Woomera Immigration Reception and Processing Centre

=Operation of the Woomera facility=

The Centre was opened in November 1999, with a capacity of 400. This capacity was very quickly exceeded, as the boat arrivals continued. Nursing and administrative staff working there at the time have since complained that facilities were totally inadequate, and that it was impossible to provide proper medical care.

Most detainees applied for refugee status, and had no possibility for release until their claim had been finalised. Men, women, and children were detained at The Centre. The highest number of children detained at any one time was 456, out of a total population of 1442, on September 1, 2001. As at 26 December, 2003, the average length of detention for children was one year, 8 months, and 11 days. An unaccompanied child refuge had this to say:

:"I believe you [Australians] are nice people, peace seekers, you support unity. If you come to see us behind the fence, think about how you would feel. Are you aware of what happens here? Come and see our life. I wonder whether if the Government of Iran created camp like Woomera and Australians had seen pictures of it, if they would have given people a visa to come to Australia then." [http://www.humanrights.gov.au/human_rights/children_detention_report/report/chap03.htm]

In June 2000 there were two days of protests. Approximately 480 detainees broke out and walked into the township.

In August 2000 there were three days of riots and fires. 60-80 detainees were involved, and tear gas and water cannons were used.

In November 2000 there was a hunger strike involving more than 30 detainees, some of whom were force fed in hospital.

Throughout 2001 there were repeated riots and confrontations between ACM guards and detainees. Water cannon and tear gas were used.

During 2002 there were a number of riots, hunger strikes, and lip-sewing, which included children. In January 2002 over 200 detainees started a hunger strike. Some threatened suicide in violent ways. Some swallowed poisons. Refugee advocates (such as the Woomera Lawyers Group and RASSA), argued that this showed the desperation of detainees. The refugees complained that conditions were harsh, that it took up to three years for their claims to be processed and that processing their claims had been suspended.

There had been similar protests before. This time protests were taken up by the national and international media and by national and international organizations. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees felt Australia should reconsider its policy. Mary Robinson the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights was first denied access to Woomera but later the Australian Government yielded to pressure.

The Woomera Breakout

Over the Easter holiday of 2002 about 1000 protesters gathered at the gates of Woomera to voice their opposition to the mandatory detention of refugees. About 40 refugees escaped from the centre during this protest. Most were captured over the coming hours and subsequently deported, but some made it out of the desert. Of these escapees some were reported to the police and deported. At least one former detainee has since gained a protection visa. Concerns are held for the safety of those deported, and there have been rumors that some of these people have been killed.

The Centre was closed in April 2003, and all detainees were transferred to Baxter Immigration Reception and Processing Centre. The facility was taken over by the Defence Department in 2005 and renamed Camp Rapier. It now operates as an ADF accommodation Facility and is no long available for, or part of the Immigration Department.

Further controversy

The detention centre was a source of much controversy during its time of operation. There were a number of riots and escapes, as well as accusations of human rights abuses from groups as diverse as refugee advocates, Amnesty International, the Australian Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, ChilOut, Human Rights Watch, and the United Nations.

In March 2002, the Secretary General of Amnesty International, Irene Khan, said:

:"It is obvious that the prolonged periods of detention, characterised by frustration and insecurity, are doing further damage to individuals who have fled grave human rights abuses. The detention policy has failed as a deterrent and succeeded only as punishment. How much longer will children and their families be punished for seeking safety from persecution?" [http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/ENGASA120062002]

Throughout the controversy, Prime Minister John Howard and successive immigration ministers maintained that their actions at Woomera were justified in the interests of protecting Australia's borders and ensuring that immigration law was enforced. A 2004 Liberal Party election policy document stated:

:"The Coalition Government's tough stance on people smuggling stems from the core belief that Australia has the right to decide who comes to this country and the circumstances in which they come. Deterrence has been achieved through excision, boat returns, offshore processing and mandatory detention." [http://www.liberal.org.au/default.cfm?action=plaintext_policy&id=2732]

References

* Brennan, Fr Frank (2003). "Tampering with Asylum." University of Queensland Press. ISBN 0-7022-3416-8.
*Huysmans,J (2005) "What is Politics?" an Open University text for the course DD203. ISBN 0-7486-1966-6

ee also

* List of Australian immigration detention facilities
* Escape From Woomera the video game
* ChilOut (Children Out of Detention)

External links

* [http://www.engagemedia.org/Members/pipstarr/videos/through-the-wire-10.mov/view Through the Wire] Award winning short documenting the 2002 Woomera Breakout [http://www.starr.tv Pip Starr]
* [http://www.immi.gov.au/detention/facilities_not_operational.htm DIMIA Detention Facilities No Longer Operational]
* [http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/content/2003/transcripts/s858341.htm Four Corners documentary: "About Woomera"]
* [http://www.humanrights.gov.au/human_rights/children_detention_report/report/chap03.htm HREOC Inquiry - Setting the Scene - Children in Immigration Detention]
* [http://nla.gov.au/nla.pic-an24754726 Fire damage from arson on 30 December 2002 at Woomera Immigration Reception and Processing Centre, South Australia, 8 January, 2003] / Damian McDonald
* [http://nla.gov.au/nla.pic-vn3408987 Photographs of Woomera Detention Centre protest Easter 2002] / Tony Reddrop
* [http://videoteppista.net/wutnen.htm Waking Up The Nation. Online Detention Centres Documentary 2002/2005]