Self-harm rates increase fourfold

A recent report in the Sydney Morning Herald sheds some light on the human cost of Australia’s policy of mandatory detention for asylum seekers arriving by boat.  In the year up to June 30 there were 39 instances of self-harm recorded in detention – a fourfold increase on the 10 cases recorded in the previous year.  With a further 25 reports of self-harm in the three months since June 30, these figures stand as a damning indictment of Government’s more ‘humane’ approach to immigration detention.

The Government’s decision to freeze the processing of asylum applications from Sri Lankan and Afghan nationals has a lot to answer for.  Too many people were left to languish in detention centres stretched beyond their ideal operating capacity.  People were faced with an uncertain future in which any semblance of control over their own destiny was wrested from their grasp.  Whilst the freeze has ended, the conditions in detention that underlie this trauma have not abated.  The inhumanity of indefinite internment has already led to one man taking his own life in Villawood detention centre this year.  Little wonder that Amnesty reports that the mental health of asylum seekers warehoused on Christmas Island is rapidly deteriorating.  Surely one finds it difficult to remain positive when the prospect of being returned a country in which you may face torture, persecution or the possibility of death looms over you.

Until now the Government’s response has been to expand our detention network, reopening detention centres that were closed years ago, or rolling out new places of detention in remote regional locales.  Just this week the opening of another two detention centres was announced.  It has been recently pointed out that the problem we face is not one of insufficient capacity in detention, rather the problem lies with the nature of detention itself.  We must acknowledge that the unavoidable outcome of mandatorily detaining highly vulnerable individuals is a breakdown in their mental health. Indefinite detention saps what precious little hope remains for these people, causing new mental health conditions to arise and exacerbating the pre-existing conditions that invariably plague survivors of civil conflict and persecution. The resumption in the processing of asylum claims lodged by Afghans, coupled with the recent proposal to release of hundreds of asylum seekers into the community during processing of their claims both represent steps in the right direction.  However, these small gains should not obscure our view of the broader picture.  There are nearly five thousand people sitting silently in detention in this country, all victims of an institutionalised unfairness perpetrated by the Government’s policies.  The lack of public outcry is surprising.

I have always retained a firm belief that the true measure of a society is reflected in how it treats the individuals most vulnerable and in need of protection.  If we continue with the current approach of mandatory detention, given the widely acknowledged negative impacts it has on people’s mental health, what does that say about us?  Irrespective of whether or not those who seek asylum in our country are found to be refugees, we have a moral obligation to do these people no harm while they remain within our borders.  It is our responsibility to shelter the vulnerable and displaced from harm, not to add to the persecution they have faced.  These people are no less human than you or me.  They are here legally and are wholly deserving of the same freedoms and rights we too often take for granted.