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dreamer_easyBit of an update before moving on to other subjects.
Immigration Minister Scott Morrison has issued a media release stating that the young Iranian killed in Monday night's violence, Reza Berati, did not receive his injuries outside the detention centre, and that most of the "unrest" took place inside the centre. In other words, the mass attack did not occur in response to a breakout.
A detention centre employee states that, in addition to Berati's head injury, his neck had been cut. (A security guard working at the local hospital on Monday night states that Barati had only a small cut to his neck, which could have been the result of an emergency tracheotomy.) The detention centre employee also stated that another detainee's neck had also been cut, another's face was "swollen beyond recognition", and that more than one detainee had been shot. According to the employee's account, the asylum seekers told him that they were under attack by locals employed by G4S and police, and that attackers who dragged detainees from hiding told them: "You want freedom? We'll give you freedom tonight."
(Given that the security contract for the island is about to change hands, I wonder if the attacks were a last hurrah for frustrated guards and police, who felt - for reasons I think are obvious - that they could do anything they pleased to the detainees.)
Mental health expert Professor Louise Newman has spoken to staff at the centre, who stated that security forces entered the centre, armed with machetes in some cases, and that there was sustained gunfire.
Columnist Waleed Aly argues that "This is what it looks like when the policy works."
AHRC head Gillian Triggs argues that, to avoid a repeat of events in the short term, asylum seekers on Manus Island must be given adeuqate living conditions, those conditions must be monitored, and processing of their applications for refugee status must begin. The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights raised similar concerns.
Finally, Malcolm Fraser writes: "It is time for Australia to accept in full its place as a global nation with global responsibilities. Displaced people are a global phenomenon and the Refugee Convention is the world's agreement to protect people fleeing harm. We made this agreement after the atrocities of World War II, recognising the need to protect people escaping persecution. Sadly, there are now many more people fleeing similarly violent harm. This is the global situation and Australia cannot resile from it."
(Addendum. By the end of May, accommodation for detention centre staff will have cost $13.3 million.)
Immigration Minister Scott Morrison has issued a media release stating that the young Iranian killed in Monday night's violence, Reza Berati, did not receive his injuries outside the detention centre, and that most of the "unrest" took place inside the centre. In other words, the mass attack did not occur in response to a breakout.
A detention centre employee states that, in addition to Berati's head injury, his neck had been cut. (A security guard working at the local hospital on Monday night states that Barati had only a small cut to his neck, which could have been the result of an emergency tracheotomy.) The detention centre employee also stated that another detainee's neck had also been cut, another's face was "swollen beyond recognition", and that more than one detainee had been shot. According to the employee's account, the asylum seekers told him that they were under attack by locals employed by G4S and police, and that attackers who dragged detainees from hiding told them: "You want freedom? We'll give you freedom tonight."
(Given that the security contract for the island is about to change hands, I wonder if the attacks were a last hurrah for frustrated guards and police, who felt - for reasons I think are obvious - that they could do anything they pleased to the detainees.)
Mental health expert Professor Louise Newman has spoken to staff at the centre, who stated that security forces entered the centre, armed with machetes in some cases, and that there was sustained gunfire.
Columnist Waleed Aly argues that "This is what it looks like when the policy works."
AHRC head Gillian Triggs argues that, to avoid a repeat of events in the short term, asylum seekers on Manus Island must be given adeuqate living conditions, those conditions must be monitored, and processing of their applications for refugee status must begin. The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights raised similar concerns.
Finally, Malcolm Fraser writes: "It is time for Australia to accept in full its place as a global nation with global responsibilities. Displaced people are a global phenomenon and the Refugee Convention is the world's agreement to protect people fleeing harm. We made this agreement after the atrocities of World War II, recognising the need to protect people escaping persecution. Sadly, there are now many more people fleeing similarly violent harm. This is the global situation and Australia cannot resile from it."
(Addendum. By the end of May, accommodation for detention centre staff will have cost $13.3 million.)
