Zealots Reign Unchecked in Immigration - Nothing Has Changed : Melbourne Indymedia

Three cases uncovered by the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre (ASRC) since Ms Cornelia Rau was found by her family illustrate how zealots are still driving the DIMIA machine and that other detainees are being mistreated under the same regime that oversaw the neglect of Ms Rau and the unlawful removal of Ms Alvarez. They beg the question as to why the Minister is unable or unwilling to intervene.

Case One
Another asylum seeker detained in prison system

Six months after Ms Rau was transferred from the Brisbane Women’s Prison, another immigration detainee was still locked up and hidden away in Arthur Gorrie Prison in Queensland. George Dimara, an asylum seeker from West Papua was held for 16 months in the prison. It was only when this man realised that he had the right to request transfer to an immigration detention centre that such a transfer was enacted. Again DIMIA breached its own Migration Series Instructions MSI 244 which states that immigration detainees be held in prison only as “a last resort” and only “until alternative arrangements can be made”.

A department acknowledging that change was essential would have followed the guidelines and ensured that Mr Dimara’s rights as an asylum seeker were respected.

Case Two
Mentally ill detainee ignored.

At the same time as Ms Rau was locked up in Isolation cells in Baxter, a teenager who had been tortured in his country of origin sat in his room, in another Baxter compound, rocking backwards and forwards in abject terror. Other detainees took food to his room because he was too afraid to leave it. He was emaciated with the evidence of the torture and trauma which he had suffered visible to everyone.
The DIMIA case officer who interviewed him noted and agreed with the evidence that he had been tortured, as did the Refugee Tribunal. Both refused this unaccompanied teenager, a visa. For eight months the staff at Baxter ignored this boy, when the physical pain from his injuries and mental distress were before their eyes every day.

This case is yet more evidence that “the level of mental health care delivered at Baxter is inadequate by any standards” (Palmer Inquiry). Even when Ms Rau was released, DIMIA kept this boy for another 4 months before they were forced to release him after continued lobbying from advocates, an urgent application from a lawyer and with the threat of media exposure hanging over their heads.

Case Three
Attempted deportation of Suicidal Detainee

Considering the exposure of the deportation debacle of Ms Alvarez leading to the unlawful removal of an Australian citizen, it could be expected that DIMIA and the Minister would be hyper-vigilant before undertaking the deportation of a mentally ill detainee. Instead the ‘zealots’, removed the man from Baxter, without a medical clearance. They failed to notify their own DIMIA employed psychiatrist who had one week earlier placed his patient on a suicide watch and on the waiting list for a bed in Glenside Psychiatric Hospital in Adelaide. Without even notifying his lawyer they took him on a private, chartered flight to Perth to deport him.

It was only after the Minister’s Chief of Staff was notified that an emergency UN Human Rights Communication had been lodged in Geneva and when the DIMIA psychiatrist was alerted to the deportation of his patient, that the removal was stopped and the patient transferred to a hospital for treatment.

“Nothing has changed in DIMIA’s treatment of detainees since the scandals of Ms Rau and Ms Alvarez were made public. Judicial oversight of deportation and independent enforceable medical care is essential to stop the zealots in their tracks followed by a broad inquiry with full powers to subpoena witnesses and documents and offer protection to whistleblowers”. Says Pamela Curr of the ASRC.

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