Could you provide me with information on the size of the groups that are now being allowed and why it is the case. One would have thought that if they are under supervision it should be possible for more than a small group to be there

Tuesday 28th May

A detainee passed on this news yesterday (28 May):
This morning ACM offered access to the grassed area. But there was a catch. Only one person at a time would be allowed out there, to be accompanied by four ACM guards. What's more, ACM staff would choose which detainees would be invited to enjoy this treat. (Divide and conquer - do you want to be among the favoured or the punished?)

Needless to say all the inmates, save one elderly Afghan, refused to take part in this cruel and controlling example of ACM trickery. What's the betting ACM will now claim that detainees have been offered access to the grassed area but now say they don't want it?

(See here for a petition and other material regarding this issue.)

Wednesday 23rd April

The latest restriction imposed on visitors to Maribrynong Detention Centre, as of 23/4/02, is that photocopied news articles and printed material other than newspapers, must now be submitted to ACM for vetting. Several visitors have been supplying detainees with local news of their homelands, by downloading reports from international news websites. However, the new policy is that any printed articles must be packaged in an envelope, with the name of the detainee the items are intended for and the name of the visitor providing the material and a contact phone number (in case the articles are rejected and can be returned). The package is then passed on by ACM to DIMIA, inspected and either approved or disapproved and then returned to ACM. Thus another convoluted process has been instigated by ACM, in what seems to be yet another move to isolate the detainees from the outside world, by slowing the information flow of news to them. Restrictions of one newspaper brought in per visitor, have also been instigated (foreign language or otherwise).

Sleeplessness as a result of trauma, continues to wear down many of the detainees. One detainee compared (what appears to be) the over-prescription of sleeping tablets and anti-depressants (and subsequent addictions) to 'leprosy'. He explained that detainees are slowly being eaten away by medication, sleeplessness, conditions in the centre and their poor treatment at the hands of some of the ACM staff. Access to up-to-date personal medical records and assessments, medication and prescribed treatments, continues to be denied to some detainees.

Craig Wentworth

PS Getting into Maribrynong Detention Centre looks even tougher now! ACM finally fixed the imposing stell and razor-wire clad, double main gates, so they operate electronically and are shut most of the time. Previously they were left open, as they had to be pushed open and shut by hand - and no-one could be bothered doing this!


Tuesday April 22nd

MIDC was dreadful tonight. They've fixed the electronic gates so visitors now have to file in through a series of big metal security gates under the razor wire. Besides being very intimidating, this process slows down visitor access interminably.

Frightening to see the deterioration in the detainees in just one week - especially those in the 'no man's land' of not being deported (often because countries of origin won't take them back); not being given a visa; not being charged with a crime. What are we going to do - keep such people in prison forever?

The misery was overwhelming. A man who was prescribed surgery (he needs a skin graft) is receiving no medical attention for serious burns to most of his body (sustained while trying to intervene in a fight 'that the guards were just watching' in Port Hedland). He receives only sorbolene cream which is making no impression on his burns.

A man whose young daughter was so ill she has been hospitalised showing signs of psychological breakdown (frantically rubbing hands together etc).

A man who couldn't even be cheered up by a visit from his little daughter slumped despairingly over his knees.

A group - barely able to speak English - with cases coming before the Federal Court/Migration Review Tribunal trying to prepare their own cases because they have no legal representation. They are probably eligible for Bridging Visas but the MRT has set their bond at $10,000 each. They have no relatives in Australia so this is an impossible amount. The Federal Court agreed that it was too high. When the case went back to the MRT, it refused to reduce the bond.

A man lives in terror at the prospect of deportation back to his country of origin, where, he says, he would certainly be killed. His dream is now to get a life sentence in a regular Australian jail, where, he says, he would at least feel safe.

A man who needs glasses to see the TV (the only regular form of entertainment) - and to read - cannot get permission to see an optometrist.

Maribyrnong Centre currently houses more than 50 prisoners. Only 3 toilets and 3 showers are operative. Sanitary pad dispensers are not serviced regularly. Currently, they are 'overflowing with waste' and in a disgusting, unhygienic state.

A small square of grass to which the detainees were promised access months ago is still off limits.

Concessions on this (and other matters like the abysmal quality of the food ) granted by the Acting Superintendent following an 8 day hunger strike have been rescinded by the recently-returned Superintendent.

Visitors bringing in anti-dandruff shampoo and skin cream (for detainees whose skin is drying out, possibly because of the diet?) were not allowed to bring in those items.


Thursday April 4th

An air of desperation and sadness has settled on the Iranian detainees in Maribyrnong Detention Centre, after the weekend newspaper articles revealing that the Howard/Ruddock team had negotiated the return of Asylum Seekers back to Iran. Despite George W Bush identifying the Iran as a potential terrorist threat in his 'Axis of Evil' speech, the Australian Government is ready to deport asylum seekers back to this country, that is dominated by its extreme Islamic fundamentalist Government. The threatened mass deportation has already resulted in one Iranian detainee in Perth Detention Centre, attempting suicide. The detainee is in a critical condition in a Perth hospital, after cutting himself with a knife and attempting to hang himself from a razor wire fence. It appears that the general feeling amongst Iranian detainees is that they would rather die in Australia, than be sent back to Iran to face torture and death at the hands of the Revolutionary Government.

Craig Wentworth


Yesterday, Friday 5 [April], I received call from the Ombudsman's office (OO) about complaints I had forwarded on behalf of friends at Marybinong IDC. He was reporting back that following discussions, ACM were agreaable to allowing access to the grassy area outside the detention building which has been denied since Viliami died in December 2000. When the new steel palisade fence was built promises had been given that access to outside would happen- the fence was completed over 5 months ago now.

OO said that agreement had been reached with ACM that as soon as the ground was levelled that detainees would be able to use the space. He also said that the detainees had agreed to do this work themselves??? I asked how ?spades/Trowels/Their bare hands I told a detainee about this and he is adamant that such an agreement was not made but rather that as part of the negotiation to cease their hunger strike last month , that they would be allowed outside in TWO WEEKS. He also reported that the space was cleared /6/8 weeks ago. Peter and I checked out the space today and guess what -all it needs is a lawn mower- it is as flat as a tack.

The reason I am telling you this long winded tale is to illustrate the way in which ACM lies connives and frustrates the detainees continually.The man from the Ombudsmans office is away now for 1/2 weeks so we will have to wait until he gets back to point out that the information he was given was not true and that there is no reason why detainees can not enjoy the outdoor space for the last weeks of autumn.

No doubt there will be new excuses next week and the Ombudsmans office will accept these without question....

One might ask why the ombudsmans office did not check the ground on his weekly visits....


THE DAILY GRIND [17 April]

Life is fairly quiet at the moment at Maribyrnong Detention Centre. Detainees continue to try to find ways to cope with the grind of timeless incarceration and the fickle, ever changing rules of the centre.

One detainee who suffers from a major injury, was driven to chair throwing to vent his anger, frustration and pain at not being given pain relief medication upon his request to ACM. He was told the procedures had been changed and medication would only be dispensed twice a day, over one hour periods. He was told this was because the Nurse would be attending meetings, conferences etc. every day and would not be available. However, after the chair throwing incident he was immediately attended to by the Nurse and given the requested pain relief medication.

Many of the detainees have become so depressed and disturbed by their long-term confinement, that the sleeping tablets they are prescribed no longer seem to bring any relief. One detainee has had his medication increased to thrirteen sleeping tablets a night, to little or no effect. He describes how he sleeps infrequently in ten minute or some times half hour snatches. However, when he is able to sleep, nightmares continue to haunt him.

Other reports from detainees include the confiscation of all personal shampoos and cleaning agents. Detainees must make a request to kitchen staff and are then given a small vial-full of liquid, which they are told is shampoo. The detainees are concerned that the liquid is in fact washing up detergent and not hair shampoo.

There is still no sign of the outdoor grassed area being re-opened to detainees for recreational use. This was a concession granted by ACM to detainees, upon the ending of their hunger strike several weeks ago.

One detainee described each day inside as being worse than the next and that in detention, asylum seekers die a thousand deaths a day.


[April 17]

ACM are being more rigid about ID's. If you don't bring your ID to the dining room, you will be refused food.

Hosein had a nasty experience when he was washing the dining room floor the other day. The 'nurse' was attempting to take the detergent from him and told him 'you are all like children in here' in a most derogatory way. This in front of other people. Is this a nurse, Immigration dept stooge, or ACM guard?

Still not being issued with shampoo or conditioner.

And so it goes on ... eight printers which were taken in to the centre at the beginning of the year have not been seen since... shampoo and conditioner gift packs delivered at Christmas locked away somewhere and still not handed over ...

Marie Tehan visited Maribyrnong recently and described the experience on Radio National's 'The National Interest'. Pending availability of a transcript it is possible to hear the program on the RN website at http://www.abc.net.au/rn/talks/natint/index/default.htm - follow the links to 24 March.

Here is a short extract where Ms Tehan answers the question "what's the place like?":

"The place is like a prison. There is lots of wire, there is barbed wire. I didn't see much ... you go in down a passageway, down a laneway with wire everywhere. You press buttons and you can't get in until they're opened from the inside. You present at a desk and you have to fill in forms as to why you're there, who you are. You leave your things in a [...] and then you go through a security system, and into one room, which is quite a large room with seats around it. Besides that there's a walled area which is outside but all you can see is the sky because the walls are very high and that's obviously the visiting area. And the detainees or the people in the detention centre are brought through another locked door to come into that room and you just sit in groups and speak to them there.

"... it is a prison. It is just like going into any civil prison."

From a posting by Pamela Curr dated 20 Nov 2001:

Dear Folks
Post election treatment at Maribyrnong Detention Centre (MDC) started last Thursday. After lunch all detainees from single quarters were locked in Volley Ball court (outside courtyard) for five hours. During this time guards searched every room with large garbage bags aned collected all newspapers, books, clothes and cassettes belonging to people. They then allowed each person ONE book or ONE Newspaper and those who have walkmans were allowed ONE cassette. Other tape recorders taken. The new rule is if anyone wants clean clothes they must post a written order into a box by 9.30 am requesting clothes. No one yet knows how this system will work.

The guards also removed the chairs and small table from the rooms so now detainees have only the bunks to sit on.

As you know the newspapers in MDC are read and reread and discussed and underlined. Some people are sent newspapers in their own language which are of great interest. Life is boring enough with no activities so without books or papers or music it becomes harder and bleaker - the latest in deterrence by the Ruddock regime....


Grim message tells of life on the inside of a detention centre

(From The Age Wednesday 14 March 2001 - http://www.theage.com.au/news/2001/03/14/FFXBT1VG8KC.html)

By CHLOE SALTAU
SOCIAL POLICY REPORTER

On the wall of an outdoor recreation area at the Maribyrnong Immigration Detention centre, opened to the media yesterday for the first time, is a beach scene painted by an Algerian inmate - all palm trees, sea and stars.

Then there is the sobering image of a makeshift monument to Viliami Tanginoa, a Tongan detainee who killed himself last year. "Better to die proudly when there is no possibility to live proudly," the inscription said. "Every refugee here will never forget and every refugee in the world knows how he felt before he jumped."

These were the only expressions from inmates that a small group of journalists witnessed yesterday.

The 78 inmates enclosed by wire fences and barbed wire were prevented from speaking to the journalists.

The tour was the third of a series of "open days" at Australia's immigration centres, home to asylum-seekers and people incarcerated for breaking immigration laws.

Regular visitors to the centre said it had undergone a makeover for the media tour and a visit today by a parliamentary committee investigating human rights.

New chairs had been installed in the visitors' area, the carpets steam-cleaned and a children's play area installed, said Andrea Maksimovic, from the refugee lobby group No One Is Illegal.

Immigration officials confirmed that Immigration Minister Philip Ruddock inspected the centre on Monday, but a detainee later told The Age by phone that he did not speak to any inmates.

The detainee said many inmates feared punishment if they criticised their treatment while speaking to members of the parliamentary committee. However, the Victorian director of the Immigration Department, John Moorhouse, stressed that the centre was "not intended to be punitive".

He said it specialised in "administrative detention", although there are two observation rooms for inmates considered a risk.

Yesterday morning a few women were still asleep in the tatty dormitories, and men stood around or watched television in recreation areas equipped with books, a table tennis table, public phone, computer and gymnasium equipment. There are counselling, religious, medical and language services.

A menu handed to journalists seemed diverse - spaghetti, chilli con carne, noodles, roast beef - although the inmate who spoke to The Age said the food, usually confined to chicken and rice, was "disgusting". A grassed area, restricted because of escapes, was home to a couple of rabbits. Mr Moorhouse said the environment was necessarily "utilitarian" because of the transient, sometimes volatile, population.


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