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Refugee Update: Manus Island
Jul. 11th, 2016 11:05 pmWilson Security paid guard to keep quiet about alleged sexual assault on Manus Island (ABC, 7 July 2016)
Most people sent to Manus Island are genuine refugees, new figures show (SMH, 30 June 2016) "... 87.7 per cent of people who have been assessed are refugees - an almost identical proportion to the number of boat arrivals to Australia who were later found to be genuine refugees. Figures from 2012-13 show 88 per cent of boat arrivals were found to be genuine refugees."
Immigration department failed to properly oversee healthcare provider, reviews show (GA, 28 June 2016) With a $1.6 billion contract at stake, IHMS failed to provide adequate health care on Manus and Nauru and then lied to cover it up; the Immigration Department let them get away with it.
'End this political game': Manus Island refugee makes plea to Australia (GA, 30 June 2016) Rohingyan refugee Imran Mohammad Fazal Hoque's account of 1,000 days in detention states that "there is regularly not enough food in the detention centre, and people often miss out on meals. There was no dentist on Manus for 15 months, no chance for private conversation with family, and detainees' personal property was often stolen or withheld." He says that, since the centre was found to be illegal, conditions and safety have become even worse. Iranian journalist Behrouz Boochani backs this up, describing the centre as having become "extremely militarised... due to the blurring of responsibilities. It is unclear who is responsible for the safety of asylum seekers." We are.
The worst I've seen – trauma expert lifts lid on 'atrocity' of Australia's detention regime (GA, 20 June 2016) "In his 43-year career, psychologist Paul Stevenson has worked in the aftermath of the Bali bombings and the Boxing Day tsunami but says nothing he witnessed was as bad as the treatment of asylum seekers on Nauru and Manus." | Nauru and Manus incident reports reveal stream of despair and privation (GA, 20 June 2016) Examples of incident reports from Paul Stevenson's records.
Manus refugee allegedly assaulted by guards while having breakdown needs help, friends say (GA, 17 June 2016)
Manus Island: calls for asylum seeker to be brought to Australia for psychological help (GA, 16 June 2106) (I don't think this is the same man as the 17 June report.)
Money, manipulation and misunderstanding on Manus Island (Canberra Times, 5 July 2016) The mixed blessing that the detention centre has been for the island, and the implications for Papua New Guinea of its closure. | In PNG and Nauru, Australia’s immigration policy comes at the expense of democracy (GA, 15 June 2016): the impact of our detention centres on corruption and violence in these nations.
Very belatedly, thanks to some bad experiences with antidepressants: Reza Barati death: Two men jailed over 2014 murder of asylum seeker at Manus Island detention centre (ABC, 19 April 2016)
Although I am not a Christian, I was struck by the central argument in Offshore Detention: On Not 'Getting Used to It', of a Christian "ethos" of "the infinite value of the individual human being". "Today when we spend hundreds of thousands of dollars in the rescue of a single person lost at sea, irrespective of the stupidity that might have landed them there, we are drawing on an outrageous idea that is still the glory and beauty of our culture. Human value trumps more "rational" concerns." I don't know whether Christianity invented this concept or has been the only proponent of it; but would that we lived in that world.
Most people sent to Manus Island are genuine refugees, new figures show (SMH, 30 June 2016) "... 87.7 per cent of people who have been assessed are refugees - an almost identical proportion to the number of boat arrivals to Australia who were later found to be genuine refugees. Figures from 2012-13 show 88 per cent of boat arrivals were found to be genuine refugees."
Immigration department failed to properly oversee healthcare provider, reviews show (GA, 28 June 2016) With a $1.6 billion contract at stake, IHMS failed to provide adequate health care on Manus and Nauru and then lied to cover it up; the Immigration Department let them get away with it.
'End this political game': Manus Island refugee makes plea to Australia (GA, 30 June 2016) Rohingyan refugee Imran Mohammad Fazal Hoque's account of 1,000 days in detention states that "there is regularly not enough food in the detention centre, and people often miss out on meals. There was no dentist on Manus for 15 months, no chance for private conversation with family, and detainees' personal property was often stolen or withheld." He says that, since the centre was found to be illegal, conditions and safety have become even worse. Iranian journalist Behrouz Boochani backs this up, describing the centre as having become "extremely militarised... due to the blurring of responsibilities. It is unclear who is responsible for the safety of asylum seekers." We are.
The worst I've seen – trauma expert lifts lid on 'atrocity' of Australia's detention regime (GA, 20 June 2016) "In his 43-year career, psychologist Paul Stevenson has worked in the aftermath of the Bali bombings and the Boxing Day tsunami but says nothing he witnessed was as bad as the treatment of asylum seekers on Nauru and Manus." | Nauru and Manus incident reports reveal stream of despair and privation (GA, 20 June 2016) Examples of incident reports from Paul Stevenson's records.
Manus refugee allegedly assaulted by guards while having breakdown needs help, friends say (GA, 17 June 2016)
Manus Island: calls for asylum seeker to be brought to Australia for psychological help (GA, 16 June 2106) (I don't think this is the same man as the 17 June report.)
Money, manipulation and misunderstanding on Manus Island (Canberra Times, 5 July 2016) The mixed blessing that the detention centre has been for the island, and the implications for Papua New Guinea of its closure. | In PNG and Nauru, Australia’s immigration policy comes at the expense of democracy (GA, 15 June 2016): the impact of our detention centres on corruption and violence in these nations.
Very belatedly, thanks to some bad experiences with antidepressants: Reza Barati death: Two men jailed over 2014 murder of asylum seeker at Manus Island detention centre (ABC, 19 April 2016)
Although I am not a Christian, I was struck by the central argument in Offshore Detention: On Not 'Getting Used to It', of a Christian "ethos" of "the infinite value of the individual human being". "Today when we spend hundreds of thousands of dollars in the rescue of a single person lost at sea, irrespective of the stupidity that might have landed them there, we are drawing on an outrageous idea that is still the glory and beauty of our culture. Human value trumps more "rational" concerns." I don't know whether Christianity invented this concept or has been the only proponent of it; but would that we lived in that world.
