(To view the grassy area, click here.)
We the undersigned, have been informed that the outdoor grassed area at Maribrynong Immigration Detention Centre has only recently been made available to detainees on the following conditions, following repeated requests for access during the last six months :
It is reported that last Friday, five detainees were allowed into the area, accompanied by seven guards.
These conditions and restrictions are unacceptable on many humanitarian levels. We also question why Maribrynong is the only ACM institution that enforces such conditions and appears to breach the following Immigration Detention Standards :
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4.4 All detainees have access to education, recreation and leisure programs and facilities which provide them the opportunity to utilise their time in detention in a constructive and beneficial manner.
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4.7 Detainees have unlimited access to open air except where the security and good order of the detention facility would be compromised or where the detainee is in isolation in which case supervised exercise periods are scheduled.
We urge ACM and DIMIA to address this issue immediately. We implore ACM to fullfil its obligations to allow detainees the basic right to open air and access to the outdoor grassed area.
In the name of humanity and the dignity of those in detention :
Here is the posting to mdc-watch which started the ball rolling:
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?
This was closely followed by another posting:
... When I was out at Maribyrnong last Friday, I was told that the guards had allowed 5 detainees on the grassed area at a time, accompanied by 7 guards.The thing to do would be to try for permission to organise a cricket competition (what could be more Australian than that?) and point out that 22 people are required as a minimum...
Have you sent your email to Lyn Allison? If not, I urge you to do so. She's our best hope at the moment.
As suggested above, I sent an email to Senator Allison, and received the following very prompt reply:
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 AllisonThe extracts from Hansard to which Senator Allison refers can be seen here. The part dealing specifically with the grassed area is as follows:
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.
Finally, here are some comments that came with replies to the petition email:
Dear everyone,
please sign this and pass it on if you can. This is yet another basic deprivation to endure for refugees/asylum seekers/immigrants detained at Maribrynong....Recently the heating broke down and was out of action for several weeks, despite repeated requests to get it fixed. Those of you in Melbourne know how cold it's been recently, so you can imagine what it was like in the centre at night - especially for detainees sleeping on the floor. Needless to say, the heating in the guards' quarters remained functional throughout.Detainees take some risk in passing this kind of information on - ACM and DIMIA need to know that many people are receiving and reacting to it for there to be any hope of making them fulfill their obligations...
I am outraged by the access restrictions to the outdoor grassed area at Maribrynong Immigration Detention Centre.
What if it was you?
Or what if you had the power/ability to do something about it?
Why wouldnt you?
Please do all in your power to bring humanity and compassion to Australia.
This was one of the human rights issues detainees went on hunger strike for several months ago. ACM gave an assurance that the outdoor space would be made available to detainees within two weeks of the cessation of the hunger strike.
This may seem like a small issue, but in the context of the rights of detainees being consistently denied and their humanity and dignity eroded, this is important.
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