[Australian Broadcasting Corporation]

Broadcast: 05/07/2010

Reporter: Jane Cowan

More than 500 children are behind bars in immigration detention, some recognised as genuine refugees but waiting on security checks.

Transcript:

LEIGH SALES, PRESENTER: The Rudd Government came to power two and a half years ago promising to dramatically reduce the number of children held in immigration detention centres. And while they may not be behind razor wire now, more than 500 children are still being held in immigration detention.
Advocates say some of the children have been recognised as genuine refugees, but their visas are being held up by security checks in their former homelands.
Jane Cowan reports.

JANE COWAN, REPORTER: They’re not affected by the suspension applied to recently arrived Sri Lankan asylum seekers, but supporters say these boys might as well be.
The six-year-old has been in detention since his family arrived on Christmas Island in August last year. In October, the family was moved to residential facilities at Villawood and told their refugee status had been accepted.
But eight months later, they’re still waiting for security clearance.

SARADHA NATHAN, HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST: The little boy, I feel, is lacking that interaction with children. He’s almost talking like an adult. The mother cry, I’ve seen her cry many times.

JANE COWAN: The four-year-old boy is facing a similar situation.

SARADHA DANATHAN: He has never gone to playgroup, he’s never gone to preschool.

JANE COWAN: Human rights activist Saradha Nathan says at least 10 children who’ve been accepted as genuine refugees either by the UNHCR or the Australian Government are still in detention awaiting security checks, something that’s taking a toll on everyone in the family.

SARADHA DANATHAN: It is really hard. There’s no smile. I have never seen those men smile. Even though they’re bringing up a child, they can’t get themselves to smile; they can’t be happy. Every time I ask them, "What would you like me to bring?," they said, "Ohhh, nothing. We just wanna get out of here."

JANE COWAN: 583 children are in detention, 342 of them unaccompanied. The Immigration Department acknowledges some asylum seekers, like a small group from the Oceanic Viking, have been recognised as refugees but given adverse security assessments. The Department says the security checks are a matter for ASIO, which doesn’t comment on individual cases.

SARAH HANSON-YOUNG, GREENS SENATOR: We were meant to have learnt that detaining children for long periods of time is extremely damaging to their mental health.

JANE COWAN: Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young says questions need to be asked about why the security checks are taking so long.

SARAH HANSON-YOUNG: Is it because we simply don’t have enough resources in our own government departments, or is it because there is a lack of will from the Sri Lankan Government or elsewhere in order to have that information brought forward.

JANE COWAN: At the same time, cases of asylum seekers hurting themselves in detention are on the rise.

SARAH HANSON-YOUNG: A young man, 28, last week tried to hang himself. This was a man who had been recognised to be a genuine refugee.

JANE COWAN: The figures show the problem has worsened in the last year. 39 people hurt themselves in detention in the last 12 months, compared to 10 the year before, although the numbers are down on 2007-2008.
But an Immigration Department spokesman emphasises some asylum seekers arrive with pre-existing conditions and says they’re provided with appropriate mental health care. At least one boy’s mother, though, is hoping the new Prime Minister will err on the side of compassion.

SARADHA DANATHAN: She’s appealing; she’s actually written a letter to the Prime Minister Julia Gillard saying, "As a woman, I’m asking you to please feel for what I am going through and what my child is going through. You’re affecting the child’s future."

JANE COWAN: The Immigration Minister Chris Evans was unavailable for comment, but a spokesman said children were appropriately accommodated in alternative places of detention. The spokesman said the Government would in no way compromise on security clearances.