CHILDREN MUST BE IMMEDIATELY RELEASED FROM DETENTION

Children and their families must be taken out of detention in Australia and on Nauru as a matter of urgency, ASRC Detention Rights Advocate Pamela Curr said today.

“Today’s release of the Australian Human Rights Commission Children in Detention report confirms what medical experts and others working in detention have been saying all along: children in detention suffer extreme psychiatric distress.

“Independent medical assessments have found that at least one in three children in detention has developed a serious mental illness requiring psychiatric care.

“I have seen first-hand the results of this mental and emotional damage, which manifests as bed-wetting, insomnia, nightmares, fear, anger, anxiety, withdrawal, self-harm and even suicide attempts. These terrible effects are being felt by the children long after their release.

“The evidence of professional psychologists, health-care and child-welfare workers who appeared before the inquiry or made submissions is unequivocal and damning.

“With this evidence before them, the Government must immediately release children and their families from detention and place them in safe accommodation in the community.

“Children should be free to engage in community and social activities that are crucial to their wellbeing and development.”

Ms Curr said Australians would be deeply distressed by the mental suffering experienced by children in detention.

“They tell me they feel sad and angry most days. Even a year after their release, their sense of unfairness is still raw, as they recall injustice, arbitrary rules and the shaming of their parents in front of them,” Ms Curr said.

“Some children still lay awake at night awaiting guards’ regular checks. Many children are reluctant to share their distress.

“One boy told me his parents already seemed so sad, and he didn’t want to make it any worse.”

Ms Curr said the length of time children are kept locked in detention was a major factor in the deterioration of their mental health.

“The most constant question I and other detention advocates are asked on visits is: when can I get out?”

Causes of the psychological damage inflicted by detention include:

  • Fear of bullying and abuse, both mental and physical
  • The prison-like environment, lack of everyday freedoms, constant surveillance and control, limited physical space for play
  • The arbitrary nature of rules that depend on individual guards, and of decisions regarding release
  • A lack of basic human respect shown to parents by guards and Immigration staff, with instances of adults being shouted at in front of their children, not being allowed to speak or being searched like criminals
  • Dehumanisation with people known by numbers not names
  • Family separations, with children as young as five removed from their parents for periods of time
  • Lack of access to the community and other normalising environments
  • Lack of support for unaccompanied children

 

“On Nauru, the damage is compounded by unspeakable living conditions, with families living in mouldy tents, with little water despite the stifling heat and toilets that are so filthy children refuse to sit on them.

“We cannot turn a blind eye to this terrible suffering we are inflicting on children. This damage has potential to create life-long mental health issues and disadvantage their ability to function in society.

“There is no excuse.  We must get children out of detention now – and as a nation, commit to never locking children up ever again.”

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