August 2005

In this edition:
1. Palmer Report: Scathing Findings, Superficial Recommendations
2. Georgiou Reforms: The Real Deal
3. Children out of detention
4. Asylum seekers abused by GSL
5. Students occupy GSL
6. Dig deep to keep the pressure on

1. PALMER REPORT: Scathing Findings, Superficial Recommendations
by Tony Iltis

The Palmer Inquiry's report, initiated to investigate the wrongful detention of Cornelia Rau, was released on 14 July.

Amanda Vanstone immediately described it as a "full-on, full-frontal boots-and-all assessment of what the problems are" in the Immigration Department (DIMIA). In reality, it falls far short of this. Its limited powers and narrow terms of reference produced the report the Government wanted-scathing in its findings, yet superficial in its recommendations. The Government has adopted some cosmetic changes the report proposes. DIMIA chief, Bill Farmer resigned (posted to Indonesia as ambassador!) and his deputies have gone to senior positions in other departments.

Palmer's preliminary findings on the illegal deportation of Australian citizen Vivian Solon (12 pages in a 250-page report) revealed that:

On the day before Solon was deported, in response to a Queensland police request to search its files to help locate a missing person, a DIMIA officer had replied that Solon was an Australian citizen and gave her date of birth. On the same day, DIMIA's compliance officers called in a doctor to pronounce Solon fit to be deported.

A social worker advised DIMIA that Solon said she came to Australia on a spouse visa. A DIMIA file note recorded three months later, close to the time of her deportation, reads "smuggled into Australia as sex slave wants to return to the Philippines". The note contradicts information provided by Solon in a formal interview on 13 July 2001, at which she told DIMIA officers she had a visa and she wanted to stay in Australia.

Solon told reporters in Manila on 13 May 2005 that a DIMIA officer "asked me if I am a citizen and I told him I was a citizen, but my passport was not with me, there was no proof". The officer in charge of her case made no attempt to establish the truth of her claims to Australian citizen.
Her lawyer, George Newhouse, criticised the fact that Palmer had "not even interviewed Vivian. How can you produce a report on Vivian without hearing her version of events? Not only that, there are a number of other important witnesses that have not been quoted in the report". [ABC Radio National, 14 July.]

Palmer blames the Rau and Solon scandals on the "culture" in DIMIA. This culture is a product of the policy of mandatory detention.

Palmer recommends better training for DIMIA officers, information systems and communication, rather than the radical change in government policy that is needed.

The recommendations for Baxter make a mockery of the detainees' suffering:, removing some rooms so detainees can have a view of the outside world, opportunities to earn the "privilege" of monthly, supervised visits to Port Augusta and information so that "detainees understand why they are being kept in detention".

As Newhouse argues: "Vivian Solon and Cornelia Rau are proxies for all those asylum seekers who have suffered from the inappropriate culture that is rife within the department. If they were so different, the Government would not have changed its policies on the treatment of asylum seekers following the outcry on their cases." [Green Left Weekly, 20 July.]

This is why RAC is calling for a policy reversal: to end mandatory detention, the pacific solution, temporary visas and deportations, and for a Royal Commission into Australia's treatment of refugees.


2. GEORGIOU REFORMS:The Real Deal
by Emma Larking

On 17 June, John Howard averted a backbench revolt within the Liberal party by introducing a number of changes to the Migration Act. The changes were a coup for Howard, but they don't provide justice for refugees, or alter the cruelty and barbarity of mandatory detention. Instead, they support the arbitrary and unrestrained exercise of power over people who have been stripped of their most basic rights.

What the changes are:

1. Children should now only be detained in "traditional detention arrangements" as "a matter of last resort"

2. Review by Ombudsman
DIMIA will be required to provide the Federal Ombudsman with six-monthly reports on people who have been in detention for more than two years. The Ombudsman will assess these reports and may make recommendations concerning continued detention, release into the community, or grant of a permanent visa

3. Current TPV Case Load Finalised by 31 October
DIMIA's current caseload of applications from Temporary Protection Visa holders for permanent protection (this involves people who have already been found to be refugees within the narrow terms of the Geneva Refugees Convention) must be accelerated, with all primary assessments completed by 31 October. There will be no requirement for a further interview except in cases where refusal is likely

4. Three-Month Limit on Processing of Claims
There will be a three-month time limit on the processing of asylum claims by DIMIA and at the Refugee Review Tribunal

5. Removal Pending Bridging Visas
As previously announced, the Immigration Minister has a discretionary power to "invite" long-term detainees who cannot be returned to their country of origin to accept release into the community on 'Removal Pending Bridging Visas'.

What the changes mean:

1. Children and their families should not be detained in detention centres or residential housing projects (which are secured and guarded camps) if there is a "viable option" available, but "traditional" detention can occur "for compelling reasons, including where conditions of a residence determination have been breached, primary assessment is being undertaken or removal arrangements are underway".

While families with children will now be able to live in the community and will not be subject to constant surveillance, they will have to report regularly to DIMIA, and the Immigration Minister can attach any conditions she likes to 'residence determinations'. People on 'residence determinations' will feel fearful and insecure. There will be no clarity about what constitute 'breaches' of the determination, and parents will have no work rights. Families recently released are receiving material support from charities who have been provided with DIMIA funding, but there is no guarantee about the level of support, if any, that DIMIA will continue to provide.

2. Review by Ombudsman
The evil of mandatory detention continues - people will continue to be imprisoned by executive fiat. External review will not occur for two years and is likely to have very little effect. While the Ombudsman's reports must be tabled in Parliament, the Minister for Immigration is under no compulsion to accept the Ombudsman's recommendations. Previous reports by the Federal Ombudsman, which have been absolutely scathing of conditions in detention, have been ignored by Parliament.

3. Current TPV Case Load Finalised by 31 October
Two-thirds of DIMIA's current caseload has already been determined and this change adds nothing new, although the fact refugees will not need to be re-interviewed unless a refusal is likely may reduce the stress of the procedure for many TPV-holders

4. Three-Month Limit on Processing of Claims
No sanction follows from a failure to deal with applications within the new time frames, nor is it clear that these time frames allow for claims to be properly assessed.

5. Removal Pending Bridging Visas
The Minister's power to offer long-term detainees release into the community on a 'Removal Pending Bridging Visa' is discretionary and non-compellable. The fate of people who have been in detention for years hangs on the whim of the Minister for Immigration. If they are released they will have work and welfare rights but will live in a permanent state of limbo, with the fear of deportation hanging over them constantly.

Many refugee supporters applauded the changes to the Migration Act because their immediate result has been the release of significant numbers of people from Australia's immigration prisons. The Migration Act changes allowed Howard and Vanstone to deflect public outrage over the appalling conditions inside the camps but the camps remain and the power to fill those camps remains. The Government continues to excise territory from Australia's Migration zone, to use the military to repel refugee boats, to administer its detention regime on Nauru and to spend millions of dollars building new detention centres. And it no longer faces any opposition within its own party, or any effective opposition in the Senate. The only opposition it faces is from a strong and growing grassroots campaign. We must continue to build this campaign and to oppose the Howard Government's tyranny with all our might.

NEWS IN BRIEF

3. CHILDREN OUT OF DETENTION

Melbourne's Asylum Seekers Resource Centre has welcomed the Immigration Minister's release of 42 children from 20 families from Australian immigration detention centres.

The ASRC says those released will be on what is called 'residential determination' giving them the right to freely move around the community and to receive assistance "from the Red Cross (via DIMIA funding): pre-release assessment, ongoing casework, full entitlements including income support, health care and funding for accommodation (private rental)".

But they warn "they are technically still in detention. They have no visa". They hold great concerns about the suffering this uncertain status will cause. They also point out that mandatory detention and the TPV system remain intact and 150 male asylum seekers remain in detention.
Tony Dewberry

4. ASYLUM SEEKERS ABUSED BY GSL

DIMIA has admitted that five detainees were denied food, water, medical treatment and toilet stops for six-and-a-half hours on the Melbourne-Mildura leg of a journey from Maribyrnong to Baxter.

One detainee says the security stalls in the van were so small he could not move. He was forced to urinate in the cell and says he was "treated like a dog". Another detainee suffered a broken bone in a struggle before the trip and was given no medical treatment.

Meanwhile, twelve detainees at Baxter detention centre were sent to the punishment unit-called 'Red One' on Friday 22 July after protesting against food they said was "inedible and smelly". After a request for toast as a replacement was refused the detainees threw the food and broke a window. It is understood those involved have been told they will remain isolated for a month as punishment.

These shameful episodes further vindicate what refugee advocates have long argued: there is systematic and brutal mistreatment of asylum seekers. They have also reignited calls for a royal commission into the whole mandatory detention system.
Tony Dewberry & Lauren Ireland

5. STUDENTS OCCUPY GSL

"GSL privatising hell!" was the loud, clear message sent to those at the St Kilda Rd head office of Global Solutions Limited on 14 July, when about 40 students occupied it.

GSL is contracted to run detention camps in Australia and have been continually shamed for their ruthless, irresponsible and cruel treatment of asylum seekers in their 'care'.

Occupiers, mainly from the Students of Sustainability Conference, entered the office and engaged with many staff members and management, asking why they chose to profit from causing misery.
After an hour and a half and considerable media attention, police eventually forced the group from the office.

Lauren Ireland

6. DIG DEEP TO KEEP THE PRESSURE ON!

Despite some recent campaign wins, there is still a long fight ahead to bring true justice for refugees in Australia.

We are committed to exposing the truth and gathering public momentum around issues of detention, temporary visas and deportations and guess what? WE NEED YOUR HELP!

Our Tampa Day rally is fast approaching and our bank balance and people numbers are depleted, so donations of any amount of money or time will help enormously.

DEPOSIT money directly into the RAC account, Commonwealth Bank BSB: 063 262, Account 1025 2396 or send cheques to:
PO Box 578
Carlton South, Vic 3053
RAC meets at Trades Hall on Tuesdays at 6pm.
Thanks again for your continued support.