On Wednesday morning a large group of asylum seekers walked out of the Darwin detention centre and stood quietly by the Stuart Highway holding up bed sheets so that passing cars could read such messages as “Give us mercy.” Pamela Curr reports.
Christmas island
Checking the docket on offshore processing
The cost of outsourcing our handling of asylum seekers is said to be enormous. Pinning it down, however, is a little more difficult.
Border security gets a billion
The government has put its money where its mouth is when it comes to backing its increasingly hardline rhetoric on border security, flagging $1.2 billion Australia’s borders.
Christmas Island a ‘ghetto’, but ‘dire’ Curtin could be worse
The “ghetto-like” Christmas Island detention centre is bursting at the seams as boat arrivals swell. But housing asylum seekers at the long-defunct Curtain facility could make conditions even worse, writes Elizabeth Redman.
No joy at Christmas Island
Tensions are rising the government forces frustrated refugees to wait months in over-crowded detention centres. Deterrence methods won’t stop desperate people, write Lucy Fiske and Linda Briskman from Christmas Island.
Christmas Island ‘pressure cooker’ could explode after UN review
The situation in Christmas Island is expected to blow up completely if the Federal Government is allowed to deport asylum seekers back to strife-torn Afghanistan and Sri Lanka.
Navy leaving asylum seekers in the dark about their final destination
Asylum seekers intercepted by Australian authorities should be informed where they are being taken. But many are still being left in the dark that they are being headed to Christmas Island, writes Pamela Curr.
More than 100 refugees to arrive tonight from Christmas Island
Permanent protection visas will be granted to 119 refugees arriving on the Australian mainland from Christmas Island tonight, reports Crikey intern Flint Duxfield.
New York Times: Australia fears boat people from Asia
How does the world view Australians following to our treatment of refugees? Here’s the New York Times’s take: “Australia Puts Its Refugee Problem on a Remote Island, Behind Razor Wire”. Super.
Sarah Hanson-Young: ‘Rudd, how does it feel to look in the mirror and see Howard?’
Senator Sarah Hanson-Young blasts the outdated Christmas Island detention centre, the insulting language pollies use for refugees and the fact that John Howard’s ghost still haunts immigration.
No room for refugees in Greg Rudd’s Port Hedland facility
Christmas Island is filling up, but Port Hedland won’t be an option for housing any asylum seeker overflow — unless authorities can do a deal with Kevin Rudd’s brother.
95 kids on Christmas Island and counting
As another 194 asylum seekers head to Christmas Island for health and security checks, concerns are being raised about the number of children already there.
Another boatload stretches Christmas Island’s resources
The custom-built detention centre on Christmas Island is reaching its limits after 194 asylum-seekers, most of them men, were intercepted in a vessel believed to be of Indonesian origin.
Inside the Christmas Island detention centre
Pamela Curr, campaign coordinator for the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, took Crikey on a tour of the new Christmas Island detention facility, here are her impressions and photos, writes Sophie Black.
Christmas Island detention centre is not cool
Christmas Island is an extremely harsh and stark environment to detain people seeking asylum while their applications for protection are determined.
