Government concedes it will not send asylum seeker children to school

On 10^th September, the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) issued a media release stating that 34 school-aged children currently detained in Darwin would begin attending classes the following Monday after the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between itself and the Northern Territory Department of Education and Training.  The NT News picked up on the story and reported that all the children – Afghanis aged between 10 and 15 years – looked “happy” as they left their motel “home” ready to embark on an Australian education at Sanderson Middle School.  The Parent and Chair of the school council, Kathleen Pledger, stated that the school was ready for the opportunity to “bring some happiness and safety to a group of children who are severely disadvantaged.”  The ABC also picked up on the story, reporting that, “the department says it has worked closely with school principals and councils on the matter over the past month.”

There were a few small facts left unmentioned by the DIAC press release.

Unfortunately, the “the happiness and safety” afforded to the select group of children in Darwin is not to be extended to all children in detention.  Ninety-six children on Christmas Island plus minors in other detention facilities are being given “life skills and education programs within the detention environment,” the ABC reports.

Furthermore, the 34 children permitted to go to Sanderson Middle School make up a small proportion of the approximately 200 children who have been waiting for six months for the opportunity to go to school.  The NT schools have been ready and offered for four months to take those children but for reasons unknown, DIAC have delayed signing the MOU until now.

The most outrageous admission by DIAC came seven days after their initial media release.  On Friday, 17^th of September, we learned that the government lost all pretence of integrity when it comes to the humane and dignified treatment of asylum seeker children.   According to ABC News, the Immigration Department now says that it will not allow 16 and 17 year-old asylum seeker children to attend school because it is not a legal requirement under state and territory legislation. So it is now the official position of the government that while some children will be granted access to an education outside of life in detention, others will be barred completely.

The justification offered is nonsensical.  While it may not be a legal requirement for Australian children to attend school after the age of 15 they still have the opportunity to do so if they choose. How can the government seriously argue that because all children over 15 do not have to go school that then justifies preventing asylum seeker children from exercising the same choice?

All this of course is on top of the government’s back flip on its own stated policy, as well as breaching the amendment to the Migration Act, which states that “a minor shall only be detained as a measure of last resort.”  That amendment was passed in July 2005 after the Howard government was forced to recognise the physical and psychological damage caused by detention to children and their families.  As a result, all children were released from detention into the community. Exactly five years later, as of 22^nd of July this year, there are now 651 children back into detention.

In March 2006, the federal government paid $400,000 in compensation to Shayan Badraie, a five-year-old who suffered post-traumatic stress due to harsh treatment while in detention. The Immigration Department fought for 63 days in court before settling. Legal costs topped $4 million.

When is the government going to accept that the financial and moral costs of detaining children are not only unacceptable, but not worth it?