AHRC Release Report On National Inquiry into Children in Immigration Detention
Monday 16 February 2015 @ 11.08 a.m. | Crime | Legal Research | Immigration
Last week, the Federal Government tabled “The Forgotten Children: National Inquiry into Children in Immigration Detention (2014)”, a report by the Australian Human Rights Commission (“the AHRC”). The report caused an immediate controversy in Parliament, with Prime Minister Tony Abbott calling it a “blatantly partisan politicised exercise” and saying “the Human Rights Commission ought to be ashamed of itself”.
Mr Abbott said that instead, the AHRC should have congratulated former Minister for Immigration Scott Morrison,for stopping the flow of boats. However, Professor Gillian Triggs, the President of the Human Rights Commission, denied this accusation, saying “This is not a politicised exercise. It is a fair report”. According to the Sydney Morning Herald, she said that “the inquiry did not start in 2013 when the number of children in detention peaked because they were only being held for short periods… [and] when the Coalition came to power it became apparent children were being held for longer periods.”
Background
In the Foreword to the Inquiry Report, Professor Gillian Triggs explained:
“Australia currently holds about 800 children in mandatory closed immigration detention for indefinite periods, with no pathway to protection or settlement. This includes 186 children detained on Nauru. Children and their families have been held on the mainland and on Christmas Island for, on average, one year and two months. Over 167 babies have been born in detention within the last 24 months.”
The Inquiry aimed to assess the impact of prolonged immigration detention on the health and wellbeing of the children. It conducted a series of interviews over the course of eight months from February to October 2014, and involved a standardised questionnaire for children in detention and their families. The Inquiry also held five public hearings, and 239 submissions were received.
The Inquiry & Government Policies
Although the Inquiry has been criticised as partisan, the report is strongly critical of the policies of both the Labor and Coalition Governments. Both the former Labor Minister for Immigration and the former Coalition Minister for Immigration Scott Morrison testified before the inquiry. According to the Foreword:
“Both… agreed on oath before the Inquiry that holding children in detention does not deter either asylum seekers or people smugglers. No satisfactory rationale for the prolonged detention of children seeking asylum in Australia has been offered.”
The report went on to note that is was clear that the policies of both governments had at times breached both the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Inquiry Findings
Some of the key findings from the Inquiry were:
- Children in immigration detention have significantly higher rates of mental health disorders than children in the Australian community.
- The right of all children to education was denied for over a year to those held on Christmas Island.
- The numerous reported incidents of assaults, sexual assaults and self-harm involving children indicate the danger of the detention environment.
- At least 12 children born in immigration detention are stateless, and may be denied their right to nationality and protection.
- Dozens of children with physical and mental disabilities are detained for prolonged periods.
- Some children of parents assessed as security risks have been detained for over two years without hope of release.
- Children detained indefinitely on Nauru are suffering from extreme levels of physical, emotional, psychological and developmental distress.
Call for a Royal Commission
The Inquiry made a number of recommendations, including that all children and their families be released into community detention or the community, with sufficient mental health and educational support. However, the recommendation that was most publicised was the Inquiry’s call for a Royal Commission:
“to examine the:
- long term impacts of detention on the physical and mental health of children in immigration detention;
- reasons for continued use of this policy since 1992, including offshore detention and processing; and
- remedies for any breaches of the rights of children that have been detained.”
However, according to the Sydney Morning Herald, Mr Abbott has ruled this out in Parliamentary question time, saying:
“there won't be a royal commission into children in detention, because if there were...it would condemn [Labor].”
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