An open letter to the Attorney-General Nicola Rox, calling on here to implement legislative change to ensue adverse ASIO security assessments can be meaningfully challenged.
Detention centres
MEAA responds to Immigration’s detention centre blackout
There has been a dust-up in the past few months about an attempt by the Department of Immigration to force media organisations to give bureaucrats the right to edit their reports in return for access to detention centres.
Menadue: media missing the boat on asylum-seeker coverage
The Finkelstein media inquiry should have examined the role of the media in the so-called debate on asylum seekers and refugees, writes John Menadue, Centre for Policy Development director and former Department of Immigration secretary.
Hey, panic merchants: asylum seekers are already living next door
The use of bridging visas will bring Australia in line with other countries that implement comprehensive community-based processing, writes Caz Coleman, a member of the Council for Immigration Services and Status Resolution.
How our detention centres are run: the government’s contract with Serco
Serco is the company that runs detention centres in Australia. New Matilda uncovers for the official contract between Serco and the Department of Immigration, outlining the experience required of Serco staff and how it deals with issues of detainee depression.
Mandatory detention is not the problem, the label is
As soon as we interpret mandatory detention as a model that removes freedom of movement and must be in place for the entire length of time of the processing of a protection application that could take years, then we run into trouble, writes Caz Coleman, of the Council for Immigration Services and Status Resolution.
Asylum seekers … reception or detention? That is the question
Little known to Australians is that more than 8000 asylum seekers already live in the community and the sky hasn’t fallen in, writes Caz Coleman, a member of the Council for Immigration Services and Status Resolution.
Assaults an inevitable consequence of a failing detention system
Assault charges arising from an incident at Darwin’s Northern Immigration Detention Centre again have highlighted the detrimental consequences of significant delays in the processing of security clearances for refugees, writes freelancer Nigel O’Connor.
Sales: Oz detention centres worse than Guantanamo
Journalist Leigh Sales was refused visitation rights to a detention centre in Australia because of “security issues”, although she visited Guantanamo Bay prison twice. Why are detention centres so surrounded in secrecy?
Christmas Island ‘prison-like’ for children: advocate report
A new report released today has heaped further criticism on the conditions faced by children at the Christmas Island detention centre, with the group behind the research calling for a time limit on the detention of children.
Malaysian detention ‘nothing short of hell’, say locals
Burmese asylum seekers hope Malaysia’s immigration deal with Australia will see them end up Down Under. They wait in conditions well below acceptable standards, according to local advocates. Stuart Ranfurlie reports from Kuala Lumpur.
Buildings set alight at Villawood, as gov tries to sell new detention centre
Immigration minister Chris Bowen is facing increasing political pressure over the government’s handling of immigration detention today, after nine buildings were burnt down last night by protesting asylum seekers at Villawood Detention Centre.
Human Rights Commission: concerns for kids in remote detention centres
If people must be held in immigration detention facilities, they should be located in metropolitan areas not remote locations, a report into Leonora immigration detention centre says today.
Dumped detention volunteer chief hits back at Scientology claims
For a volunteer group and charity, suspected Scientology influences never play well. Neither do revelations of lax paperwork. But when both of those details combine — and you work in immigration detention — well, you’d better hold the front page.
Christmas Island detention unsustainable, says Ombudsman
The current scale of immigration detention operations on Christmas Island is unsustainable and more asylum seekers should be processed on the mainland, says the Commonwealth Ombudsman in a report released today.
Beaten and bruised: graphic photos of a detention escapee
Crikey has obtained graphic photos of a beaten asylum seeker sent from within an Indonesian detention centre.
Locals’ response to new detention centres — not in my backyard
The decision to hold 1900 people in Inverbrackie and Northam appears to have provoked only one response — not in my backyard.
Letters from detention: in the test match of life, Howard’s the batsman
The sporting dreams of teenage boys can often be fairly predictable. But what about the dreams of Hazara boys awaiting their application for asylum? In letters to Crikey, they still aspire to sporting glory, but it’s John Howard, not a sporting rival, that they dream of beating.
No transparency in Serco dealings with contractors
Alongside the PR games, there are potential legal benefits for Serco by outsourcing security personnel services, write Paul Farrell and Antony Loewenstein.
Serco’s paper trailer raises accountability questions
Crikey has taken a closer look at the extent that Serco contracts outsources to other companies and can reveal that millions of dollars from the detention contract has ended up in some startling places.
Mandatory detention: won’t somebody please think of the adults
It’s less than two months since the federal election, but the Greens already have a concrete achievement to show their supporters.
Labor’s new direction on asylum seekers
Crikey Media Wrap: Yesterday the Gillard administration did the seemingly unthinkable: they outlined — gasp! — a slightly different policy direction on refugee and asylum seeker processing.
Immigration detention: 27 dead and (not) counting…
Up to 27 people have died in immigration custody since 2000 yet none of these deaths are recorded by the national deaths-in-custody monitoring program, despite clearly meeting the legal definition, writes Crikey intern Inga Ting.
Your Say: Daily Mail readers' feedback: Of detention centres and detainees
Crikey readers have their say on detention centres, detainees and who’ll be our next speaker of parliament.
