Amnesty International Australia

In early December, our research team met a 20 year old man in immigration detention on Christmas Island. The young man had fled Afghanistan, fearing he would be targeted by extremists, tortured and killed.

To get to Australia, where he has applied for refugee status, he travelled overland through Pakistan and down to Indonesia. Despite the fact that he couldn’t swim, he boarded a rickety fishing boat and - along with other asylum seekers - spent eight terrifying days and nights travelling to Australia.

On one of these nights, the boat hit bad weather and everyone on board was crying. The man explained to us that despite his fear that he would drown at sea, he knew it was worth the risk to pursue a new life in Australia. The alternative, had he stayed in Afghanistan, was far worse.

This man’s story is just one of over 1,400 to be told by people detained by the Australian Government on Christmas Island.

An island alone

Christmas Island lies 1,565 km off the north-west coast of Australia and just a few hundred kilometres from Indonesia.

It is one of 4,000 islands in a vast area of sea around northern Australia that has been ‘excised’ from our country’s migration zone. Asylum seekers travelling by boat who are intercepted in this ‘excision zone’ (see the Department of Immigration's map of excised zones (pdf 622kb)) are taken to Christmas Island rather than the Australian mainland to have their applications for asylum assessed. These people do not enjoy the same rights as those applying for asylum from mainland Australia.

For example, while there is no time limit for the processing of refugee claims made on Christmas Island, claims made on the mainland must be processed within 90 days of application. Asylum seekers often spend months in the remote Christmas Island immigration detention centre with no idea of when their claims will be finalised or whether they will be sent back to their countries of origin to face the persecution they are fleeing.

A short stay on Christmas Island

From 7 to 11 December, an Amnesty International research team consisting of myself, Dr Graham Thom and Louise Allen visited Christmas Island to inspect immigration detention facilities and investigate the human rights situation there.

We met with a wide range of groups and service providers including the Department of Immigration, Serco, the Red Cross, the local school and hospital and community representatives. We were also able to inspect the full range of detention facilities and meet with a number of asylum seekers currently detained in the North-West Point immigration detention centre.

During our week there, Louise, Graham and I witnessed both positive aspects of conditions on Christmas Island, and aspects of the situation that are far less than positive. There's genuine goodwill on the part of many people on Christmas Island - including Department of Immigration staff and the local school and hospital - to try to make the best of the extremely difficult conditions they are facing.

Despite the goodwill however, the isolated location of Christmas Island makes it simply impossible to implement a humane immigration policy there.

Immigration detention on Christmas Island should be stopped. The island is too remote, and the logistical challenges too great for this policy to be effective or sustainable.

"...the isolated location of Christmas Island makes it impossible to implement a humane immigration policy there."

Over 90 percent of asylum seekers that arrive in Australia by boat are found to be refugees and granted permanent protection visas. The majority of 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.

Asylum seekers should in fact have their claims processed on the Australian mainland, where appropriate support services can be provided far more easily and at a fraction of the cost to Australian taxpayers.

Detention conditions

At the time of our visit to Christmas Island there were around 1,400 asylum seekers in various forms of detention, including around 65 school-aged children.

Families with children and unaccompanied minors live in cramped conditions in the construction camp facility, while all single adult men are taken to the immigration detention centre. A small number of people whose health, identity and security checks have been completed are allowed to live in houses in the Christmas Island community until their asylum claims have been assessed.

Conditions are cramped within the immigration detention centre. Because capacity has been reached, the Government has been forced to build temporary accommodation in the form of tents and demountables. The demountables were not ready at the time of our visit, but we were able to see the tents, which have added 160 beds to the centre.

Dr Graham Thom describes the research team's experience of their first visit inside the immigration detention centre

The corporate style marquees will each be home to 40 men until places become available in the main centre. In another part of the centre, classrooms have been converted into dorms for 24 men. This situation is both unsustainable and unacceptable.

On the Wednesday of our visit, we were able to have lunch with men inside one of the immigration detention centre’s compounds. We heard some heartbreaking stories about the conditions people had come from, and the concern they feel for their families - many of whom are living in government-run internment camps in Sri Lanka, or under imminent threats of violence in Afghanistan and Pakistan. We were humbled by their generosity and hospitality, with two men providing their homemade yoghurt to share with us. The experience was humbling to say the least.

Despite the overcrowded conditions, many of the men in the centre are keeping their spirits up. They participate in sporting activities, reading and English classes - all of which are offered each day at the immigration detention centre.

Sadly though, this is not the case for all people. One man we met broke down after showing us scars from the torture he endured before coming to Australia. People like this man are particularly vulnerable, and particularly susceptible to further mental health damage by being held in the remote Christmas Island detention centre.

Families and unaccompanied minors in detention

In 2009, Amnesty International has emphasised the fact that unaccompanied minors and families with children and are particularly vulnerable, and should not be kept in detention on Christmas Island. We have repeatedly asked the Government to bring all asylum seekers to the mainland while their claims are assessed, but have urged them to immediately remove families and children from the island. After inspecting the construction camp facility where these people are housed, Amnesty International is repeating this request to our Government.

While we were there, a number of family groups arrived on Christmas Island (read my account of the disembarkation we witnessed early on the morning of our third day). We saw families with very young children who had spent days and days on boats and were beginning the process of lodging their claim for asylum in Australia.

The construction camp facility is highly unsuitable for young children and families. Young families live side by side with groups of teenage boys in cramped demountables behind guarded fences. There is no play area or lawn that can be accessed by children unless they are accompanied outside by a guard.

These conditions would be unacceptable on the Australian mainland.

Community concerns

During our week on Christmas Island, Graham, Louise and I met with representatives from a number of community groups, many of whom expressed concern over the capacity of the island’s resources and infrastructure to cope with the ballooning population.

Christmas Island has a permanent population of 1,100, and there are currently over 300 staff and service providers on the island to cater for the needs of asylum seekers. Combined with the number of asylum seekers currently being detained there, the total population of Christmas Island has effectively tripled in the past year. This number is projected to grow significantly over the coming months as the capacity of the detention facilities is expanded.

Community representatives are worried about whether the island’s water would be affected, whether the sewerage system would hold up, and the increasing cost of food and rent. On 15 December the Government announced a new $50 million funding package for the island, to be spent on key projects to support the community infrastructure.

While the funding will help to alleviate some issues, it does not address the key fact that Christmas Island is a small community that lies 1,565 km from the nearest point on the Australian coast. It is simply not well placed to accommodate the needs of a large immigration operation.

Equal treatment for all

Despite the fact that the UN Refugee Convention prevents signatory countries from penalising asylum seekers due to their method of arrival, the Australian Government has effectively created a two-tiered system which deals with those who arrive by boat in a very different manner to those who arrive by plane.

"...the Australian Government has created a two-tiered system which deals with those who arrive by boat in a very different manner to those who arrive by plane."

Asylum seekers who arrive by boat have access to fewer legal protections than those who arrive by plane, and their claims are not assessed according to the legal framework in place on the mainland. Australia needs to question the time and resources being dedicated to immigration policies which are not only unnecessary, but are furthermore in breach of our international obligations.

The people being detained on Christmas Island are real. They are men, women and children who have come to our shores seeking refuge from persecution - and should be treated accordingly.

Our team on Christmas Island