Questions raised on Woomera future
From AAP
29jan02
A RADICAL plan to shut down Woomera detention centre has not been ruled out by the Government, amid escalating protests and a threat by child detainees to take their own lives if they are not freed.
The plan, proposed by the Immigration Detention Advisory Group (IDAG), would see Woomera used only as an emergency overflow centre.
IDAG deputy chairman Ray Funnell said closing Woomera would put an end to the continuing unrest and the hunger strikes.
But such a move also had to be accompanied by a promise to process refugee claims quickly, he said.
Immigration Minister Philip Ruddock said while there were various operational issues to consider, he had not ruled out the proposal.
"Obviously there are operational issues, there are a great deal of variables, including whether or not we get further arrivals and what happens during the processing of people who are here," Mr Ruddock told Sydney radio 2GB today.
"Ray Funnell made it clear in his comments that he sees an on-going role for Woomera.
"It depends upon whether or not we have to face new contingencies and whether or not we're dealing with people who might be being held for removal rather than at a processing stage."
Mr Funnell backed the Government's policy of mandatory detention but said it had to be handled in a more humane way.
"Mandatory detention for administrative processing for people's claims is a very, very sensible approach," he told 2GB this morning.
"Sure it has to be done humanely but no-one, none of the groups with whom we've spoken is against mandatory detention as such."
Mr Ruddock later said he would not ignore the advice of his advisory group.
"In relation to those matters, I set up a committee to give me advice, I'm not going to ignore their advice," he told Sky News.
"But in terms of what should happen in the context of these particular events at Woomera, they will be quite clearly unrelated, we will not be moved under duress to make changes.
"That doesn't mean at some future time on the basis of proper recommendations, on the basis of your operational requirements, you won't make changes as required."
He said recommendations were often easy to make but much harder to implement. However, he supported the principle of having several smaller detention centres rather than one large one.
"It depends if we get more boat arrivals, it also depends on the speed of processing," Mr Ruddock said of Woomera's future.
"There are a whole range of issues associated with the future of Woomera that are really unrelated to these particular events."
The developments come as 11 boys a Woomera threaten to carry out a "suicide pact" if they are not released.
Meanwhile, four asylum seekers at Sydney's Villawood Detention Centre have sewn their lips in solidarity with hunger striking detainees around the country.
An Immigration Department spokesman confirmed the action today, but said it was a calm night at the centre.
Some Woomera protesters have agreed to unstitch their lips ahead of a IDAG visit today.
Immigration officials said 235 asylum seekers were continuing taking part in the 14-day-old hunger strike at the South Australian facility.
Detainees at Melbourne's Maribyrnong Detention Centre called off a hunger strike yesterday, while four detainees at Curtin and 16 at Port Hedland in WA maintained their protest.
Humanitarian groups are continuing their calls for a Government rethink on detention.
Human rights watchdog Amnesty International said today: "As the risk of fatalities increases in on-going unrest within Australian immigration detention centres, it is clear that the 10-year-old policy of mandatory detention is failing and needs urgent review.
"Of immediate concern is the mental health of the detainees - hunger strikes, self-harm and attempted suicides of detainees have obvious roots in extreme desperation."
Amnesty said the desperation was caused by the combined effects of prolonged incarceration, social isolation and increasing uncertainty about the future, with many people fearing for their lives if returned to their home countries.
"Locking up thousands of refugee applicants has proven not to stop new attempts at reaching Australia," Amnesty said.
"Are Australians really willing to pay any price, human and financial, to maintain a 10-year-old detention policy which has failed to halt desperate actions to seek refuge?"
The Australian Red Cross said: "Obviously we are very concerned as a humanitarian organisation about what is happening, in particular at Woomera at the moment ... this obviously is a situation which is particularly tense and potentially quite tragic."
Secretary-general Martine Letts told Seven Sunrise: "Of course we want to see things calm down to the extent that these people will take food to them and drink.
"We're also concerned, and this is a longer term issue for us, about the way in which some of these acts are portrayed and the backgrounds of these people somehow being linked to extreme behaviour."